Seems everybody I know scored a 100 or a 99 , or so they claim, on their FAA Knowledge Examinations.

Well as I recall, my score, while passing, was ...ahem... " way more modest ". So...you say you actually scored a 110 % on your exam. Wow...Do tell.

Anyway, I came across this interesting FAA Data Table showing the Pass Rate and Average Score for various FAA Written Knowledge Tests. The latest data are from 2014. 2015/2016 Stats are not yet available. I cut and pasted some of the more relevant categories. They list complete scores on every test from dispatcher to window washer in the Link below in case you don't see the category for which you are searching.

And you know what, if the Average Score for the Private Pilot Knowledge Test is 82.49, then hey, I actually did okay

Link:
https://www.faa.gov/data_research/aviation_data_statistics/test_statistics/media/2014/annual/2014_Airmen_Knowledge_Tests.pdf

2014 Airmen Knowledge Tests
Total Volume - 129,204

Volume Pass Rate Average Score

Air Transport Pilot Airplane (14 CFR part 121)
25,610 92.67% 85.56

Air Transport Pilot Airplane (14 CFR part 135)
1,644 86.86% 79.75

Commercial Pilot Airplane
8,322 96.60% 86.87

Private Pilot Airplane
25,460 89.64% 82.49

Sport Pilot Airplane
567 95.24% 85.83

Instrument Rating Airplane
12,207 87.13% 80.66

Flight Instructor Airplane
3,674 92.05% 84.46

Flight Instructor Instrument Airplane
2,909 97.80% 89.53

The most surprising part of this to me is that there were 25k new PPL's. I would've expected less. Anyone know how that stacks up historically?

Interesting data nonetheless. I think I got an 87 or 88 on my PPL written exam.

I would love to know how many folks used Shepard's for their ATP. It seems everyone that I know used it, I did and got an 84. I also wonder if it will be as good for the new ATP stuff.

Only 567 Sport Pilots. That isn't working the way the FAA planned.

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** EDIT: I honestly do not know if this information is just for 2014, or cumulative.

Anything the FAA says and does is usually a mystery to me. Clowns with axes have the same effect on me.

Those ATP numbers are super inflated due to all the people rushing to take that exam when the rule was changing.

I'm one of the 567 Sport Pilots, and now that I've gone through it, it is a bit of a joke. It would have been way easier for me to have just went Private and then let my medical expire. There's not even a DSPE in the state of Ne., I had to fly 2.5 hrs. west to Colorado just for my check ride. Insurance, I pay close to $1k a year on $15k hull for my Taylorcraft and it will never drop. I still might step up to Private just for that reason alone.

nefj40 wrote:... Insurance, I pay close to $1k a year on $15k hull for my Taylorcraft and it will never drop. I still might step up to Private just for that reason alone.

Never heard that SP's have to pay more for insurance coverage than PP's.
Did you ask your insurance agent about it?
Is that because of no medical certificate, or less training?
Are you sure it's not because of low PIC time, low t/w time, or low T-craft time?

hotrod180 wrote:

nefj40 wrote:... Insurance, I pay close to $1k a year on $15k hull for my Taylorcraft and it will never drop. I still might step up to Private just for that reason alone.

Never heard that SP's have to pay more for insurance coverage than PP's.
Did you ask your insurance agent about it?
Is that because of no medical certificate, or less training?
Are you sure it's not because of low PIC time, low t/w time, or low T-craft time?

When I passed 100 hrs. in my T-craft my insurance didn't drop so I called my agent and she called the carrier. She was told my insurance would drop "when I get my private." I've shopped around and what I pay now is the cheapest I've came up with.

I don't know the reasoning. All the guys that I know who are flying LSA are doing it with a Private and expired medical.

I don't recall the exact numbers, but I recall getting something like a 96 or 98 on my private, as the result of a very thorough actual ground school. When I took the commercial, though, I used a Jeppesen do-it-yourself course, which was so pedantic that I treated it as a joke. Results were in the mid 70s--ick! From then on, I applied myself better, got an 84 or 86 on the IR, and something in the 80s or 90s for the CFI and CFII, though I don't recall anything closer than that. There isn't any written for the SES, but the DE's oral was incredibly thorough, so I was glad that I'd put in a lot of overtime studying the materials that Seattle Seaplane provided, plus some additional stuff online.

What is really shameful is how much of the written for each of the certs/ratings is irrelevant to everyday flying. It's not just that it doesn't keep up with technology; it's more like the drafters of the questions are either interested in tricking the applicant, or they've taken their own training from reading popular aviation magazines. I remember staring at some of the questions on the IR written which I took in 1975 and thinking how antiquated they were. I recall one about a manual direction finder as opposed to an ADF which asked about the null, and a couple involving RMIs, which I still have never seen. I have heard that GPS questions have just recently been added, yet GPS navigation has been pretty common for more than 20 years.

But as they say, what do you call a pilot who scored 100 on his written? Pilot. And what do you call a pilot who only scored 70 on his written? Pilot.

