FAA Aviation Mechanic Airframe (AMA) practice questions
300 free questions with answers and explanations.
- 1.An aircraft is cruising at 35,000 feet where ambient atmospheric pressure is 3.46 psi. The cabin pressurization system maintains a cabin altitude of 8,000 feet, where atmospheric pressure is 10.92 psi. What is the cabin pressure differential?Fuel, Cabin and Ice Control Systems
- 2.A technician is inspecting an electrically heated windshield anti-ice system on a transport-category aircraft. The system uses a conductive film embedded in the windshield laminate along with a temperature sensor and controller. What is the primary purpose of the temperature sensor and controller in this system?Fuel, Cabin and Ice Control Systems
- 3.A section of hydraulic tubing between two shutoff valves is isolated with both valves closed while the aircraft sits in direct sunlight. A technician later finds that fluid pressure in that isolated segment has risen significantly above normal system pressure. Which component is specifically designed to prevent damage in this situation?Hydraulic and Pneumatic Systems
- 4.A technician wants to inspect an unpainted aluminum wing skin for small surface cracks around rivet holes without disassembling the structure or removing paint. Which nondestructive inspection method is best suited for this task?Airframe Structures
- 5.A technician is inspecting the fuel system of a light aircraft and notes a small vent line running from the top of the fuel tank to the outside atmosphere. What is the primary purpose of this vent system?Fuel, Cabin and Ice Control Systems
- 6.A technician is inspecting the pressurization system of an aircraft and finds a spring-loaded valve designed to open if the outside atmospheric pressure becomes greater than the cabin pressure, such as during a rapid descent. This valve prevents structural damage from an inward-acting pressure differential. This valve is the:Fuel, Cabin and Ice Control Systems
- 7.A line technician needs to manually verify the fuel quantity in a large transport aircraft's wing tank because the capacitance-type indicating system is temporarily inoperative. Which device is inserted through a calibrated opening in the tank to physically measure fuel level?Fuel, Cabin and Ice Control Systems
- 8.During a hydraulic system functional check, a technician notes that system pressure repeatedly spikes above the normal operating range before dropping back down, even though the pump and regulator appear to be functioning correctly. Which component is most likely malfunctioning?Hydraulic and Pneumatic Systems
- 9.A pilot's airspeed indicator, corrected for instrument and position error to give calibrated airspeed (CAS), reads 150 knots while flying at 8,000 feet pressure altitude in standard atmospheric conditions. Using the general rule of thumb that true airspeed increases approximately 2% of CAS per 1,000 feet of altitude, what is the approximate true airspeed?Airframe Electrical and Instruments
- 10.During a teardown inspection, a technician finds localized corrosion trapped between two riveted aluminum skin lap joints where moisture was retained between faying surfaces. The corrosion products have built up enough to cause visible bulging of the skin. Which type of corrosion is this?Airframe Inspection
- 11.A line technician drains the fuel filter/water separator sump on a turbine aircraft before flight and finds a small amount of water. What is the primary purpose of this component?Fuel, Cabin and Ice Control Systems
- 12.A pneumatic wing deicing boot system uses engine bleed air and vacuum to alternately inflate and deflate tube sections along the leading edge in a repeating pattern. Which component controls the timing and sequence of air delivery to the individual inflatable tube sections?Hydraulic and Pneumatic Systems
- 13.During troubleshooting of an exhaust gas temperature (EGT) indicating system, a technician needs to replace a section of damaged thermocouple lead wire. Which characteristic of the replacement wire is most critical to maintain accurate readings?Airframe Electrical and Instruments
- 14.A technician observes that on a particular transport-category aircraft, the hydraulic pump runs continuously whenever the engine is operating, and fluid can be felt flowing warm through the return line even when no flight control or landing gear selector is being actuated. This is characteristic of which type of hydraulic system design?Hydraulic and Pneumatic Systems
- 15.A transport category aircraft's primary flight controls are moved by hydraulic power control units. As the pilot moves the control column, an internal metering valve directs pressurized fluid to move a piston connected to the control surface. As the piston moves, a mechanical linkage repositions the metering valve back toward neutral. What is this self-correcting arrangement called?Hydraulic and Pneumatic Systems
