Instrument Rating
Flight Test Theory Guide
(Aeroplane)

The Gap Between the IREX and the Flight Test

You've studied for and passed the IREX — a substantial exam in its own right. You've been flying instrument approaches, holds, and procedures with your instructor. But the oral examination on flight test day is a different beast. It's not open-book, it's not multiple choice, and the examiner expects you to articulate your understanding in a structured, professional conversation using scenario-based questions that test your reasoning, not just your recall.

The ground component covers everything from rating privileges and IPC recency requirements to alternate planning, take-off and landing minima, circling approaches, communication failure procedures, Category B speeds, flight tolerances, GNSS operations, and non-technical skills assessment. The examiner uses a funnelling approach — starting broad and drilling into specifics based on your answers. Most candidates prepare thoroughly for the flight component but underestimate the ground component. They know the material somewhere in the back of their mind, but when the examiner gives them a scenario involving alternate requirements at night with a provisional TAF and asks them to walk through the decision, the gaps show up fast.

This guide exists to close that gap. It coaches you on how the examiner will test you, the kinds of scenarios they'll use, what a strong answer looks like, and where candidates commonly trip up — across every knowledge area the examiner will cover.

What's Inside the Guide

Episode Guide

• Episode 1 — Introduction and What to Expect on Test Day The regulatory framework, structure of the ground component, how the examiner uses competency-based assessment, the funnelling question technique, the differences between the IR, IPC, and PIR test types, and what makes a well-prepared candidate. Covers the 45-60 minute knowledge assessment format and how to approach the oral examination as a professional conversation.
• Episode 2 — Privileges and Limitations of the Instrument Rating Core privileges under CASR 61.855, IFR and NVFR authorisations, general limitations including the three-year validity period, single pilot IFR authorisation requirements, circling approach authorisation, and how the examiner will use scenario-based questioning to test whether you can apply the rules rather than just recite them.
• Episode 3 — IPC Requirements and Recency IPC validity and the five ways to satisfy the IPC requirement, early renewal provisions, consequences of IPC failure, aircraft type specificity, approach type recency and the categorisation of approaches by type, the minimum approaches question, the HSI versus CDI trap, single pilot IFR recency, and night and passenger recency requirements.
• Episode 4 — Aircraft Equipment Requirements IFR equipment requirements under CAO 20.18 for charter and RPT versus private operations, redundancy requirements, autopilot requirements and exceptions, aircraft lighting, the Assignment of Altitude Indicator, and scenario-based equipment failure questions the examiner will use to test whether you know the equipment baseline for your operation type.
• Episode 5 — Alternate Requirements The ACVWPLS mnemonic and all seven factors that drive alternate planning — approach type, cloud, visibility, wind, provisional forecasts, lighting, and storms. Special alternate minima, NVFR alternate requirements, suitable aerodrome requirements, and multiple examiner scenarios that test your ability to integrate all factors into a single planning decision. This is one of the most heavily tested topics in the ground component.
• Episode 6 — Take-off and Landing Minima Take-off minima requirements, landing minima at various aerodrome types, QNH adjustments to minima, the difference between calculated minima and published minima, alternate aerodrome minima, and scenario questions that test whether you can determine the correct minima for a given situation.
• Episode 7 — Descending Below Lowest Safe Altitude and Visual Approaches The DVIVVC mnemonic and all six authorised reasons for descending below LSA or MSA, the critical detail about the Initial Approach Fix, calculating Lowest Safe Altitude, visual approach requirements by day (four conditions) and by night (including the extended distance criteria for PAPI, ILS, and specific runway equipment), with multiple scenario questions testing the night visual approach distance limits.
• Episode 8 — Circling Approaches and Missed Approach Procedures Circling area dimensions for Category B aircraft, descent below circling MDA, no-circling sectors, maintaining 300 feet obstacle clearance during circling, mandatory missed approach situations, the missed approach procedure sequence, RAIM and missed approach, and examiner scenarios that test both circling technique and missed approach decision-making.
• Episode 9 — Communication Failure Procedures The complete communication failure sequence from immediate actions (squawk 7600, listen out, transmit blind) through VMC and IMC decision paths, clearance limit procedures, the three-minute and two-minute hold distinctions, tracking to destination, approach at destination using circling minima, Class D aerodrome entry during communication failure, and emergency fuel scenarios. This is a topic where the examiner expects a systematic, step-by-step answer.
• Episode 10 — Category B Aircraft Speeds, Flight Tolerances, and Non-Technical Skills Category B speed ranges for initial and intermediate approach, final approach, circling, missed approach, and holding. Flight tolerances from Schedule 8 of the Part 61 MOS (altitude, airspeed, heading, tracking, and ILS deflection limits), the critical concept of sustained deviation, and a comprehensive walkthrough of NTS 1 (Manage Safe Flight) and NTS 2 (Threat and Error Management), including how to make your non-technical skills visible to the examiner.
• Episode 11 — Flight Planning Requirements Documentation the examiner expects to see, altimeter accuracy checks (the 60-foot, 75-foot thresholds and what happens at each), RAIM prediction requirements, weather interpretation (FM, BECMG, TEMPO, INTER, PROB, provisional, and SPECI), and how to connect TAF terminology to practical fuel and alternate planning decisions.
• Episode 12 — Airspace Classifications and ATC Procedures A detailed comparison of Class A, C, D, E, and G airspace — the separation services provided in each, clearance requirements, traffic information limitations, and VFR minima in Class D. ATC heading change procedures, level change timing (the one-minute rule in controlled versus uncontrolled airspace), and examiner scenarios that test your understanding of airspace transitions.
• Episode 13 — GNSS Operations and Hazardous Weather GNSS database requirements, RAIM requirements during approaches, TSO C129 versus C145/C146 limitations and their impact on alternate planning, Performance Based Navigation and RNP 2. Then icing considerations, thunderstorm avoidance, turbulence penetration speed, and how the examiner tests practical decision-making around hazardous weather rather than textbook definitions.
• Episode 14 — Failure Assessment, Test Day Preparation, and Final Summary The two levels of failure (safety-critical versus non safety-critical), the 28-day credit system for partial retests, the complete documentation checklist, common areas where candidates struggle, what the examiner expects from you as a professional, how to handle errors during the test, and practical tips for before, during, and after the ground component.