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FAA Instrument Rating Airplane (IRA) practice questions

239 free questions with answers and explanations.

Practice test
  1. 51.A pilot climbs steadily in IMC and then abruptly levels off. Immediately afterward, the pilot experiences a sensation of tumbling backward and instinctively pushes the control yoke forward, resulting in a nose-low, high-speed descent. Which illusion caused this reaction?Aeromedical and ADM
  2. 52.A pilot is flying a localizer back course (LOC BC) approach using a standard VOR/LOC indicator that does not have back-course compensation. During the approach, the CDI needle deflects to the right of center. What action should the pilot take to correct back onto the course?IFR Procedures and Charts
  3. 53.A pilot planning an IFR flight wants to list Miller Field as the alternate airport, but Miller Field has no published instrument approach procedure. Under what condition may this airport be used as an alternate?IFR Procedures and Charts
  4. 54.A METAR reads: KABC 121853Z 18012KT 3SM BR OVC008 22/20 A2992. What is the reported ceiling?Weather and Weather Services
  5. 55.During a rapid transition from level flight into a descent, a pilot notices the vertical speed indicator (VSI) briefly shows a slight climb indication before settling into the correct rate of descent. What causes this momentary lag error?Flight Instruments and Systems
  6. 56.A pilot engages the flight director (FD) for a VOR approach, and command bars appear on the PFD directing a descent and turn. The pilot hand-flies the airplane to follow the command bars, but the autopilot servos have not been engaged. Which statement correctly describes this situation?Flight Instruments and Systems
  7. 57.A technician explains that a glass cockpit aircraft's Attitude and Heading Reference System (AHRS) uses solid-state sensors, such as ring laser or MEMS gyros and accelerometers, instead of traditional spinning-mass gyros. What is the primary operational advantage of this design?Flight Instruments and Systems
  8. 58.A pilot is preparing a single-engine airplane for IFR flight and reviews the equipment list required under 14 CFR 91.205(d). Which item is required for IFR flight but is NOT required for day VFR flight under 91.205(b)?Regulations and Currency
  9. 59.A pilot enters a holding pattern using the parallel entry procedure. After flying outbound on the nonholding side for the appropriate time, what should the pilot do next?IFR Procedures and Charts
  10. 60.A pilot is planning an IFR flight and determines that an alternate airport is required. The destination has no published alternate minimums. What are the standard alternate minimums the pilot must use if the destination airport only has a nonprecision approach available?Regulations and Currency
  11. 61.During flight in severe icing conditions, both the ram air inlet and the drain hole of the pitot tube become completely blocked, while the static ports remain clear and unobstructed. How will the airspeed indicator most likely behave during a subsequent climb?Flight Instruments and Systems
  12. 62.A pilot is flying a nonprecision approach and arrives at the Missed Approach Point (MAP) without the required visual references to continue to landing. What is the pilot required to do?IFR Procedures and Charts
  13. 63.While receiving radar vectors in IMC toward the final approach course, ATC assigns the pilot an altitude that is below the charted Minimum Enroute Altitude (MEA) for that segment of the airway, but above the published Minimum Vectoring Altitude (MVA) for the sector. Is this altitude assignment appropriate?IFR Procedures and Charts
  14. 64.An aircraft's vacuum pump fails in flight. Which flight instrument will continue to operate normally and should be used as the primary bank reference during partial-panel operations?Flight Instruments and Systems
  15. 65.A pilot receives a PIREP reporting large hail beneath a rapidly building cumulonimbus cloud. This report is most indicative of which condition within the storm?Weather and Weather Services
  16. 66.A pilot loses two-way radio communication while flying at an assigned altitude of 6,000 feet. The MEA for the current route segment is also 6,000 feet, but the MEA for the next segment ahead rises to 8,000 feet. Before the failure, ATC had advised the pilot to expect a climb to 7,000 feet after passing a fix farther along the route. What altitude should the pilot fly upon entering the segment where the MEA becomes 8,000 feet, before reaching the fix associated with the expected climb?Regulations and Currency