- 16.During a 100-hour inspection, a technician cleans and inspects a main landing gear wheel bearing. Which condition would require rejection of the bearing?Landing Gear Systems
- 17.A technician finds cracking in a high-strength steel landing gear component that had been under sustained tensile stress from an improperly torqued fitting and was exposed to a corrosive environment over time. The cracks propagate perpendicular to the applied stress with little surface deformation. What is the most likely cause?Airframe Inspection
- 18.During a pressurization system inspection, a technician is asked to identify the component that primarily regulates cabin pressure by controlling the rate of air discharged overboard from the pressurized fuselage.Fuel, Cabin and Ice Control Systems
- 19.Which landing gear structural member primarily absorbs and transmits fore-and-aft (drag) loads generated during taxi, takeoff roll, and landing to the aircraft structure?Landing Gear Systems
- 20.A technician inspecting a control surface hinge bracket finds fine, reddish-brown powder (aluminum oxide) accumulating between two closely fitted parts that experience small-amplitude vibratory movement against each other. What condition does this describe?Airframe Inspection
- 21.A technician examining a wing box beam spar notes that the vertical member connecting the upper and lower spar caps is thin sheet metal reinforced with stiffeners. What is the primary function of this vertical web?Airframe Structures
- 22.A technician is explaining to a trainee how the cockpit hydraulic system pressure gauge displays system pressure. The gauge uses a curved, flattened metal tube that tends to straighten as pressure inside it increases, moving a pointer through a gear mechanism. What type of pressure-sensing element is this?Hydraulic and Pneumatic Systems
- 23.A technician is inspecting the area around rivet holes on an aluminum wing skin for subsurface fatigue cracks without disassembling the structure. Which NDT method is most appropriate for this application?Airframe Inspection
- 24.A technician performs a hydrometer check on a fully serviced, fully charged lead-acid battery and finds the electrolyte specific gravity reading is only 1.150, corrected to standard temperature. What does this reading most likely indicate?Airframe Electrical and Instruments
- 25.A technician is installing new wiring for a dual-redundant flight control system with a primary and a backup electrical path. Whenever practical, the technician routes the wire bundles for the primary and backup systems through physically separate areas of the airframe rather than bundling them together. What is the primary reason for this separation?Airframe Electrical and Instruments
- 26.A technician needs to apply 100 in-lbs of final torque to a fastener but must use a torque wrench with an extension that increases the effective lever arm. The torque wrench handle length (pivot to grip) is 10 inches, and the extension adds 2 inches beyond the wrench's drive, giving a total effective length of 12 inches. Using the formula TW = TA x (L / (L + A)), what torque wrench reading (TW) should the technician set to achieve the correct 100 in-lb final torque (TA) at the fastener?Airframe Structures
- 27.A technician overhauling a main landing gear brake assembly finds alternating rotating and stationary friction discs that are compressed together by hydraulic pistons to produce braking force. This describes which type of brake?Landing Gear Systems
- 28.A technician needs to install a self-locking nut on a bracket located near an exhaust duct where operating temperatures regularly exceed 250°F. Which type of self-locking nut is appropriate for this high-temperature location?Airframe Structures
- 29.A technician is troubleshooting the landing gear system on a retractable-gear aircraft. The system is designed to prevent inadvertent gear retraction while the aircraft is on the ground and to disable ground spoiler deployment while airborne. Which component provides the signal used by these interlock systems?Airframe Electrical and Instruments
- 30.A brushless AC alternator on a modern aircraft must supply direct current to charge the battery and power the DC bus. Which component converts the alternator's three-phase AC output into DC before it reaches the bus?Airframe Electrical and Instruments
- 31.A brushless AC alternator has three phase windings connected in a Y (wye) configuration. Each phase winding produces 115 volts AC. What is the approximate line-to-line voltage available at the alternator output?Airframe Electrical and Instruments
- 32.A technician is inspecting an electrothermal propeller deicing system on a turboprop aircraft. The system uses electrical heating elements bonded to the propeller blade leading edges, energized in a cyclic pattern controlled by a timer. What is the purpose of cycling the heating elements rather than energizing them continuously?Fuel, Cabin and Ice Control Systems
