Like many pilots, I vividly remember being handed my temporary private pilot certificate with my examiner’s congratulations and his admonishment that it was a “license to learn.” Through the years after, I heard then taught and later often wrote about how the FAA practical test standards (PTS), now the airmen certification standards (ACS), represent a minimum standard of performance and safety, even as I worked my way up to an airline transport pilot (ATP) certificate.
I took a quote from the old PTS booklet, which included a note to examiners that all checkride tasks must be performed so the applicant demonstrates mastery of the aircraft, with the successful outcome of each task never in doubt, as inspiration for my personal Mastery Flight Training, Inc. business name.
