FAA-S-ACS-1 · SECTION II · AMA
The FAA A&P Airframe knowledge test
100 questions, 2 hours, 70% to pass, drawn from the 15 Airframe subject areas of the Airman Certification Standards. Passing it, with General, earns the Airframe rating on your certificate. Everything forward of the firewall stops being your problem and everything else starts: structures, flight controls, landing gear, hydraulics, fuel, electrics, environmental and fire.
Checked against the current regulations on 19 August 2026.
What the A&P Airframe test is
- 100QUESTIONSscored
- 2 hALLOTTEDincluding validation items
- 70%TO PASS14 CFR § 65.17(c)
- AMATEST CODEhow you register
The FAA’s own title for it is Aviation Mechanic Airframe, and AMA is the code you register under. Every question is multiple choice with 3 options and one correct answer, and each question stands on its own. At about 72 seconds a question, this is one of the two tests where people fail on pacing no matter what they know.
The rules around all three tests (the 24 month window, retests, what you may take into the room) are on the knowledge tests page.
15 subject areas, and where each is tested
These are the ACS’s own subject areas, taken from its subject pages. Each one breaks into three kinds of elements, and the kind decides where that element shows up:
- K for Knowledge: the written test and the oral
- R for Risk Management: the oral and the practical
- S for Skill: the practical only
| Item | Subject area | ACS code |
|---|---|---|
| A | Metallic Structures | AM.II.A |
| B | Non-Metallic Structures | AM.II.B |
| C | Flight Controls | AM.II.C |
| D | Airframe Inspection | AM.II.D |
| E | Landing Gear Systems | AM.II.E |
| F | Hydraulic and Pneumatic Systems | AM.II.F |
| G | Environmental Systems | AM.II.G |
| H | Aircraft Instrument Systems | AM.II.H |
| I | Communication and Navigation Systems | AM.II.I |
| J | Aircraft Fuel Systems | AM.II.J |
| K | Aircraft Electrical Systems | AM.II.K |
| L | Ice and Rain Control Systems | AM.II.L |
| M | Airframe Fire Protection Systems | AM.II.M |
| N | Rotorcraft Fundamentals | AM.II.N |
| O | Water and Waste Systems | AM.II.O |
Those codes are not decoration. Every question you miss on the A&P written test is reported against its code, and the examiner reads those codes before your oral to decide what to ask you.
⚠ One correction to the ACS’s own contents page: it prints subject I as “Communications, Light Signals, and Runway Lighting Systems”, while the subject page itself and all of its elements (VHF, HF, SATCOM, ELT, ADF, VOR, DME, ILS, GPS, TCAS, autopilot) are titled Communication and Navigation Systems. The contents page is wrong, so we use the body title here.
Our A&P Airframe practice questions
5,614 questions across 19 subject banks. Every one is multiple choice with three options and a written explanation, and every question written from the FAA handbooks shows the chapter and page it came from. There are also fill-in-the-gap items in every subject. Those test recall instead of recognition, the same way the oral does.
Our banks are filed under their own headings, not the ACS’s, because they were written to study from, not to test from. Every ACS subject area is covered. Some are covered across more than one of our banks.
- Aircraft Structures327
- Aerodynamics, Assembly and Rigging402
- Aircraft Fabric Covering232
- Aircraft Metal Structural Repair445
- Aircraft Welding245
- Aircraft Wood Structural Repair198
- Advanced Composite Materials296
- Aircraft Painting and Finishing183
- Aircraft Electrical Systems452
- Aircraft Instrument Systems374
- Communication and Navigation Systems363
- Hydraulic and Pneumatic Power Systems280
- Aircraft Landing Gear Systems424
- Aircraft Fuel Systems320
- Ice and Rain Protection212
- Cabin Environmental Control Systems322
- Fire Protection Systems208
- Airframe Inspection178
- Water and Waste Systems153
What follows the A&P written
Passing this test earns you the right to be asked about it out loud. Airframe carries 11 practical projects at the oral and practical, each graded pass or fail, with 2 examiner questions attached. The oral runs from 4 questions if your written was clean, up to 34 if you barely passed, because every code you missed adds one.
That is why a 70% here is not the finish line it looks like. The full picture is on the oral and practical page.
Questions people actually ask
Q.01How many questions are on the A&P Airframe test?
100, with 2 hours allowed and 70% to pass. The test code is AMA. Unscored validation questions are added on top of that count. They do not affect your score, but the time allowed includes answering them, so you may see more questions on screen than 100.
Q.02What subjects are on the A&P Airframe test?
15 subject areas, from Section II of FAA-S-ACS-1: Metallic Structures; Non-Metallic Structures; Flight Controls; Airframe Inspection; Landing Gear Systems; Hydraulic and Pneumatic Systems; Environmental Systems; Aircraft Instrument Systems; Communication and Navigation Systems; Aircraft Fuel Systems; Aircraft Electrical Systems; Ice and Rain Control Systems; Airframe Fire Protection Systems; Rotorcraft Fundamentals; Water and Waste Systems. That standard is incorporated into 14 CFR §§ 65.75 and 65.79 by reference, so it carries the force of the regulation instead of sitting beside it as guidance.
Q.03Does the A&P Airframe test have an oral and practical too?
Yes, one of each. The oral and practical is six tests, not two: an oral and a practical for every section. Airframe carries 11 practical projects, each graded pass or fail, with 2 examiner questions attached. The oral runs from 4 questions if your written was clean, up to 34 if you barely passed.
Q.04How is A&P Airframe different from General in practice?
The main difference is volume against the clock. Airframe is 100 questions in the same 2 hours General gets for 60. That is about 72 seconds a question against 120, so running out of time is a real way to fail no matter what you know. It also spans 15 subject areas against General's 12, and two of them (Rotorcraft Fundamentals, and Water and Waste Systems) are areas a fixed wing mechanic may never touch at work.
Read the documents, not us
Every fact on this page was read from these on 19 August 2026. They are the authority and we are the summary. If we and one of them disagree, they are right.
FREE PLAN · NO CARD · ALL 44 SUBJECTS OPEN
Practice every A&P Airframe subject area, free.
The free plan opens all 44 subjects, which cover every ACS subject area, with 25 new questions a day in each. Each question has 3 answer choices, like the FAA A&P tests, with a written explanation behind every answer and, for every answer written from the FAA handbooks, the chapter it came from. It is a plan, not a trial, and it needs no card.
Start freeOr answer a few first. The free FAA A&P practice test runs on the page, with no account.