FAA Private Pilot - Balloon, Hot Air (PBH) study guide
FAA Private Pilot - Balloon, Hot Air (PBH) · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The FAA Private Pilot Certificate with a lighter-than-air, hot air balloon rating (PBH) is the entry-level pilot credential for flying hot air balloons. It lets you act as pilot in command of a balloon, carry passengers, and build experience toward a commercial balloon certificate. The FAA Private Pilot - Balloon, Hot Air (PBH) study guide has 9 sections and about 3,794 words.
01Regulations and Airman Privileges/Limitations
The private pilot certificate with a lighter-than-air category and balloon class rating lets you act as pilot in command of a hot air balloon, carry passengers, and use the certificate in connection with a business only in the narrow ways the rule allows. The test probes the limits of those privileges, your currency and medical status, and the Part 91 operating rules that apply to every flight.
474 words, about 2 min02Airspace and Air Traffic Control Procedures
A balloon drifts and cannot hold, turn or go around, so the exam tests whether you plan the airspace before launch and know the visibility, cloud-clearance and equipment rules for each class. Class B: an explicit ATC clearance is required, 3 SM visibility, clear of clouds.
461 words, about 2 min03Weather and Meteorology
This domain asks whether the air is stable, whether the surface wind will stay light, whether fog will form, and whether density altitude will steal lift. The answers come from the METAR, TAF, winds aloft forecast and the temperature-dewpoint relationship.
425 words, about 2 min04Balloon Aerodynamics, Performance, and Weight & Balance
A hot air balloon flies because the air inside the envelope is less dense than the air it displaces. Every performance and weight-and-balance question reduces to that relationship.
400 words, about 2 min05Balloon Systems, Equipment, and Instruments
This domain covers the envelope, basket, burner, fuel system and the handful of instruments a balloon carries. Questions usually ask what a component does or what a reading means.
433 words, about 2 min06Navigation and Flight Planning
Flight planning in a balloon is a wind study. You plan a launch point, a probable track through several wind layers, a set of landing options and a chase crew, accepting that the course is a forecast rather than a heading.
386 words, about 2 min07Human Factors, Physiology, and Aeronautical Decision Making
Human factors questions test judgment before launch and awareness of stresses specific to ballooning: burner noise, heat, dehydration, carbon monoxide and pre-dawn starts. IMSAFE: Illness, Medication, Stress, Alcohol, Fatigue, Emotion.
386 words, about 2 min08Emergency Operations and Safety Procedures
Balloon emergencies are few but time-critical: fire, fuel leaks, a burner that will not light, a valve stuck open, a torn envelope, a high-wind landing and power lines. The exam rewards a sequence: identify the problem, control the fuel, land as soon as practicable, brief the passengers.
426 words, about 2 min09Radio Communications and Light-Gun Signals
Balloons often fly without a radio or transponder, so the exam tests the fallback: light gun signals from a tower, plus standard frequencies and phraseology when you do carry a radio. Steady green: in the air, cleared to land; on the ground, cleared for takeoff.
403 words, about 2 min