Woke up this morning and saw that I got a question concerning requirements for the instrument written test:
Can I take an IFR written test without any endorsement? I am thinking of flying to Florida for the IFR training on G1000 equipped aircraft but if possible they recommend already having passed the knowledge test.
Well, kind of. You are required to have either a authorized instructor’s endorsement or a training record endorsement. So you could take a home study course like the ones offered by King or Sporty’s or another school. When you complete the home study course they will send you a training record certificate that you can present to a testing center like CATS to take on your test. According to 14 CFR 61.65 paragraph (a) the person applying for an instrument rating must “receive and log ground training from an authorized instructor or accomplish a home study course of training” and “receive a logbook or training record endorsement certifying. The only time you don’t need an endorsement for a instrument rating is if you are adding a instrument rating to your flight instructor certificate.
A recommended link here. I would recommend taking a look at the FAA testing matrix as well to know how many questions will be on the test and what the required passing grade will be. The instrument rating is 60 questions with a passing grade of 70%. FAA Testing Matrix.
Do I need an endorsement to take the FAA writen exam for private pilot?
Yes, you do need a instructor’s endorsement in order to take the FAA written. As a general rule, most of the basic FAA certificates require an instructor endorsement to take the written knowledge test. The ATP, Flight Instructor and a few other selected certificates are the exceptions to this rule.