Here’s my quick and dirty guide to studying for the Instrument Rating-Airplane oral exam. 

Draw an ILS approach and its components and explain how it operates

Draw a pitot static system and explain how it operates

Draw a vacuum system and explain how it operates

Draw your airplane’s electrical schematics and explain how it operated

Describe human illusions in instrument flight –– Coriolis illusion, the leans, somatogravic illusion, elevator illusion, inversion illusion.

Describe compass errors

Describe pitot/static errors

Describe an airport’s alternate minimums and takeoff minimums

Describe weather charts – area charts, prognostic charts, convective outlook charts, winds aloft forecasts.

Describe the types of VOR checks. For how long is a VOR check valid?

Describe the methods of entering a hold

Describe protocols for lost communications

What are the types of AIRMETS? Describe Airmets Sierra, Tango and Zulu

What are the three types of notams?

Describe the types of in-flight weather advisories that are available?

What are the types of fog?

What are the four basic cloud groups?

What are the stages of a thunderstorm?

Describe the requirements for maintaining currency?

Describe the types of precision vs. nonprecision approaches

Describe each segment of an instrument approach

What is a standard rate turn vs. a half-standard rate turn?

What equipment is required for IFR flight?

What inspections are required for our aircraft?

What are the required ATC readbacks?

What are the mandatory ATC reports?

What are IFR fuel requirements?

Describe reverse sensing.

What airspeed restrictions exist in a holding pattern?

What preflight checks are required for an IFR flight?

Describe the types of icing?

What anti-ice equipment do we have onboard our aircraft?

When is an instrument rating required?

Define: indicated airspeed, calibrated airspeed, true airspeed.

Describe how our gyroscopic instruments work

How many degrees of variation for a single dot represent on a receiver for an ILS approach? For a GPS approach? VOR?

Describe VOR service volumes

How can you tell when a VOR is undergoing maintenance? How do we know it’s operational?

Describe the cone of confusion

When is DME required?

What are the differences between VOR, VORTAC and TACAN?

How does GPS work?

What is WAAS?

What is the useable range of a glideslope?

Describe Obstacle Departure Procedures vs. Standard Instrument Departures

What information should be included in a position report?

Describe a contact approach vs. visual approach

Describe the difference between a Minimum Descent Altitude (MDA) and Decision Altitured (DA)