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FAA Private Pilot - Gyroplane (PRG) study materials
FAA Private Pilot - Gyroplane (PRG) study resources

FAA Private Pilot - Gyroplane (PRG): Human Factors and Aeronautical Decision Making

FAA Private Pilot - Gyroplane (PRG) · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.

All guide sections

Human Factors and Aeronautical Decision Making

Human factors and aeronautical decision making questions test whether you can recognize your own limits and apply a structured process. Expect IMSAFE, PAVE, hazardous attitudes, sensory illusions, and the physiology of altitude and carbon monoxide.

Assessment tools

  • IMSAFE: Illness, Medication, Stress, Alcohol, Fatigue, Emotion, a personal go/no-go checklist.
  • PAVE: Pilot, Aircraft, enVironment, External pressures, a preflight risk assessment.
  • DECIDE: Detect, Estimate, Choose, Identify, Do, Evaluate, an in-flight decision model.
  • The 3P model: Perceive, Process, Perform.

Hazardous attitudes

  • Anti-authority (don't tell me): follow the rules.
  • Impulsivity (do it now): not so fast.
  • Invulnerability (it won't happen to me): it could happen to me.
  • Macho (I can do it): taking chances is foolish.
  • Resignation (what's the use): I'm not helpless.

Physiology and illusions

  • Hypoxia begins subtly above 8,000 ft; symptoms include euphoria, tingling, and poor judgment. Use supplemental oxygen per the rules and descend if symptoms appear.
  • Carbon monoxide from exhaust causes headache, dizziness, and confusion; heater use in cold weather is a common source. Shut off the heater and open vents.
  • Spatial disorientation: somatogravic illusion, where acceleration feels like a climb; black-hole approach with no visual horizon at night; and leans.
  • Fatigue, dehydration, and over-the-counter medications degrade performance long before you notice.

Worked example

A pilot with a head cold, two hours of sleep, and a passenger waiting at the destination feels pressure to launch into marginal MVFR conditions. PAVE exposes four risks: illness, fatigue, marginal weather, and external pressure. The correct decision is to cancel; the get-there-itis is the hazard, not the weather alone.

Traps

Treating ADM as common sense rather than a checklist; ignoring mild hypoxia or CO symptoms; letting a passenger's schedule drive the go/no-go; and assuming low gyroplane altitudes make illusions impossible.