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When I was a new pilot flying around Florida building time, I was doing a VFR flight from Daytona Beach to Vero Beach, Florida. I was young and cocky and I thought, “Hey, I don’t need a flight plan,” and set off on my way. That was that a big mistake! It should have been an easy trip. It is practically a straight line from Daytona Beach to Vero Beach along the coast line. Though nothing terrible happened, I did get disorientated a little when I was above the clouds (where it was cooler) and had to ask for help from a controller to get me on my way. I decided right then that I would ALWAYS have a flight plan with me so that I never got myself in that situation again. I decided that I would be absolutely certain about my location at all times, have an alternate airport along my route that I knew I could fly to if the weather went bad even on a VFR day or if I need fuel or was having engine trouble.

So we will talk about a these things in today’s entry so you will be more ready than me and I think you will find it useful and if nothing else, a good reminder.

What Is a Flight Plan?

A flight plan is more than just a schedule and an itinerary. It is a detailed map and action plan of your flight from your point of origin and to your destination indicating the different factors that will affect how safely and efficiently you will take off and arrive.  It is your game plan. It is your outline. It is your saving grace. For that reason, you need to have a flight plan that’s not only safe and extensive but also legal.  Here are some tips for flight planning that you might find useful:

Know Where You Are, Know Where You Are Going

 

Use standard flight plan forms. If your flight school doesn’t have flight plans available readily available, you can download a flight plan here. If you don’t like that one, you can buy either these ASA Flight Planner Sheets or the IFR Flight File Chart Planner and Organizer.

Completing these forms is important because there are many factors that go into play when you’re flight planning such as fuel consumption, air temperature, winds aloft and weather-related information.  If you leave any one aspect of your flight unanswered, according to Murphy’s Law, that is the aspect that is going to cause you the problem on that flight. There are also certain routes that depending on the type of flight (VFR or IFR) that you will want to be aware of. There may be Notices to Airmen (NOTAMs), temporary flight restrictions (TFR’s), military training routes (MTR), different classes of airspace, etc., that you will want to be aware of. If you are flying IFR, you will need to know what arrival and departure procedures you may have to deal with.

Real life experience. I had to fly a lawyer down to an airport on the Texas-Mexico border. No big deal. Filed an IFR flight plan and left. When we got to the airport, there were trucks on the runway. They had recently just finished repaving the runway. There were no centerlines. It turns out the airport was CLOSED and no, there was no big ‘X’ at either end of the runway, so I landed. Did I look at the NOTAMs during my pre-flight…again…no! If I had I would have noticed that the runway was being resurfaced and was temporary closed. Did I land? Yeah! I considered it safe and after reviewing the Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR) later there is nothing that states that I can’t land at a closed airport. If I had bent some metal though, I would have been in trouble. Still, I was stressed for awhile after the fact. If I’d reviewed the NOTAMs before I left it wouldn’t have been an issue.

Carry Your Documents and Certificates

Always check that you have the necessary documents during your pre-flight:

• pilot certificate
• medical certificate
• airplane registration
• pilot operating handbook (POH)
• logbook endorsements (if you are a student pilot)
• FCC radiotelephone license (if required)
• authorizations, e.g., ferry certificates (if necessary)
• information about weights and balances and operating limitations (good to have but not required) 

If you keep all of it in your Hendricks 9-G Plus High Performance Kneeboard, you will always know where it is.

If your aircraft has certain modifications done, make sure you have all the required FAA forms.  You must be mindful of these documents at all times, especially during international flights.

At some point in your career, you will pull into a fixed-based operator (FBO), shut down the airplane and start walking away when an FAA Inspector will walk up to you, show you their credentials, and ask to see some of the information listed above. Don’t be caught without them, it really isn’t worth risking a violation or having your pilot certificate revoked or suspended.

Always Have Fuel Backup Plan

The scariest thing you can do when flight planning is to underestimate fuel.  When calculating for fuel reserves, for example, it’s important that you plan to have at least an hour of fuel left on the aircraft when you land.  