- 33.A pilot of a light aircraft not equipped with automatic ice detection uses a small light mounted on the fuselage to check the wing leading edge during a night flight in visible moisture. What is the purpose of this device?Fuel, Cabin and Ice Control Systems
- 34.During a landing gear retraction functional test, a technician verifies the sequence of switch actuations. In a properly rigged system, which sequence correctly describes normal gear retraction after liftoff?Landing Gear Systems
- 35.A pilot preparing for a flight above 18,000 feet MSL sets the Kollsman window on the altimeter to 29.92 inches of mercury. What does this setting represent?Airframe Electrical and Instruments
- 36.A hydraulic system uses a constant-delivery (fixed displacement) engine-driven pump along with a pump unloading (pressure control) valve. When system pressure rises to the cutout setting of 3,000 psi, what does the unloading valve do?Hydraulic and Pneumatic Systems
- 37.A technician is inspecting a hydraulic power pack that includes an engine-driven pump. The pump maintains constant output pressure by internally varying the stroke of its pistons based on system demand, rather than relying on an external relief valve to bypass excess flow. What type of pump is this?Hydraulic and Pneumatic Systems
- 38.A technician is asked to retain maintenance records for an aircraft. Per 14 CFR 91.417, how long must the operator retain records of the last inspection status showing compliance with all applicable airworthiness directives?Airframe Inspection
- 39.A technician suspects hidden corrosion and voids inside a bonded honeycomb wing panel but cannot access the interior without destructive disassembly. Which NDT method uses penetrating radiation to image the internal structure without cutting the part open?Airframe Inspection
- 40.A technician is rigging the aileron control cables on a light airplane and uses a cable tensiometer to check cable tension. Which factor must the technician also consider when interpreting the tensiometer reading for an accurate rigging value?Airframe Inspection
- 41.A technician inspecting an aluminum wing skin near a fuel vent finds numerous small, isolated cavities on the surface with a white or gray powdery deposit at the bottom of each cavity. There are no fine intergranular cracks or thread-like filaments present. Which type of corrosion is most consistent with this finding?Airframe Structures
- 42.During a scheduled inspection of a composite control surface with a honeycomb core, a technician notices a slight bulging or 'pillowing' effect in the skin between core cells. What is the most likely cause and appropriate follow-up action?Airframe Inspection
- 43.During a walkaround, a technician notices the reservoir on a hydraulic system has a small sight gauge and is connected to a bleed-air line from the pneumatic system. What is the primary purpose of pressurizing the hydraulic reservoir with bleed air?Hydraulic and Pneumatic Systems
- 44.A pneumatic deicer boot system on a reciprocating engine aircraft is being tested on the ground. What component sequences the inflation and deflation of the individual boot sections during operation?Fuel, Cabin and Ice Control Systems
- 45.An aircraft is flying a heading of due east and begins a gentle acceleration while maintaining altitude in the Northern Hemisphere. Due to acceleration error inherent in the magnetic compass, the compass will temporarily indicate a turn toward which direction?Airframe Electrical and Instruments
- 46.A technician is servicing an aircraft electrical system in which the engine-driven generators produce 115-volt, 400-Hz AC power. Which component converts this AC power into 28-volt DC power to charge the battery and supply DC buses?Airframe Electrical and Instruments
- 47.During a preflight in freezing rain, a pilot activates the windshield anti-icing fluid system on a light twin. How does this system primarily prevent ice accumulation on the windshield?Fuel, Cabin and Ice Control Systems
- 48.A technician finds a shallow dent in the leading edge skin of an aluminum wing during a scheduled inspection. Before determining if the damage is airworthy, which document should the technician consult to establish allowable damage limits?Airframe Inspection
- 49.A technician inspecting an older fabric-covered airplane's fuselage finds a framework of welded steel tubing arranged in triangular patterns. The fabric skin covering the framework provides only an aerodynamic shape and streamlining, with no structural load-carrying function. This fuselage structure is best described as which type?Airframe Structures
- 50.A technician replacing a main landing gear shock strut assembly must correctly install the component that transmits steering loads to the wheel while allowing the strut piston to extend and compress. This component is theLanding Gear Systems