What are VFR minimums in Class E airspace below 10,000 feet?

Per 14 CFR 91.155, VFR minimums in Class E below 10,000 feet MSL are 3 statute miles visibility, 500 feet below clouds, 1,000 feet above clouds, and 2,000 feet horizontal from clouds.

What is the fuel requirement for VFR day flight?

Per 14 CFR 91.151, no person may begin a VFR flight in an airplane unless there is enough fuel to fly to the first point of intended landing and, assuming normal cruising speed, to fly after that for at least 30 minutes during day or 45 minutes at night.

What is the rule on flight reviews?

Per 14 CFR 61.56, no pilot may act as PIC unless, since the beginning of the 24th calendar month before the month of flight, that pilot has accomplished a flight review with an authorized instructor and has logged a satisfactory endorsement.

How current must takeoffs and landings be to carry passengers?

Per 14 CFR 61.57(a), to act as PIC carrying passengers, you must have made at least 3 takeoffs and 3 landings within the preceding 90 days in an aircraft of the same category, class, and type if a type rating is required.

Regulations · Updated April 2026

The 14 CFR sections every private pilot must know cold.

Parts 61 and 91 are thousands of pages. The DPE only cares about a few dozen of them. Here are the regulations you cannot afford to fumble — the ones DPEs ask on every checkride.

The short answer

The 14 CFR sections every private pilot must know are: 61.23 (medical), 61.31 (additional ratings), 61.51 (logging), 61.56 (flight review), 61.57 (currency), 91.103 (preflight), 91.151 (fuel), 91.155 (VFR minimums), 91.159 (cruising altitudes), 91.211 (oxygen), and 91.213 (inoperative equipment). Knowing these cold — meaning the rule, the numbers, and the limits — handles roughly 80% of regulation questions on the oral.

How DPEs ask regulations

You will not be asked to recite a regulation. You will be asked a scenario: "It's 7 PM, you're 30 minutes from your destination at 4,500 ft, and the ceiling drops to 2,500. Are you legal to continue?" The DPE wants you to identify which regulations apply (91.155, 91.159), apply them correctly, and arrive at a legal conclusion — and then say whether you'd actually do it.

The pilots who ace the regulation portion of the oral are the ones who can call up the rule by section number, find it in the FAR/AIM in 15 seconds, and read it correctly. Memorizing every word isn't the goal. Knowing where to find the answer fast is.

Part 61: Certification of pilots

61.23 — Medical certificates

Know the duration of each class:

First class: 12 calendar months if under 40, 6 calendar months if 40+.
Second class: 12 calendar months for any age.
Third class: 60 calendar months if under 40 at the time of issuance, 24 calendar months if 40+.

Know that BasicMed is an alternative for many private pilot operations and the requirements that come with it.

61.31 — Additional training requirements

You need an endorsement to act as PIC of a complex airplane, high-performance airplane, pressurized airplane (above 25,000 ft), or tailwheel airplane. Know what defines each — especially "complex" (retractable gear, flaps, and controllable-pitch propeller) and "high-performance" (more than 200 horsepower).

61.51 — Pilot logbooks

Required entries, what counts as PIC time, what counts as cross-country time. Read this regulation slowly and more than once. See the 7 logbook mistakes that fail checkrides for the practical application.

61.56 — Flight review

Within the preceding 24 calendar months, you must have completed a flight review consisting of at least 1 hour of ground training and 1 hour of flight training, with a satisfactory endorsement from an authorized instructor.

61.57 — Recent flight experience (currency)

Three sub-rules to know cold:

(a) Daytime passenger currency: 3 takeoffs and 3 landings in the preceding 90 days, in the same category and class.
(b) Night passenger currency: 3 takeoffs and 3 landings to a full stop, between 1 hour after sunset and 1 hour before sunrise, in the preceding 90 days.
(c) Instrument currency: within the preceding 6 calendar months, performed and logged 6 instrument approaches, holding procedures, and intercepting and tracking courses through the use of navigational systems.

Part 91: General operating and flight rules

91.103 — Preflight action

Before any flight, the PIC must become familiar with all available information concerning that flight. For flights not in the vicinity of an airport, this includes weather reports and forecasts, fuel requirements, alternatives, and any known traffic delays. For IFR flights or any flight not in the local area, also runway lengths and takeoff/landing distance data.

This is the regulation that DPEs cite when they ask why you should have brought every piece of weather data and a complete cross-country plan. The answer is "91.103."

91.151 — Fuel requirements for VFR

VFR fuel reserves:

Day: enough fuel to fly to the first point of intended landing plus 30 minutes at normal cruise.
Night: enough fuel to fly to the first point of intended landing plus 45 minutes at normal cruise.