FAR 91.151, Fuel Requirements: VFR Flight, says we cannot fly an airplane unless we have enough fuel to reach our intended destination, and then fly at normal cruise speed for “at least 30 minutes” during the day or “at least 45 minutes” at night.

The instrument fuel reserves are a bit stricter. FAR 91.167 says we must have enough fuel to:

(1) Complete the flight to the first airport of intended landing;
(2) Fly from that airport to the alternate airport; and
(3) Fly after that for 45 minutes at normal cruising speed….”

Notice I said “plan.” If you land with less than an hour of fuel that is fine from a legal standpoint because it is “reserve” fuel and if you need to use it, you can use it. I always stressed to my students that their absolute personal minimum should be one hour of fuel. If you even get close to it, find an airport and refuel. You could probably use the break anyway.

What happens if you go into your 30 minute reserve, are you still legal? Again, I say “yes” because again that is what it is there for. If you crash an airplane because you ran out of fuel, are you still legal? Big jump here and I may be wrong but I would say, ”NO!” 

Know the airports on either side of you during a flight and their distance and you will never be caught unprepared. Even in the CRJ, I am always considering alternates for emergencies. 

Have an Alternate Airport

Flying VFR and IFR are a little different when it comes to alternate airports.

There is no excuse to fly into instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) if you are on a VFR flight plan. I’m going to simply say, know your weather, know where there are airports along your route, and land if the weather become marginal.

If you are on an IFR flight plan, you must have an alternate airport.  That “1-2-3 Rule” is really an exception. OK, before you jump out of your seat, here me out.

§ 91.169   IFR flight plan: Information required.

(a) Information required. Unless otherwise authorized by ATC, each person filing an IFR flight plan must include in it the following information:
     (1) Information required under §91.153 (a) (aka VFR Flight Plan Information) of this part;
     (2) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, an alternate airport.
          (b) Paragraph (a)(2) of this section does not apply if :
               (1) (removed for brevity)
               (2) Appropriate weather reports or weather forecasts, or a combination of them, indicate the following:
                     (i) For aircraft other than helicopters. For at least 1 hour before and for 1 hour after the estimated time of arrival, the ceiling will be at least 2,000 feet above the airport elevation and the visibility will be at least 3 statute miles.

So you see, you need an alternate except if the “1-2-3″ applies. Anyway, enough of that!

Free Pilots Tip of the Week from PilotWorkshops.com

If you are on an IFR flight plan, you will have to plan for an alternate. But what happens if your “filed” alternate changes? When my students would do their IFR flight planning, I would ask what their alternate airport would be and then I would ask them what their second alternate would be if they couldn’t get to their destination or their first alternate. Then we would review fuel requirements for such a diversion. 

Be Mindful of Time

Learn to gather as much information needed for efficient flight planning as possible within a short period of time. Sometimes when you’re pressed for time, a half-hour or less is all that you’ll have in order to come up with a detailed data card that need to be completed before takeoff. Continuously practicing is the best way to learn.

If you want to learn how to be good at flight planning, learn to accumulate relevant information and ignore unnecessary details. This will take time, but once you learn how, it will prove to be a very valuable skill in the future. It might be helpful to remove the article, The Importance of Learning Flight Planning, to give you some more ideas on how to flight plan for your trip.

Conclusion

Well, we’ve talked about a few things here: know where you are, documents, fuel, weather, and being efficient. They all need to be done to have a successful flight and each time you flight plan you will learn more and get better at it.

To Your Flying Success…

Jeffrey

Jeffrey is a captain at a regional airline and flies the CRJ200, CRJ700, and the CRJ900. He has over 4000 hrs of flying experience in many different airplanes and is a Gold Seal flight instructor to his credit. He has recently written “The CRJ200 Quicknote Study Guide” that simplifies the systems of the CRJ200 into a downloadable eBook. Click here to get your copy today!

Related posts:

• The Importance of Learning Airplane Flight Planning
• PilotWorkshops.com: IFR Proficiency Tips from Top Flight Instructors
• Tips on Finding a Great Flight Instructor
• One of the Most Important Words in Aviation
• Cockpit Organization and Being Prepared for Your Flight