NCAA Flight Instructor case studies

NCAA Flight Instructor · Put your knowledge to work in context.

The NCAA Flight Instructor Knowledge Test is the written examination that the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority uses to assess the regulatory and instructional knowledge of applicants seeking a flight instructor rating. It is aimed at experienced pilots who intend to teach student pilots and to sign off instructional flying, so it tests both aeronautical competence and the ability to explain and correct errors in another pilot's performance. The NCAA Flight Instructor case studies are 5 cases and about 5,123 words.

The ballooned flare: correcting a symptom instead of the cause

Cessna 172P, 2,400 m sealed runway, surface wind 040/05 kt, runway 04. The student has 11.5 hours and this is the fourth circuit lesson.

947 words, about 5 min 2

Density altitude on the plateau: a ratio is not a performance calculation

You are briefing a dual navigation leg out of a plateau aerodrome: elevation 4,300 ft, QNH 1010, OAT 34 °C, runway 2,600 m with a 1.2% upslope, wind calm, no obstacles in the first 2 km, no fuel on the field. Aircraft is a C172S, MTOW 1,157 kg, ramp mass 1,120 kg.

1,016 words, about 5 min 3

Solo endorsement, an expiring medical and a helpful chief instructor

You are the supervising instructor for a student pilot whose first supervised solo is planned for the 20th; it is now the 8th. On checking documents you find: student pilot licence valid; Class 2 medical certificate expiring on the 17th; the student's last three dual flights were with a different instructor, whose logbook entries are signed; the pre-solo written test was passed four months ago with 82%; no solo endorsement has been entered anywhere yet.

1,035 words, about 5 min 4

The plateau at 28 hours: prompt dependency, not a lack of talent

A second-year PPL student has 28 hours over 14 weeks, six hours of budget left, and a skills test provisionally booked in eight weeks. With the instructor prompting each action the student flies accurate circuits, clean stalls and medium turns.

1,043 words, about 5 min 5

Who calls the go-around: unstable approach and hands on the flap lever

Dual navigation exercise returning to a 1,800 m runway, runway 24; wind 210/18 gusting 28 kt; the student's demonstrated crosswind limit so far is about 8 kt. On final, at 600 ft AGL, the aircraft is 12 kt fast and the student says, "I'll just hold it off." At 400 ft the speed is still 78 kt against a target of 65 kt and the sink rate has reached 900 ft/min on a slightly steeper than normal path.

1,082 words, about 5 min