14 CFR 61.35 · the part nobody tells you before checkout
To sit the FAA knowledge test you need an endorsement from an authorized instructor — a human with a certificate number. BLACKBOX is software. No online course, ours included, can issue that signature by itself. What we can do is build the evidence a real instructor needs to sign with a straight face.
Verified against the current eCFR on 1 September 2026. Read it yourself; never take a training product's word for a regulation.
"An applicant for a knowledge test must have … an endorsement, if required by this part, from an authorized instructor certifying that the applicant accomplished the appropriate ground-training or a home-study course required by this part for the certificate or rating sought and is prepared for the knowledge test." 14 CFR 61.35(a)(1) — https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-14/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-61/subpart-A/section-61.35
For the private pilot certificate the endorsement duty is restated in § 61.103(d): a logbook endorsement from an authorized instructor who conducted the training or reviewed the person's home study on the knowledge areas of § 61.105(b). For sport pilot the areas are in § 61.309. At check-in the test proctor accepts exactly two forms of authorization for these tests: a graduation certificate from an FAA-certificated pilot school (14 CFR 61.71(a)), or the instructor's written statement or logbook endorsement — see the FAA Airman Knowledge Testing Matrix.
A warning about a myth you will meet online. Some sites — and even an outdated FAA web page — still describe a "certificate of graduation from a home-study course" as test authorization, with no instructor involved. That path is not in the current regulation: § 61.35(a)(2)'s graduation-certificate clause applies only to the airline transport pilot CTP program, and § 61.103(d) independently requires the instructor endorsement for private pilot. The current testing matrix, which is what the proctor at the door actually follows, lists no instructor-free path. A student who shows up holding only a course-issued certificate gets turned away. We verified this against the current eCFR text and the matrix on 1 September 2026; if anyone tells you otherwise, ask them for the section number and read it yourself.
All three are legitimate. Pick based on where you are in flight training.
Path 1 — your own CFI
Ask your instructor. They have been training you on the § 61.105 areas, they know your gaps, and endorsing you for the written is routine. Bring the readiness report below to make the conversation short.
Path 2 — home-study review
The FAA's own guidance (AC 61-65K) says an applicant with a home-study course may present it to a certificated flight or ground instructor, who reviews the materials, questions the applicant, and — if satisfied — endorses (sample endorsement A.86). BLACKBOX is a home-study course. The report below is the evidence pack for that review.
Path 3 — a course that bundles it
Some online ground schools (Sporty's, Pilot Institute, Gleim) include an instructor endorsement after you finish their course and pass their practice tests. That is honest and it works — it is simply a different product than this one. If the endorsement is your only blocker, they are a fine choice, and we would rather tell you that than pretend.
Everything below is computed from your stored study history on this device and is recomputable by anyone from the evidence JSON. Nothing is smoothed or invented. Print it, or download the JSON for the instructor's records.
*Engaged time counts only measured question-answering and mock-exam time — not reading, video, or simulator flying. It understates real study time by design.
AC 61-65K sample A.86 (home-study review, § 61.35(a)(1)): "I certify I have reviewed the home-study curriculum of [First name, MI, Last name]. I have determined that they are prepared for the [name of] knowledge test. [Signed, dated, certificate number, expiration]"
Reference only. Whether — and how — to endorse is entirely your professional judgement. BLACKBOX gains nothing from your signature and has no relationship with you unless you choose one.
Since the MOSAIC rule (90 FR 35034, effective 22 October 2025) many trainers — including the Cessna 172 you fly here — can be flown with sport pilot privileges. The sport pilot knowledge test (SPA) is 40 questions in 2 hours; the endorsement requirement is the same § 61.35 process against the § 61.309 knowledge areas.
Read the final rule, or the FAA's summary, which states a sport pilot could now operate a Cessna 172. Verify aircraft eligibility per aircraft via its type certificate data sheet — the FAA publishes no model list.