91.155 — Basic VFR weather minimums

The big one. Memorize the table.

Class A: not applicable (IFR only).

Class B: 3 SM visibility, clear of clouds.

Class C, D, E (below 10,000 MSL): 3 SM visibility, 500 below / 1,000 above / 2,000 horizontal.

Class E (at or above 10,000 MSL): 5 SM visibility, 1,000 below / 1,000 above / 1 SM horizontal.

Class G, 1,200 ft AGL or less, day: 1 SM visibility, clear of clouds.

Class G, 1,200 ft AGL or less, night: 3 SM visibility, 500 below / 1,000 above / 2,000 horizontal.

Class G, more than 1,200 ft AGL but less than 10,000 MSL, day: 1 SM, 500/1,000/2,000.

Class G, more than 1,200 ft AGL but less than 10,000 MSL, night: 3 SM, 500/1,000/2,000.

Class G, more than 1,200 ft AGL and at or above 10,000 MSL: 5 SM, 1,000/1,000/1 SM.

Memory aid: the "3-152" rule for the most common case (Class C/D/E below 10,000) — 3 SM visibility, 1,000 above, 500 below, 2,000 horizontal.

91.159 — VFR cruising altitude

When operating more than 3,000 ft AGL but below 18,000 ft MSL:

On a magnetic course of 0° to 179°: any odd thousand-foot altitude plus 500 feet (e.g. 3,500, 5,500, 7,500).
On a magnetic course of 180° to 359°: any even thousand-foot altitude plus 500 feet (e.g. 4,500, 6,500, 8,500).

Memory aid: "East is odd, plus 500."

91.211 — Supplemental oxygen

12,500 to 14,000 ft MSL: required for required minimum flight crew for that part of the flight at those altitudes that exceeds 30 minutes.
Above 14,000 ft MSL: required minimum flight crew must use oxygen continuously.
Above 15,000 ft MSL: oxygen must be provided to each occupant.

91.213 — Inoperative instruments and equipment

Three paths for an inop item: a Minimum Equipment List (MEL), 91.213(d) for aircraft without an MEL, or a special flight permit. The 91.213(d) decision tree is the most relevant for general aviation:

Is it required by the type certificate (91.213(d)(2)(i))?
Is it required by 91.205 for the kind of flight (91.213(d)(2)(ii))?
Is it required by an airworthiness directive (91.213(d)(2)(iii))?
Is it required by any other rule in 91 (91.213(d)(2)(iv))?

If yes to any, you can't go. If no to all, you can deactivate, placard "INOPERATIVE," and fly. The PIC must then determine the inoperative item is not a hazard.

91.205 — VFR equipment requirements

This deserves its own section. 91.205 lists what equipment you need on board for VFR day, VFR night, and IFR. Memory aids:

VFR day (ATOMATOFLAMES):

Airspeed indicator
Tachometer for each engine
Oil pressure gauge for each engine using pressure system
Manifold pressure gauge for each altitude engine
Altimeter
Temperature gauge for each liquid-cooled engine
Oil temperature gauge for each air-cooled engine
Fuel gauge for each tank
Landing gear position indicator (if retractable)
Anti-collision lights (if certificated after March 11, 1996)
Magnetic compass
ELT (if applicable)
Safety belts and shoulder harnesses

VFR night, add (FLAPS):

Fuses (one spare set or three of each kind)
Landing light (if for hire)
Anti-collision lights
Position lights
Source of power (adequate for all installed equipment)

How to actually study these

Don't sit and read 14 CFR. Use a scenario approach instead. Pick a fictional flight — say, a 200 NM cross-country at night — and walk through every regulation that applies to it, finding each one in the FAR/AIM as you go. Do this with five or six different scenarios and the regulations stop being abstract.

Better still, talk through scenarios out loud with another student. The act of explaining "we need 91.151 night fuel reserves, so 45 minutes plus our flight time" forces retention in a way that silent reading does not.

Reference fluency over memorization

You're not allowed to bring notes into the oral, but you absolutely can bring the FAR/AIM and use it. Tab the regulations above. Practice opening to 91.155 in 10 seconds. The pilot who finds the rule, reads it, applies it, and moves on is more impressive to a DPE than the pilot who half-recites it from memory and gets a number wrong.

Zulu's AI chat answers regulation questions with the exact 14 CFR section cited every time, so studying becomes self-correcting. Download Zulu to drill regulations the same way you drill aerodynamics — through repeated, cited Q&A. Related: the oral exam framework.