Common Deficiencies

As the Private Pilot and Sport Pilot certificates are both entry-level pilot certificates, they share common failure points. 

• Weather information: Regardless of the weather source you use for your briefing (call, online, EFB), be prepared to talk about your process of understanding the weather picture. A good preflight briefing starts with a big-picture understanding of the weather in the flight area (air masses, fronts, etc.), and gets more granular from there. You need to be able to demonstrate to your examiner that you can identify and avoid areas of hazardous weather. What prompts the issuance of AIRMETs and SIGMETs, and what bearing do they have on you as a pilot of a small aircraft? Once enroute, how do you plan to get weather updates? What are the limitations of various enroute weather sources (ADS-B, FSS, etc.)? Where might you go to find information on weather products if you forgot a symbol on a Surface Analysis Chart or couldn’t remember a particular METAR or TAF abbreviation?
• Cross-country planning: Create your flight plan in the way that you would if you were flying it as a real-world flight and be prepared to justify your routing decisions. Be able to describe the fuel requirements for the flight, both the amount needed to make the flight as planned as well as the legal (and practical) reserves required. Think about contingencies too; what happens if a headwind is stronger than forecast? Have you flight-planned in the opportunity for an alternate or fuel stop? What DO all those symbols on the chart mean? If you don’t know one, where can you find out what it signifies? What all is in the Chart Supplement, and what do you need to know about an airport you plan to visit? 
• Airspace, airspace, airspace: Most applicants are actually fairly good with Class airspace (perhaps because of the emphasis it gets during ground school). Oftentimes, though, special use airspace (MOA, R-, P-, etc.) cause issues, especially for those who have not directly experienced flying around it. Your certificate grants you permission to fly anywhere in the United States, so you’ll need to be prepared for any type of airspace you may encounter. This applies for quasi-airspace too, such as wildlife refuges and wilderness areas that may have altitude restrictions or altitude suggestions. Be able to identify the airspace along the proposed cross-country route. If your flight plan takes you into busy airspace, know the equipment and communications requirements for entry, and be ready to discuss the communications sequence you will use to enter the airspace. Oh, and VFR cloud clearance and visibility minimums, of course. 
• Aerodynamics: Don’t be surprised to be asked a few questions about the basics of flight and aerodynamics. At the private level, you’re expected to have sufficient knowledge of how the aircraft works to be able to operate it safely. Yes, you know that an airplane turns when you “bank and yank,” but what forces are involved here?
• Minimums: Basic VFR weather minimums are important; but so are other minimums…minimum safe altitudes (in different locations), minimum fuel reserves required…
• Airworthiness requirements: Be able to quickly locate and explain recent maintenance entries, including but not limited to annual inspections, 100-hour inspections, and AD compliance. What can you as a certificated pilot do in terms of maintenance? Can you change oil? Wheel bearings? An instrument in the panel?
• Operation of systems (and common failure modes): You don’t need to know your systems like a mechanic, but you do need to be able to describe the basics to demonstrate that you understand how they function, and how they fail. System specifics vary from airplane to airplane; be ready to describe any system that is needed for flight in your airplane. For example, what does your aircraft’s electrical system look like? What does the alternator do? How many volts does it produce? What happens if it fails and stops outputting? How much reserve power do you have? Can you reset the alternator? How many times will you try? Etc. 
• Weight and balance: Make sure you have the most current weight and balance for your airplane and that it correctly reflects the equipment installed. If you rely on an EFB to do your weight and balance calculations, the data used must match the actual weight and balance for your airplane. Using the default profile for your aircraft make and model (and not the actual W&B data for your aircraft) is grounds for checkride failure.
• EFBs: Speaking of EFBs… If you want to use an EFB on your checkride, be prepared to demonstrate mastery of the device and its functions. Be prepared to do things like make changes to fuel and passenger loading (for W&B), explain the fuel burn calculated by the EFB, demonstrate your ability to add an intermediate stop on your flight plan, etc.
• Performance: As noted above, your certificate gives you license to go anywhere and everywhere, even places you shouldn’t. If the cross-country scenario presented would put you in a place where your aircraft’s performance does not provide an acceptable margin of safety, say so!
• Stall and spin awareness: Be ready to discuss stalls and spins, including what causes them and the places where they most commonly occur (and are most dangerous). What is the recommended spin recovery procedure?
• Sport Pilot limitations and endorsements (Sport Pilot only): The Sport certificate is a great pathway to get in the air, especially where a Private certificate isn’t an option. However, it does come with some restrictions. Be prepared to discuss the additional limitations placed on a Sport Pilot, as well as how you might be able to get some limitations removed (e.g., flight into Class D airspace). LSAs also have slightly different maintenance paperwork requirements. Know what the LSA equivalent to an AD is.