Cary

I'm with Julie Andrews. I failed my first PPL written and got a 72 the next time. I did much better on the others, but I was a little older then. I do understand the null on the old A-N Range. Army helicopters only had ADF, no VOR, but they did have the RMI which was so much better at situational awareness than HSI. I liked RMI so well that when the Army put VORs in the helicopters, I used the #2 needle (VOR) on the RMI just like the #1 needle (NDB.) Knowing the station, VOR or NDB is just over there gives one really good situational awareness on the approach. Get anywhere except on the selected radial, like in the procedure turn, and quickly point to the station. With NDB, or either needle on the RMI, you can do that anywhere on the procedural track or anywhere else.

I scored really well on the written thanks to thorough army training. We also flew with RMIs and our HSIs have RMI needles. I agree with Jim, they're very helpful for SA. We have GPS (though not always IFR certified), VOR, and ADF now in most of our aircraft, Jim.

The comments have been very interesting.

What prompted this thread is that a friend of mine's son wants to get into flying commercial drones and a "real FAA pilot" license seems to be a stepping stone. I think he is going to go for the lowest rung on the ladder namely the sport pilot. Anyway, that got to talking about what score to get on the written.

I get the impression he is a low octane kind of guy, so maybe he will be happy with a 70. I told my friend that when his son takes the check ride he might get a real grilling on the oral.Then again, I have also heard that CFI people are so keen to get new students that any passing score will do. Also, I suppose there are different working relationships between certain DPEs and CFIs.

I honestly don't know how it all works these days. I did read somewhere that in terms of intelligence, half the planet is below average? gasp....can that be true ?....since when ...?

Technology dependence. If a kid can google it, he sees no need whatsoever to actually learn anything. Knowledge of multiplication tables, addition, and subtraction is about ten times faster than the fastest calculator or cash register. All the enemy has to do is put the lights/net out and we are done. Teachers know we are what we know. School administrators and four star generals are only concerned with the latest computer technology. Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium's free 5k software educational program disks were very useful teaching tools. They ran on an Apple IIe without a hard drive. IBM wanted to sell expensive computer equipment so they promoted games on hard drives. This was a Pinko Commie Plot. And it worked.

http://www.mypilotstore.com/mypilotstor ... 22#Reviews

This is all I used, studied it front to back for a couple months before I took my written. I ended up getting one question wrong out of the 25 that where on the test, (and that was my fault for reading too much into the question.) Almost everything on my oral ended up coming from what I learned from the book. About the only ground schooling that I received from my instructor was plotting cross countries, and that was one thing my examiner made me do on the oral. My situation my be different though because my instructor and examiner have known each other and worked together for decades.

Denali wrote:The comments have been very interesting.

What prompted this thread is that a friend of mine's son wants to get into flying commercial drones and a "real FAA pilot" license seems to be a stepping stone. I think he is going to go for the lowest rung on the ladder namely the sport pilot. Anyway, that got to talking about what score to get on the written.

I get the impression he is a low octane kind of guy, so maybe he will be happy with a 70. I told my friend that when his son takes the check ride he might get a real grilling on the oral.Then again, I have also heard that CFI people are so keen to get new students that any passing score will do. Also, I suppose there are different working relationships between certain DPEs and CFIs.

I honestly don't know how it all works these days. I did read somewhere that in terms of intelligence, half the planet is below average? gasp....can that be true ?....since when ...?

Headoutdaplane wrote:I would love to know how many folks used Shepard's for their ATP. It seems everyone that I know used it, I did and got an 84. I also wonder if it will be as good for the new ATP stuff.

I used them in conjunction with ATP Higher Power in Mesa for the new ATP-CTP program. Sheppard Air's program has it wired tight! Not difficult to get a very high score using their software and method, and a little effort.

As the FAA changes their exam methodology, I wouldn't wait to see what happens...

What do they call the lowest scoring graduate of medical school? Doctor.

I took the written to get my FAA equivalent after being out of the aircraft for a bit. I didn't study more than an hour or two. Nothing I studied was on the test. My effort yielded a score that passed, but worked the average down from the folks that got in the 90's. I'll never forget the lady at Warbelows telling me hesitantly what my score was. I exclaimed that I nailed it. She gave me the look that she'd never get caught in the same sky as me.

I should have taken it while I was in flight school from the outfits that guarantee passing in a morning. Would have been worth it. They're a dime-a-dozen around Ft. Rucker.

UH-60andC-180 wrote:What do they call the lowest scoring graduate of medical school? Doctor.

I took the written to get my FAA equivalent after being out of the aircraft for a bit. I didn't study more than an hour or two. Nothing I studied was on the test. My effort yielded a score that passed, but worked the average down from the folks that got in the 90's. I'll never forget the lady at Warbelows telling me hesitantly what my score was. I exclaimed that I nailed it. She gave me the look that she'd never get caught in the same sky as me.

I should have taken it while I was in flight school from the outfits that guarantee passing in a morning. Would have been worth it. They're a dime-a-dozen around Ft. Rucker.

Nailed it! Hahahaha!

Did mine at PHPA

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UH-60andC-180 wrote:
Nothing I studied was on the test. My effort yielded a score that passed, but worked the average down from the folks that got in the 90's.

I wonder...

If there is an Exclusive and Secret society of powerful men and women called the " The Seventy Society ".

Like the Fight Club, no one talks about it

It's membership is restricted to Pilots who somewhere in their career have scored a 70 on an FAA exam.

I bet those characters are probably some of the best sticks around