  17. 67.A pilot wants to list an airport with no published instrument approach procedure as an IFR alternate. Under 14 CFR 91.169(c)(2), what condition allows this airport to qualify as a usable alternate?Regulations and Currency
  18. 68.A pilot enters a bank to the left that gradually increases without the pilot's awareness because the fluid in the semicircular canals has stabilized. When the pilot glances at the attitude indicator and abruptly rolls the wings level, the pilot experiences a strong sensation of banking in the opposite direction even though the wings are now level. Which illusion is being described?Aeromedical and ADM
  19. 69.During an ILS approach in IMC, the pilot receives a glideslope flag indicating the glideslope has failed shortly after passing the outer marker. According to standard procedure, what must the pilot do?IFR Procedures and Charts
  20. 70.While flying straight and level on a heading of West in the Northern Hemisphere, the pilot smoothly accelerates the airplane. Without cross-checking other instruments, the magnetic compass will temporarily indicate a turn toward:Flight Instruments and Systems
  21. 71.During an unpressurized cross-country flight at 14,000 feet MSL without supplemental oxygen, a pilot begins to feel unusually cheerful and self-assured, believes their performance is excellent, and does not notice their own slowed reaction times or degraded judgment. This scenario best illustrates a hazard of which physiological condition?Aeromedical and ADM
  22. 72.A pilot is planning a direct GPS route between two airports that lies entirely off any charted federal airway, over mountainous terrain. The IFR en route low-altitude chart shows an Off-Route Obstruction Clearance Altitude (OROCA) of 12,500 feet for that quadrant. What does this altitude guarantee to the pilot?IFR Procedures and Charts
  23. 73.A private pilot who does not hold an instrument rating agrees to act as safety pilot for an instrument-rated pilot practicing approaches under a view-limiting device in VMC. Which requirement must the safety pilot meet under 14 CFR 91.109?Regulations and Currency
  24. 74.A nonprecision approach chart depicts a step-down fix between the FAF and the MAP, identified using DME. A pilot's aircraft has no DME and cannot identify the step-down fix by any other means authorized on the chart. What MDA must the pilot use?IFR Procedures and Charts
  25. 75.During a nonprecision approach, a pilot notices the approach chart does not depict a Visual Descent Point (VDP). After reaching the MDA with the runway environment in sight, what guidance applies regarding further descent?IFR Procedures and Charts
  26. 76.A pilot is flying a published DME arc as part of an instrument approach. The arc has a radius of 12 DME, and the chart specifies a lead radial to begin the turn from the arc onto the final approach course. Why is the lead radial necessary?IFR Procedures and Charts
  27. 77.An AIRMET Tango is issued for a region a pilot plans to transit at 8,000 feet MSL. What hazard should the pilot expect?Weather and Weather Services
  28. 78.A pilot briefing includes a mention of embedded thunderstorms within a broken to overcast layer along the route of flight. Which statement best describes the operational hazard this presents?Weather and Weather Services
  29. 79.A pilot is planning a flight and reviews a PIREP indicating the freezing level at 6,000 feet, with cloud tops reported at 10,000 feet and an OAT of -8°C at that altitude. Based on this information, what is the most significant hazard between 6,000 and 10,000 feet?Weather and Weather Services
  30. 80.An RNAV (GPS) approach chart depicts a Terminal Arrival Area (TAA) with three sections: straight-in, left base, and right base. A pilot is approaching from a direction that places the aircraft within the right base sector, which shows a minimum altitude of 4,000 feet. What is the primary function of this TAA sector altitude?IFR Procedures and Charts
  31. 81.A pilot receives an IFR clearance that does not include a departure procedure, and no ODP is charted for the departure airport. During preflight planning, the pilot notices rising terrain northeast of the airport. Which statement best describes the pilot's obligation regarding obstacle clearance during the initial climb?IFR Procedures and Charts
  32. 82.During a climb, a pilot notices the altimeter frozen and the VSI reading zero. Troubleshooting reveals a blocked static port with no alternate static source available. Under this condition, as altitude increases, the airspeed indicator will most likely:Flight Instruments and Systems
