Chapter 5 - Cross-Country Flight Planning Flashcards
What are the two main guidelines of information necessary before beginning any flight?
1) For flights in the vicinity of an airport, weather reports, forecasts, fuel requirements, and alternatives
2) For any flight, runway lengths at airports of intended use and the takeoff and landing distance information for the existing conditions using the information in the POH
When should you start your weather briefing before a scheduled cross-country flight?
A day or two prior
What is an “alternative airport”
An airport or airports along your route that you will want to keep in mind in case you are unable to continue to your destination or if an emergency arises
What should you consider when choosing an alternate airport?
How much fuel you have and which direction the weather is moving (which airport will have the best expected weather)
Is designating an alternate on a flight pan required for VFR flight
No
What does 14 CFR 91.103 Section require each PIC to become familiar with?
All information concerning a flight.
What are the reserve fuel requirements as outlined in 14 CFR part 91.151?
Enough fuel to fly to your destination and an additional 30 min of cruise during the day, and 45 min at night
What are some of the tools necessary for flight planning?
CFR Charts (Sectional/Terminal), Chart Supplement (A/FD), Airport Diagrams/Taxi Charts, POH, Plotter, Flight computer/calculator
What are some of the pieces of information necessary for flight planning?
Airport/Runway information, NOTAMs, Weather Briefing, Weight and Balance information, Airplane takeoff/landing performance data, Airplane cruise performance data
What should you always check on a chart before using it?
The effective date
What is the exception to TACs being revised every 6 months?
Puerto Rico TAC is revised once per year
What was the Chart Supplement previously called?
Airport/Facility Directory
What is NOTAM information?
Information that could affect a pilot’s decision to make a flight
What are the four types of NOTAMS?
NOTAMS (D) or distant, Flight Data Center (FDC), Pointer NOTAMs, and Military NOTAMs
What kind of information is included in NOTAM (D) or Distant?
Taxiways closures, personnel and equipment near or crossing runways, TFRs, and airport lighting aids that do not affect instrument approach criteria such as VASI
What kind of information is included in pointer NOTAMS?
NOTAMS issued by a flight service station to highlight or point out another NOTAM
How often are Chart Supplements revised?
Every 56 days
How often are NOTAM booklets printed?
Every 28 days
Where are decisions concerning weather best made?
On the ground
How does American Flyers require you receive a weather briefing before a cross-country flight?
Over the phone on 1-800-WX-BRIEF
What is important to include in your calculations when using dead reckoning?
Wind
What airspeed should you use for your rough guess of time en route during flight planning?
120 kts (2 min per mile)
What should you have prepared before calling the weather briefer?
Locations along your route for which you will want to request weather information and expected times
What, generally, is the best altitude to choose?
The highest altitude that provides the maximum benefit of tail winds or the least impact of head winds, avoids reported or forecaster turbulence, and is “legal” with respect to cloud clearance.
For flights above 3000 ft AGL, what does FAR Part 91 specify?
Altitudes to be flown based on magnetic course
For magnetic courses 360 degrees to 179 degrees, what does FAR Part 91 specify as the altitude to fly above 3000 ft AGL?
Odd thousand foot level plus 500 ft (5500, 7500, 9500 etc)
For magnetic courses 180 degrees to 359 degrees, what does FAR Part 91 specify as the altitude to fly above 3000 ft AGL?
Even thousand foot level plus 500 ft (4500, 6500, 8500 etc)
Within what distance should your first checkpoint be on a cross country?
5nm of departure airport
How do you navigate to your first checkpoint?
Pilotage
What are the steps to finding the true course once you’ve done the initial course plotting?
1) Locate the intersection of the course line and the longitudinal line approx halfway between the two airports
2) Place the lower edge of the protractor of the plotter over the course line such that the hole in the protractor is at the intersection of the course line and longitude line
3) Read the true course from the protractor scale as indicated by the longitudinal line
4) For courses that are nearly north or south, the small inner protractor scale can be used with latitude rather than longitude lines
What does the true course refer to?
The course measured in reference to the lines of longitude (or latitude)
How do you find the true airspeed?
