My private pilot flight preparation checklist

There are a variety of reasons I fly; to take friends & family sight seeing around London, solo flights to practise manoeuvres or procedures, to build revalidation hours, visit other aerodromes for lunch or at the moment training flights towards the IRR rating.

In all cases, as with other aspects of flying, I like to make sure I’m well prepared. This is my check list which helps me to feel confident I’ve covered everything in the lead up to a flight.

The night before (or sooner if possible)

I like to start thinking about an upcoming flight as soon as possible and have it ticking over in my subconscious. This enables me to get ahead and have plenty of time for any queries or preparation that might come up. This first section covers initial preparation-

• Currency. Before I start anything, am I current for the activity I want to undertake. This can be anything from a club rule of one flight within the last 28 days for a solo flight or 3 take off and landings in the last 3 months to take passengers.
• Setup my proposed flight in SkyDemon. It’s a great way to quickly draw different routes and a invaluable secondary tool on the day of your flight.
• ALWAYS additionally mark up your flight on a physical chart, complete with 10 degree drift markings. This will save you in the event of an iPad that has shut down due to overheating or drained battery.
• Write up the plog, add legs with waypoints, planned altitude with minimum safe altitude (MSA), distance and track. I’ll ignore the heading, magnetic heading, ground speed and time for now as they are wind dependant and I’ll complete those on the day of the flight. Again something that SkyDemon can give you but I always perform these calculations myself.
• Weight and Balance calculations. Elstree has a short runway so it’s not something you can take for granted, especially in hot conditionals or when flying with passengers.
• Out of hours forms. Sometimes a ferry flight requires a 7am departure which at Elstree requires a form submitted online.
• Study anything I’m rusty on that’s useful for the flight. This could be viewing the route on Google Earth or a refresher on radio terminology for entering controlled airspace.

Additionally, depending on the reason for the flight-

Training Flights

• Contact the instructor, or arrange on the previous flight what the next lesson with entail. Then study for the lesson. You will get more out of your lesson if you’re well prepared.

Private Hire — Maintaining skills

• Study the activity.
• Find a suitable area to practise. For example for stalls somewhere I can which allows for a height to recover by 3,000 ft.

Private Hire — Days out or ferry flights

• I’m well accustomed to my home aerodrome, Elstree, but if I’m planning to land somewhere else, I always spend some time studying the arrival areodrome chart regardless of whether I’ve been there before. Look out for differences such as joining instructions, noise abatement areas and circuit height.

The day of the flight, prior to leaving

The day of the flight provides greater accuracy for the conditions you will face and you don’t have to wait until you get to the aerodrome to start making these checks-

• Weather. There’s no point in travelling to the aerodrome if you are out of limits, visibility, wind or just bad weather. For me this includes a check of the METAR & TAF for relevant and onroute aerodromes, the wider significant weather and wind forecasts. If the conditions don’t meet what I feel comfortable flying in I won’t even travel to the aerodrome and I’ll enjoy a day studying on the ground instead.
• NOTAMs. Again, SkyDemon can provide this information but I will always obtain an official NOTAM report on the day of my flight.
• Add wind markings to the chart and complete the plog based on latest wind forecast.
• Calculate the maximum drift. It’s useful to have this to hand during a flight for any variation from the planned flight. I use the formula-
  Max Drift = Wind Speed * 60 / TAS.

At the aerodrome

By the time I arrive at the aerodrome, I’m mostly prepared and ready to go. The final part of my check list is for items that are time sensitive to the flight or better performed at the aerodrome.

• Airplane checks. A check if first flight of the day, but I tend to do the whole thing just to maintain practise. Always follow the airplane checklist, oil, fuel, oleos, tire pressure.
• Check that wind forecasts (and all forecasts for that matter) haven’t changed since completing the plog.
• Check the aircraft documentation is valid. Ensure the plane is properly insured and serviced. It’s the pilots responsibility regardless of whether it is a club plane.
• Club administration. Complete the tech log, authorisation sheet and at my flying club the self hire check out form which mandates a solo flight within the last 28 days.
• Call the destination aerodrome to book in. This is a great opportunity to ask for current conditions and potential runway in use.
• Call the departing aerodrome to book out.
• Final check of the weather. You can never check the weather enough while on the ground.
• Check yourself. Are you confident in your flight and fit to fly.

Summary

This list goes most of the way in outlining my flight preparations. It’s is not a comprehensive list of everything you might need to prepare however it serves me well and helps me feel confident in my preparation.

Thanks for reading and happy flying! Let me know what your list looks like in the comments.