  33. 83.A pilot flying IFR in IMC experiences a two-way radio communications failure. Shortly afterward, the aircraft exits the clouds into clear VFR conditions. According to 14 CFR 91.185(b), what should the pilot do?Regulations and Currency
  34. 84.An RNAV (GPS) approach chart depicts both LNAV/VNAV and LNAV minimums lines. The pilot's aircraft has an IFR-approved GPS receiver but no WAAS capability and no approved barometric VNAV system. Which minimums must the pilot use for this approach?IFR Procedures and Charts
  35. 85.ATC issues holding instructions that include the phrase 'standard' turns. What does this instruct the pilot to do?Navigation Systems
  36. 86.During a constant-airspeed climb to an assigned altitude, using the control-and-performance method of attitude instrument flying, which instrument is the primary instrument for pitch control?Flight Instruments and Systems
  37. 87.A TAF for a pilot's destination includes the entry 'PROB30 2022 1/2SM TSRA'. How should the pilot interpret this forecast element?Weather and Weather Services
  38. 88.An IFR departure procedure (ODP) does not specify a climb gradient for obstacle clearance. Under TERPS criteria, what climb gradient is assumed to provide standard obstacle clearance during the initial climb?IFR Procedures and Charts
  39. 89.A localizer has a total course width of 5°, and the transmitter antenna is located approximately 5 NM from the outer marker on final approach. What is the approximate total (full-scale) width of the localizer course at the outer marker?Navigation Systems
  40. 90.A pilot planning a flight over a mountain ridge is briefed that surface winds aloft are forecast at 35 knots nearly perpendicular to the ridge line, with a stable air mass in place. Which hazard should the pilot be most prepared to encounter on the leeward side, and what visual cue might confirm its presence?Weather and Weather Services
  41. 91.A pilot operating under 14 CFR Part 91 plans an IFR departure from an airport where the published instrument approach chart lists nonstandard takeoff minimums for the runway to be used. No specific Part 91 regulation requires compliance with these published takeoff minimums. From an operational standpoint, what should the pilot do?IFR Procedures and Charts
  42. 92.A pilot flying solely in actual instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) completes six instrument approaches, holding procedures, and intercepting/tracking of courses, all without using a view-limiting device because the aircraft remains continuously in the clouds. For purposes of 14 CFR 61.57(c) instrument currency, does this flight qualify?Regulations and Currency
  43. 93.ATC issues a pilot holding instructions that include an Expect Further Clearance (EFC) time, and two-way communications remain normal throughout the hold. What is the primary purpose of the EFC time in this situation?IFR Procedures and Charts
  44. 94.A pilot's aircraft is equipped with a non-WAAS IFR-approved GPS receiver. Before departing on a flight that will conclude with an RNAV (GPS) approach, an active NOTAM indicates that a GPS satellite is out of service. What action should the pilot take regarding this approach?IFR Procedures and Charts
  45. 95.Which combination of conditions is most favorable for the formation of radiation fog?Weather and Weather Services
  46. 96.A pilot is briefed that the atmosphere along the route has a steep lapse rate, high surface moisture content, and a triggering mechanism such as a cold front is present. Which additional atmospheric condition, if present, would most likely suppress thunderstorm development despite these favorable ingredients?Weather and Weather Services
  47. 97.A pilot planning an RNAV (GPS) approach checks the RAIM prediction for the destination and finds that RAIM will be unavailable for a 10-minute window centered on the estimated time of arrival. What should the pilot do?Navigation Systems
  48. 98.An en route low-altitude chart depicts a MOCA of 5,000 feet along a Victor airway, with no MEA shown for that segment beyond a certain point. According to 14 CFR Part 91, what does the MOCA guarantee to a pilot flying beyond 22 NM from the VOR?IFR Procedures and Charts
  49. 99.A Convective SIGMET would be issued for which of the following conditions?Weather and Weather Services
  50. 100.A pilot is briefed that a warm front is approaching the departure airport, with widespread stratus clouds and light rain preceding it. What type of fog is most likely to form ahead of the warm front, and why?Weather and Weather Services