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Commercial Pilot Oral Exam Questions: 22 to Practice, Mapped to the ACS (2026)

22 commercial pilot checkride oral questions grouped by ACS area, with short answers, the 14 CFR section or ACS standard to check, and AI tools to drill them.

Updated 2026-11-01 · Facts and prices checked against vendor sites

The commercial oral leans hard on one theme: what you can and can't legally do for money. Examiners build scenarios around privileges, limitations, the 100-hour inspection and the line between a commercial pilot and a charter operator, then check that you understand the commercial maneuvers you're about to fly. Below are 22 questions grouped by the areas of the Commercial Pilot Airplane ACS (FAA-S-ACS-7B), effective since May 31, 2024. Each has a short answer and the source to check.

Updated November 1, 2026. Regulation text was checked against the current eCFR and the maneuver standards against the FAA's published ACS PDF today. Answers are study summaries for airplane single-engine land; read the cited section before your checkride.

Privileges and limitations (CA.I.A)

  1. What does a commercial certificate let you do? Act as pilot in command of an aircraft carrying persons or property for compensation or hire, and act as PIC for compensation or hire, provided you're qualified under Part 61 and the other parts that apply to the operation. Check: 14 CFR 61.133(a).
  2. So can you start your own charter service? No. Holding yourself out to carry people or property for compensation makes you an operator, and that needs an operating certificate (for example Part 135) under Part 119. Your pilot certificate lets you be paid to fly; it doesn't make you an air carrier or commercial operator. Check: 14 CFR 1.1 ("commercial operator"), Part 119, and FAA AC 120-12A on private versus common carriage.
  3. Name commercial flying you can do without a Part 119 certificate. Part 119 doesn't apply (with limits for large aircraft) to student instruction, ferry or training flights, aerial work such as crop dusting, banner towing, aerial photography or survey, firefighting and pipeline or powerline patrol, and certain nonstop commercial air tours within 25 statute miles under a 91.147 letter of authorization. Check: 14 CFR 119.1(e).
  4. You don't hold an instrument rating. What's on your certificate? "The carriage of passengers for hire in airplanes on cross-country flights in excess of 50 nautical miles or at night is prohibited." It comes off once you meet the instrument rating requirements in the same category and class. Check: 14 CFR 61.133(b)(1).
  5. How is that different from what a private pilot may do for pay? A private pilot can't act as PIC carrying passengers or property for compensation, but may act as PIC for compensation in connection with a business or job if the flight is only incidental to it and carries no passengers or property for compensation, among other narrow exceptions. Check: 14 CFR 61.113(a) and (b).
  6. What medical do you need, and how long does it last? At least a second-class medical to exercise commercial privileges (balloons and gliders aside). For commercial operations it expires at the end of the 12th month after the month of the exam; after that it still works for private privileges for the normal private duration based on your age at the exam. Check: 14 CFR 61.23(a)(2) and (d).
  7. Walk me through your commercial aeronautical experience. For airplane single-engine: 250 hours total, including 100 in powered aircraft (50 in airplanes), 100 PIC (50 in airplanes) and 50 cross-country PIC (10 in airplanes); 20 hours of training with 10 of instrument training and 10 in a complex, turbine or technically advanced airplane; a 2-hour day and a 2-hour night cross-country of more than 100 NM straight-line; 3 hours of test prep within the preceding 2 calendar months; and 10 hours solo or performing PIC duties with an instructor, including a 300 NM cross-country with landings at three points, one at least 250 NM straight-line from the start, plus the night requirements. Check: 14 CFR 61.129(a).
  8. Complex, high-performance or technically advanced: what's the difference? Complex means retractable gear, flaps and a controllable-pitch propeller (or FADEC). High-performance means an engine of more than 200 horsepower. A TAA has an electronic PFD, an MFD with a GPS moving map and a two-axis autopilot integrated with navigation, with both displays continuously visible. Complex and high-performance each need training and a one-time logbook endorsement to act as PIC. Check: 14 CFR 61.1, 14 CFR 61.31(e) and (f), and 61.129(j).
  9. When do you need a high-altitude endorsement? To act as PIC of a pressurized aircraft with a service ceiling or maximum operating altitude (whichever is lower) above 25,000 feet MSL, after ground and flight training. Check: 14 CFR 61.31(g).

Airworthiness (CA.I.B)

  1. When does an airplane need a 100-hour inspection? When it carries any person other than a crewmember for hire, or when someone gives flight instruction for hire in an airplane that person provides. An annual counts as a 100-hour, and the 100 hours may be exceeded by up to 10 hours only to reach a place where the inspection can be done; the overflight counts against the next 100 hours. Check: 14 CFR 91.409(b).
  2. A student brings their own airplane for paid lessons. Does it need a 100-hour? Not for the instruction alone: the instruction trigger in 91.409(b) applies when the instructor gives flight instruction for hire in an airplane the instructor provides. If the instructor or school provides the airplane, it does. The annual still applies either way. Check: 14 CFR 91.409(a) and (b).
  3. Is the annual alone enough for a personal flight with friends who split costs? For a non-hire flight, 91.409(a) requires an annual within the preceding 12 calendar months; the 100-hour applies only to the for-hire and instruction cases in (b). (Cost sharing itself is limited by 61.113(c).) Check: 14 CFR 91.409(a).

