A&P Oral and Practical: What to Expect on Exam Day

October 8, 2026 · Based on FAA-S-ACS-1, the FAA's Mechanic Test Generator FAQ, and FAA mechanic FAQs · Updated October 18, 2026

On A&P oral and practical exam day, you give the DME your FAA Form 8610-2 and your knowledge test reports, and the DME builds your test from the FAA's Mechanic Test Generator. You answer the oral questions out loud with no notes or books. Then you do practical projects while the examiner watches, and for the questions asked during those projects, you may use reference material.

This post sticks to what the FAA publishes. Where the FAA documents are silent, such as start time or how long the day runs, we say so and tell you to ask your DME. For the full background on the test, start with our A&P oral and practical guide.

Before the test: what to bring

The FAA names two documents: your Form 8610-2 and your Airman Knowledge Test Reports (AKTRs). The FAA's mechanic FAQ says that to take the O&P, you present your Form 8610-2, along with the AKTRs showing you passed the knowledge tests, to a DME. Bring the AKTR for every section you are testing on.

For everything else, confirm with your DME when you book. That includes:

• Identification.
• Whether you should bring your own tools.
• Safety gear. The ACS lists safety glasses, hearing protection, and any other required personal protective equipment among the precautions the evaluator checks during projects, so ask whether to bring your own.
• The fee and how to pay it. The FAA confirms there is a fee for the O&P but does not set the amount. See what a DME exam costs.
• Start time and how long to plan for.

How the DME builds your test

The DME builds your test from your AKTRs, using the FAA's Mechanic Test Generator (MTG). The ACS says the evaluator asks you for your AKTRs before generating the test planning sheet. Every deficient knowledge area shown by the ACS codes on your AKTRs is retested in the oral.

The planning sheet includes all the questions and projects from the MTG. The MTG FAQ adds two points that matter on the day:

• All questions on the planning sheet must be asked.
• "The DME does NOT get to pick and choose what questions to ask any more."

You will not see the questions in advance. The ACS says an applicant is not permitted to know, before testing begins, which selections are included. What you can know is your codes: each one adds a question. Our post on ACS codes and the oral shows how to read them.

What to expect in the oral: spoken questions, no references

The oral comes first. It is a spoken question-and-answer test with no notes, books, or manuals. The ACS describes the oral and then says the practical portion of the test "continues" with questioning specific to the projects.

What to expect, from the ACS and the MTG FAQ:

• Separate tests. General, Airframe, and Powerplant each have their own oral. The oral is a standalone test, kept separate from the practical.
• Number of questions. At least 4 random questions per section, plus one for each ACS code you missed. The most you can get is 22 General, 34 Airframe, and 34 Powerplant.
• No reference material. You answer from what you know.
• Grading on the whole test. The 70 percent standard applies to the whole oral test for that section, not subject by subject.

The FAA's sample test gives a feel for the questions:

AM.II.E.K1: References to auxiliary landing gear refer to what gear on any particular aircraft?

AM.III.E.K4: Where are fire switches normally installed?

From the FAA sample oral and practical test, Sections II and III.

One detail may ease your nerves. The ACS tells evaluators that information in parentheses in an answer is additional or clarifying, and the applicant is not expected to recite all of it. For more sample questions, see what a DME asks on the oral.

The practical: projects the DME watches

In the practical, you work through projects one at a time while the examiner watches, and you may use references for the questions. The ACS says the evaluator personally observes all practical projects. Each project stands alone; the MTG FAQ says projects can no longer be combined during testing.

During each project, at a safe and appropriate time, the DME asks two practical questions provided by the MTG. In the FAQ's example project, the applicant is given an assigned aircraft and appropriate reference material, assigned and provided by the DME. Here is an Airframe project from the FAA sample test:

Project (Airframe Inspection), AM.II.D.S5: Provide a checklist for conducting a 100-hour inspection. Given: assigned aircraft, appropriate reference material.

Practical question (AM.II.D.R4): What is the first step in conducting a 100-hour inspection? Sample answer: clean the aircraft.

From the FAA sample oral and practical test.

The ACS says these terms may be reviewed with you before or during a project assignment. It helps to know them cold:

Two more things the ACS says about the practical:

• Return to service. Applicants demonstrate an approval for return to service standard where applicable, and the ability to locate and apply the required references. If that standard cannot be met, for example because tolerances are outside limits, you explain why.
• Safety. If a project would require an action that jeopardizes safety, the evaluator will ask you to simulate that part. Any disregard for safety "will result in a failure."

How grading works on the day

Each practical project is pass or fail, and each test is passed at 70 percent as a whole. From the MTG FAQ:

• If you complete a project but answer a practical question incorrectly, the whole project fails.
• If you answer the questions correctly but do not complete the project satisfactorily, the project fails.
• You can fail a project and still pass. In the General example, there are 9 projects and you must pass 7.

The minimum passing grade for each test is 70 percent under 14 CFR 65.17.

After the test

If you pass, the FAA's mechanic FAQ says you receive a Temporary Mechanic Certificate. If you fail part of it, you retest only what you failed:

• A failed oral means retaking that section's entire oral test, according to the MTG FAQ. FAA Order 8900.1 words the retest as the ACS codes marked failed or not tested, so ask your DME.
• A failed practical means retesting only the failed projects, plus any that were not tested.
• Under 14 CFR 65.19, you can apply for a retest 30 days after the failure, or sooner with a signed statement from an airman holding the certificate and rating you seek, certifying additional instruction and readiness.

Keep the overall clock in mind too: 14 CFR 65.71 requires you to pass all of the prescribed tests within 24 months. See failing and retesting the O&P for more.

Sources

• FAA, FAA-S-ACS-1, Aviation Mechanic General, Airframe, and Powerplant Airman Certification Standards, Appendix 1 and Appendix 2.
• FAA, Mechanic Test Generator FAQs (updated 5/22/2023).
• FAA, Sample Test, Oral and Practical.
• FAA, Become an Aviation Mechanic, FAQs.
• eCFR, 14 CFR part 65, sections 65.17, 65.19, and 65.71.

About this guide: drafted with AI from the FAA sources listed on this page and checked claim by claim against them. Not reviewed by an A&P mechanic or DME. How we make our guides