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Pilot Exams · Subject guide

Flight Performance and Planning Practice Questions for PPL, CPL and ATPL

Flight Performance and Planning practice for UCAA pilot exams: mass and balance, take-off and landing performance, fuel planning and flight plans.

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By Ariguma Aviation editorial team · Published · Last reviewed

What Flight Performance and Planning covers

Flight Performance and Planning (FPP) answers the questions every pilot must settle before departure. Is the aircraft within its mass and centre-of-gravity limits? Is the runway long enough today? How much fuel is needed, including reserves? Which route, altitude and alternate make sense? The subject combines mass and balance, performance data and the practical steps of preparing a flight.

Why it matters operationally

Performance mistakes are unforgiving. An aircraft loaded outside its balance limits may be difficult or impossible to control, and an overweight take-off on a hot day from a high-elevation airfield can use far more runway than expected. Running short of fuel is an emergency that good planning almost always prevents. FPP gives you the discipline to check these things systematically, every flight.

How the emphasis changes from PPL to ATPL

UCAA lists Flight Performance and Planning for the PPL, CPL and ATPL. At PPL level the focus is on single-engine light aircraft: loading graphs, simple performance charts and basic fuel planning. CPL questions add more complex aircraft and stricter commercial planning. At ATPL level the subject reflects transport operations, with more detailed performance requirements, more involved fuel policies and the planning that supports multi-crew flights.

Common difficulties

  • Reading graphs accurately. Small errors in following a line can move the answer to a wrong option.
  • Units. Mixing kilograms and pounds, litres and gallons, or feet and metres is a frequent trap.
  • Losing track. Multi-step problems need tidy working so that one slip does not spoil the result.

How to practise

Use Ariguma study mode to work through each topic and read the explanation for every calculation, even when your answer is right, to confirm your method. Ariguma has FPP banks at PPL, CPL and ATPL level for aeroplane and helicopter candidates. Practise little and often, and sit timed mock exams to build the speed this subject demands. Ariguma practice is study material, not an official UCAA examination.

What Flight Performance and Planning covers

  • Mass and balance

    Calculating aircraft mass and centre of gravity and keeping both within limits for the whole flight.

  • Loading

    Load sheets, cargo and passenger distribution, and the effect of fuel burn on balance.

  • Take-off performance

    How mass, density altitude, wind, slope and runway surface affect the distance needed to get airborne.

  • Climb, cruise and descent

    Best rate and best angle of climb, cruise power settings, range and endurance.

  • Landing performance

    Landing distance factors and the margins needed for wet or contaminated runways.

  • Fuel planning

    Trip fuel, reserves, alternate fuel and how to build a fuel plan from performance data.

  • Flight planning

    Route selection, navigation logs, weather and NOTAM review, and choosing alternates.

  • ATC flight plans

    The purpose and content of a filed flight plan and how it links to alerting services.

How to revise Flight Performance and Planning

  1. Work through every graph question twice: once following the arrows and once explaining each step aloud.
  2. Keep a calculator routine and write intermediate results down so you can find mistakes quickly.
  3. Relate density altitude to a hot afternoon at a high-elevation airfield and ask what it does to take-off distance.
  4. Do a few planning problems every week rather than leaving calculation practice until the end.

Frequently asked questions

Is Flight Performance and Planning mainly calculation?

Much of it is. Expect mass and balance arithmetic, graph and table reading, and fuel calculations, mixed with questions on the principles behind them.

Can I use a calculator in the UCAA exams?

UCAA advisory circular AC-PEL018 allows only simple, non-programmable calculators and excludes calculators with a navigation function. Practise with the type of calculator you plan to take.

Which levels does Ariguma's Flight Performance and Planning practice cover?

The Ariguma Flight Performance and Planning banks cover the subject at PPL, CPL and ATPL level, for aeroplane and helicopter candidates, with explanations for each question.

Sources and official references

  1. CAA-AC-PEL018: Knowledge Testing for a Licence or RatingUganda Civil Aviation Authority · September 2022 · checked 2026-10-06

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