VFR REGULATIONS 25 / LEARN · EXPLORE · CHECK
Important endorsements & limitations
A rating does not cover every airplane feature.
Your learning goals
- Apply complex and high-performance.
- Recognize the limits and exceptions that affect this flight.
- Explain a decision using the scenario and supporting rule.
Complex and high-performance
A complex airplane has retractable landing gear, flaps, and a controllable-pitch propeller, including the specified digital-control arrangement; for a seaplane, flaps and a controllable-pitch propeller. A high-performance airplane has an engine of more than 200 horsepower—not simply 200 or total combined horsepower. Required ground/flight training and a one-time instructor proficiency endorsement generally apply, with specific grandfather provisions.
Tailwheel and pressurized aircraft
Tailwheel PIC operation generally needs logged instruction and a proficiency endorsement covering normal/crosswind takeoffs and landings, wheel landings unless manufacturer-recommended against, and go-arounds. The pressurized-airplane training rule applies when its service ceiling or maximum operating altitude, whichever is lower, is above 25,000 MSL. Required ground/flight training includes high-altitude systems, hypoxia, decompression, and emergency descent.
Check the actual aircraft
Exceptions and prior-experience provisions are specific. A complex endorsement does not automatically grant high-performance or tailwheel privileges, and the endorsements do not substitute for a required type rating. Current rules also include model-specific training for simplified-flight-controls aircraft; check that designation if applicable.
FLIGHT SCENARIO
What would change your plan?
You move from a 180-hp trainer to an airplane with one 200-hp engine. Does that engine alone trigger the high-performance endorsement?
- NoticeWhat does this situation require?
- VerifyWhat evidence is still missing?
- DecideWhat keeps an option open?
Compare your reasoning
No: the threshold is more than 200 hp. Still check ratings, other features, required training, and proficiency; an airplane with 201 hp crosses that threshold.
SUMMARY
A rating does not cover every airplane feature.
No: the threshold is more than 200 hp. Still check ratings, other features, required training, and proficiency; an airplane with 201 hp crosses that threshold.
Before moving on, explain the decision in your own words: what would you verify, and what would make you change the plan?
PRACTICE
Flashcards and knowledge check
Six flashcards, then five questions with explanations.
Enable JavaScript for flashcards and the knowledge check. The lesson and scenario remain available without it.
Sources & lesson notes
Sources & lesson notes
- 14 CFR §61.31Verified against eCFR text current through September 15, 2026.
For U.S. private-pilot airplane study. Rules verified against eCFR text current through September 15, 2026, with linked FAA guidance. Scenarios isolate a rule; actual flight decisions require all applicable rules, aircraft limitations, and current information.