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Private Pilot Licence · Subject 8, AC61-3

PPL Meteorology mock exam.

The Met paper rewards understanding over memory. Stability, lapse rates, why fog forms on one night and not the next, what a cold front does to the wind over Cook Strait: the questions test whether you can reason from the physics to the forecast. Our paper is 35 questions in 70 minutes from a bank of 191 written to Subject 8 of AC61-3.

Decoding is in there too. METAR, SPECI, TAF, GRAFOR and ARFOR are a fixed part of the syllabus, so they turn up in nearly every paper.

Questions35
Time70min
Pass mark70%
Question bank191
Sit a PPL Meteorology paper · $5.99 Try the free 12-question paper first
What the paper covers

Subject 8 topic by topic.

The syllabus areas below are the ones the CAA lists for Meteorology, and every question in the bank carries the code of the item it tests.

  • The atmosphere and the International Standard Atmosphere
  • Heat, temperature, lapse rates and stability
  • Pressure, density and their effect on the altimeter
  • Wind: gradient wind, surface friction, sea breezes, katabatic and föhn winds
  • Humidity, dew point, cloud formation and cloud types
  • Precipitation, visibility and the fog family: radiation, advection, hill and frontal
  • Airframe and carburettor icing
  • Turbulence, wind shear and mountain waves over the Southern Alps
  • Thunderstorms, microbursts and how to avoid them
  • Air masses, fronts, depressions and anticyclones over New Zealand
  • NZ met services: METAR, SPECI, TAF, GRAFOR, ARFOR and SIGMET
  • Reading a surface analysis chart
Where the marks go

What catches people in Meteorology.

  1. CAVOK, NSC, NOSIG and the visibility codes. The exam tests the exact definition, not the general idea.
  2. Which way the wind turns with height in the Southern Hemisphere. Backs or veers, and why, is a guaranteed question.
  3. Fog: the conditions for each type are similar but not the same. Advection fog needs wind; radiation fog needs almost none.
  4. Stability from lapse rates. Learn the DALR, SALR and ELR relationship as a rule, not as a memorised example.
From the bank

Sample Meteorology questions.

Four questions as they appear in a paper, with the answer and the reasoning you get in the de-brief. Options are shuffled in the real thing.

PPL · Syllabus 8.18.14Sample 1 / 4

Why is the Saturated Adiabatic Lapse Rate (SALR) noticeably lower (cools slower) than the Dry Adiabatic Lapse Rate (DALR)?

  1. ASaturated air is physically heavier and therefore rises much more slowly
  2. BSuspended water vapour absorbs solar radiation much more effectively than dry air
  3. CThe ambient pressure drop is significantly less inside saturated air masses
  4. DThe release of latent heat during condensation partially offsets the cooling from expansion
Show the answer and why
The release of latent heat during condensation partially offsets the cooling from expansion

As saturated air rises, condensation immediately occurs. This releases immense stored latent heat, which partially warms the rising air packet, heavily reducing the net cooling rate to roughly 1.5°C/1000ft.

PPL · Syllabus 8.20.2Sample 2 / 4

A 'Radiation Inversion' typically forms under which specific conditions?

  1. AAt night when the ground cools aggressively by radiating its heat away to space
  2. BDuring the peak heat of the day when the ground violently heats the lower air
  3. CWhen a warm air mass is brutally forced aloft by an advancing cold front
  4. DWhen high-altitude air descends massively and warms by intense compression (Subsidence)
Show the answer and why
At night when the ground cools aggressively by radiating its heat away to space

Under clear night skies, the ground rapidly emits its heat into space. This freezing ground aggressively chills the layer of air in direct contact with it, while the air slightly higher up remains warmer, creating the inversion 'lid'.

PPL · Syllabus 8.26.14(b)Sample 3 / 4

The formation of dense 'Advection Fog' inherently requires which specific meteorological condition?

  1. APerfectly calm, still winds overnight
  2. BWind to physically transport the moist air mass
  3. CIntense heating directly from the morning sun
  4. DZero relative humidity in the upper atmosphere
Show the answer and why
Wind to physically transport the moist air mass

Unlike Radiation Fog (which requires calm conditions to pool), Advection Fog requires active wind (usually up to 15kts) to physically move the warm, moist air mass horizontally over a colder surface.

PPL · Syllabus 8.30.6Sample 4 / 4

A highly dangerous 'Microburst' is a severe weather phenomenon strictly associated with:

  1. AThe smooth, gradual lifting of Warm Fronts
  2. BSevere, concentrated downdrafts from a Cumulonimbus cloud
  3. CClear Air Turbulence strictly found in the high stratosphere
  4. DThe violent rotor zones found beneath Mountain Waves
Show the answer and why
Severe, concentrated downdrafts from a Cumulonimbus cloud

A microburst is an incredibly concentrated, high-velocity downdraft from a thunderstorm that violently hits the ground and spreads out, creating lethal wind shear for aircraft on approach or departure.

Pricing

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Meteorology questions

Asked about this exam.

Straight answers. If yours is not here, email support and a person replies.

Our paper runs 35 questions in 70 minutes, matched to the Aspeq sitting. The pass mark is 70%.

Yes. Reading NZ meteorological products is a syllabus topic, so it appears in nearly every paper we build, and there is a decoding question in the free 12-question trial.

Yes. Fronts crossing the South Island, nor-westers, Cook Strait winds and Canterbury fog are the examples, because they are what the CAA syllabus and the real exam are built around.

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