High-altitude and performance (CA.I, CA.X)

  1. When do the crew and passengers need oxygen? Required crew must use it above 12,500 feet up to 14,000 feet cabin altitude for any time beyond 30 minutes, and at all times above 14,000 feet; above 15,000 feet every occupant must be provided with oxygen. Check: 14 CFR 91.211(a).
  2. How do you plan a commercial cross-country for a paying passenger? Expect a full scenario: weather, performance and weight and balance from the POH, fuel, NOTAMs and alternates, with the 61.133(b) limitation if you have no instrument rating. Have your numbers and your go/no-go reasoning ready. Check: 14 CFR 91.103 and your POH/AFM.

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Commercial maneuvers: what the examiner looks for (CA.IV, CA.V, CA.IX)

  1. Steep turns: standards? A coordinated 360 with about 50 degrees of bank, in both directions, at the manufacturer's recommended speed or no more than VA, holding altitude within 100 feet, airspeed within 10 knots and bank within 5 degrees, rolling out within 10 degrees of the entry heading. Know why the airplane wants to overbank. Check: ACS CA.V.A.
  2. Steep spiral? At least three 360-degree turns around a ground reference at a constant radius, never more than 60 degrees of bank, correcting for wind, from an altitude that allows the whole series. Check: ACS CA.V.B.
  3. Chandelle? A maximum-performance climbing 180 starting no lower than 1,500 feet AGL: about 30 degrees of bank, constant bank with decreasing airspeed to the 90-degree point, then a constant-rate rollout at constant pitch, finishing at the 180-degree point within 10 degrees, just above stall speed, without stalling. Check: ACS CA.V.C.
  4. Lazy eight? Coordinated, symmetrical loops no lower than 1,500 feet AGL, about 30 degrees of bank at the steepest point, with constantly changing pitch, roll and airspeed; at each 180-degree point be within 100 feet of entry altitude, 10 knots of entry airspeed and 10 degrees of heading. Check: ACS CA.V.D.
  5. Eights on pylons: what's pivotal altitude? The altitude at which the line of sight to the pylon stays fixed in a turn. It depends on groundspeed, so it rises with a tailwind and falls with a headwind, and you change altitude rather than bank to hold the pylon. Bank must not exceed 40 degrees. Check: ACS CA.V.E and the Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3).
  6. Power-off 180 accuracy landing? From abeam the touchdown point at the specified altitude, power to idle, glide to a touchdown at a proper pitch attitude on or within 200 feet beyond the specified point, with no side drift. Go around if you can't make the tolerance. Check: ACS CA.IV.M.
  7. Emergency descent? Bank between 30 and 45 degrees to keep positive load factor, the configuration and airspeed for the scenario within +0/-10 knots, then level off within 100 feet of the specified altitude. Check: ACS CA.IX.A.
  8. What's the risk in all of these? Each ACS task lists risk elements, such as collision hazards, low-altitude maneuvering and stall/spin, distraction and energy management. Be ready to say how you'd mitigate them, not just fly the numbers.

How to drill these with AI

Several AI oral examiners we list cover the commercial ACS. Use them to get asked follow-ups the way a DPE would, then check every answer against the source:

Prices and free tiers change; see our pilot AI app prices page and the side-by-side in best AI checkride oral prep apps. Earlier in training? Use the private pilot oral exam questions or the instrument rating oral exam questions.

Not legal advice. Answers summarize the regulations and ACS as of November 1, 2026; your CFI, the examiner and the FAA are the authorities. Cockpit Index isn't paid by any app on this page.

Frequently asked questions

Can a commercial pilot fly charter?

Not on their own. A commercial certificate lets you be paid to act as pilot in command, but holding out to carry passengers or property for hire requires an operating certificate under Part 119 (for example Part 135). You can fly for a certificated operator, or do operations Part 119 exempts, such as banner towing, aerial photography or ferry flights (14 CFR 119.1(e)).

What is the commercial pilot limitation without an instrument rating?

Your certificate will say the carriage of passengers for hire in airplanes on cross-country flights of more than 50 nautical miles or at night is prohibited. It's removed when you meet the instrument rating requirements in the same category and class (14 CFR 61.133(b)(1)).

What medical certificate does a commercial pilot need?

At least a second-class medical to exercise commercial privileges in airplanes. For commercial operations it expires at the end of the 12th month after the month of the exam, then remains valid for private privileges for the usual private duration (14 CFR 61.23).

What are the steep turn standards on the commercial checkride?

About 50 degrees of bank for a full 360 in each direction, holding altitude within 100 feet, airspeed within 10 knots and bank within 5 degrees, and rolling out within 10 degrees of the entry heading (Commercial Pilot ACS, FAA-S-ACS-7B, task CA.V.A).

Which AI apps help with the commercial pilot oral?

AI oral examiners that list Commercial coverage include MockDPE, CheckrideReady, PocketDPE, AVIQ, Flight Levels Checkride Prep and PilotPrep. Use them for practice and verify every answer against 14 CFR and the ACS.

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