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I'm getting a guy ready for his checkride and in looking through the private pilot PTS I can't find anything about a landing with a 50 foot obstacle requirement. I remember training for this requirement myself but now I can't find it anywhere in the PTS. Can someone tell me where this requirement came from or if it is required on the private pilot checkride?
[/ QUOTE ]There =used to= be a requirement for a 50' obstacle in the private PTS. It was removed a few years ago. I suspect the reason was that despite FAA directives in favor of stabilized approaches, some CFIs were still teaching "chop and drop".
I still teach the short field approach as a steeper descent approach (which is what you are going to get anyway with full flaps and 60 KTS in a C172), which ends up clearing a measly 50' obstacle anyway.