For Visual Scanning and Collision Avoidance, AC AC 90-48 is the key text to bring to the oral exam. Proper scanning technique also is discussed in Chapter 1 of the Pilots Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge (for some reason, the FAA front-loads this content in a chapter that's otherwise introductory.)

AC 90-48 notes that "efficient use of visual techniques and knowledge of the eye's limitations will help pilots avoid collisions."

The AC includes a helpful table describing different kinds of reaction times in seconds.

Typical mid-air collision scenarios are explained, including:

• Approaching Head-On (During Cruise Flight)
• Overtaking (During Cruise Flight)
• Landing at Non-Towered Airports
• Landing at Towered Airports
• Avoiding Collisions With Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS)

The AC also cautions against maneuvering flight and formation flight.

Effective scanning is reviewed, as well as night operations.

Section 17.2, "Flight Instructor and Safety Pilot Responsibilities," should be emphasized during the oral exam. Flight instructors and persons acting as safety pilots can contribute to reducing the risk of aircraft collisions by:

• Guarding against preoccupation during flight instruction to the exclusion of maintaining a constant vigilance for other traffic.
• Being particularly alert during the use of advanced flight deck/cockpit technology and the conduct of simulated instrument flight, where there is a tendency to "look inside" excessively and forget see-and-avoid responsibilities.
• Taking the time to teach new and advanced flight deck/cockpit technology on the ground. Thoroughly review features as well as limitations of the equipment and the pitfalls of fixation and overreliance on technology.
• Placing special training emphasis on those basic problem areas of concern mentioned in this AC. Improvements in pilot education, operating practices, conflicts, procedures, and techniques are needed to reduce midair conflicts.
• Student pilots communicating at towered or non-towered airports. Student pilots are advised to inform ATC at a towered airport, and at a non-towered airport announce over the CTAF that they are a student pilot solo.

And take note of 17.3: "Pilot Examiner and Certificated Flight Instructor (CFI) Actions. Pilot examiners and CFIs play an integral role in ensuring pilots have the collision avoidance skills necessary to satisfy their regulatory see-and-avoid obligations. For example, the Private Pilot–Airplane Airman Certification Standards (FAA-S-ACS-6), Appendix 6, Safety of Flight, requires that the evaluator assess an applicant's use of visual scanning and collision avoidance procedures throughout the entire test. Other FAA guidance also encourages CFIs to train and assess an applicant or certificated pilot's knowledge and skill in their use of visual scanning and collision avoidance techniques."