Reference the en-route performance charts in the POH
How will your IAS compare to your TAS?
IAS will appear less than the TAS due to density altitude if the mixture is properly leaned
What is a course vs. a heading?
A course is your path over the ground, a heading is the direction you fly
When estimating Time En Route (ETE), what is the rule of thumb for distance to add for each 1000 ft of climb?
1 mile
What is the True Heading?
The Wind Correction Angle (WCA) plus the True Course
What causes magnetic variation?
Differences between true north and magnetic north
How do you get the magnetic heading?
Take the True Heading, and subtract east variation or add west variation
What must a student pilot always carry in the aircraft on all solo cross-country flights?
Pilot logbook with proper solo and solo cross-country endorsements, student pilot certificate and medical certificate, any other record required by 14 CFR
What frequency can you contact any flight service station on?
122.2 MHz
What can you always do if you become lost or disoriented?
Contact ATC or tune 122.2 / 121.5
What are two services which ATC can provide to help you regain your orientation or locate an airport?
VHF direction finding service and radar vectors
What can VHF DFE allow ATC to do?
Give you a heading to fly that will bring you to their location
Why may traffic appear in a different location than ATC tells you to look?
Due to Wind Correction Angle; the ATC may only have your ground track from their radar
What are ARTCC “Centers” for?
Usually, to provide radar tracking services to IFR planes but if workload permits, they may provide the same for VFR pilots.
What does basic radar services consist of?
Traffic advisories, navigational assistance (radar vectors) on pilot request, and safety alerts
Should you use the services of the ARTCC Center en-route on a cross-country flight?
Yes, for traffic notices and collision avoidance
Is the TRSA Program voluntary?
Yes, but all pilots are expected to participate
What is stage III radar service?
Services provided by Approach Control under TRSA for help with collision avoidance/traffic, navigation upon request, and vectors for sequencing with other aircraft
Why might a pilot state “Negative Stage III” to an approach controler?
They are denying TRSA stage III services
Once the decision to divert is made, what should you do?
Pick the best alternate, and go.
Once you’ve established a rough heading towards an alternate airport during a diversion, what do you need to do?
Start figuring out an estimation of time, speed, distance, and fuel to get there
What is the sectional chart scale for mi per inch?
8 miles per inch
What is speed factor?
A rough time, in minutes, required to fly one mile at a given ground speed
What ground speed requires a speed factor of 1?
60 kts
What ground speed requires a speed factor of 0.5?
120 kts
How must you adjust for your night blind spot?
To look at an object, you must look slightly to the side of it for it to be in sharp focus
What should you do regarding low light adaptation?
Don’t spend time in a brightly lit room or area for at least 30 min before flying
How are anti-collision lights arranged on the aircraft?
Red on the left wing, green on the right wing, white on the tail
What do the position lights help you determine based on the color you see?
The direction the traffic is flying, and thus the right of way
How should you set the intensity of cockpit and instrument lights?
To the lowest intensity where you can still clearly see them
What is the biggest difference during a takeoff at night vs. during the day?
The potential lack of an obvious horizon
What causes spatial disorientation, or vertigo?
When you try to interpenetrate the flight attitude by feeling and sound instead of vision
What should your first reference be when trying to recover from an unusual attitude?
The flight instruments
If you encounter an unusual pitch attitude that is high, what is the order of response?
Decrease pitch and smoothly add full power, then level bank, and return to cruise power
If you encounter an unusual pitch attitude that is low, what is the order of response?
Reduce power to idle, fix bank attitude, gently apply back pressure to return to a level pitch and restore power to cruise
How does decision-making on a night cross country differ fro that of a day cross-country?
During a night cross country, you will be more conservative about diverting, especially if you have any kind of electrical equipment malfunction. You also should opt to add more alternatives and stay closer to populated areas, even if it makes the trip longer
When making a forced landing in a field/not a runway at night, how should you land?
With a level attitude; don’t do a normal full stall attitude as it’s much harder to judge altitude
In the event of an engine fire or failure in flight, what is always the first and foremost immediate action step?
Maintain positive control of the aircraft!
