Another acronym to learn. The FAA is going through a major revamp of their Pilot Test Standards documents with a view to implementing Airman Certification Standards with the PPL from summer 2016. One member of the panel comments that they will be “better in every conceivable way”. Can’t say I found the existing PTS to be any problem – this is the benchmark to which PPL and IR skills tests are conducted. The actual skill test standards and performance required won’t change, but this revision will allow much of the outdated NDB syllabus to be removed.
Quite a thorough 20 page slide with notes briefing available here
One can’t help but get the impression that the FAA continues to refine and improve its fairly sensible and proportionate regime. What struck me most was the concept of defining the goals/outcomes first, then working back from that to determine the relevant syllabus and learning objectives.
[ Local copy of the PDF here – Peter ]
The FAA is moving to eliminate the old technology and antiquated elements of navigation and weather products.
The PTS is being changed to reflect changes in the written tests.
Questions being deleted covered outdated topics including automatic direction finder/nondirectional beacon (ADF/NDB); radar summary charts and radar approaches; the En Route Flight Advisory Service (EFAS); medevac; and transcribed weather broadcasts (TWEB).
The FAA will also delete from the knowledge test “questions involving scalability (i.e., those questions requiring the use of nonstandard scales for measurement or calculation),” and aircraft performance and weather questions “that involve multiple interpolations across multiple charts.”
VORs are being eliminated as quickly as possible in concert with Nextgen sats being deployed.
DavidC wrote:
What struck me most was the concept of defining the goals/outcomes first, then working back from that to determine the relevant syllabus and learning objectives.
It’s not clear to me how the “syllabus” for FAA private pilot training is associated with this change. FAA standards apply to testing and measuring performance. Other than the examiner checking to see certain training was done at the time of the exam (i.e. three hours night, cross countries etc) I don’t believe there is a preordained way that legally defines how a student must be taught to meet the performance test requirements by an FAA flight instructor.
