PPL: Stage Check

Private Pilot

IN OP Flow FAR/AIM 91.213

-KOEL (has to be working) & CEL (has to be installed) (both found in the POH)

-91.205 in the FAR/AIM ATOMATOFLAMES

-TCDs//Type Certificate Data Sheet (the parameters of the aircraft/Aircraft Limitations)

-ADs//Airworthiness Directives (a regulatory statement issued by the FAA to correct an unsafe condition in an aircraft

-Remove or replace OR placard as INOP + let maintenance know

ATOMATOFLAMES

A-Airspeed Indicator

T-Tachometer (RPM gauge)

O-Oil Pressure Gauge

M-Manifold Pressure Gauge (only for adjustable propeller planes; we have a fixed propeller)

A-Altimeter

T-Temperature Gauge (we don’t have one in our plane because this is only for liquid-cooled engines, and we have an air-cooled engine)

O-Oil Temperature Gauge

F-Fuel Quantity Indicators

L-Landing Gear Extension Indicator (we don’t have it in our plane because we do not have retractable landing gear)

A-Anti-Collision Lights (Beacon + Strobe). The beacon is on top of the tail and red. The strobes are on the wings and flashing white

M-Magnetic Direction Indicator/ Compass

E-ELT (Emergency Locator Transmitter)

S-Seatbelts

FLAPS (Added to ATOMATOFLAMES at night)

F-Fuses/Circuit Breakers

L-Landing Light (only needed on commercial aircraft & CAU is a commercial-operated company)

A-Anti-Collision Lights

P-Position Lights/Nav Lights (red, green, white + on the back of the plane) (needed for sunset and sunrise)

S-Source of Power (Alternator)

SPARROWED (Is the aircraft airworthy?)

S-Supplements (G100)

P-Placards

A-Airworthiness Certificate

R-Registration (7 years)

R-Radio License (for international flights only) (one license for the plane and one for the pilot)

O-Operating Limitations (in POH)

W-Weight + Balance

E-External Data Plate (a metal plate attached to the outside of the aircraft that contains identifying information about the airplane like the make, model, and serial number)

D-Deviation Card (a small card in an aircraft that tells you how much compass error you have + found in the POH if no card is displayed under the compass)

V-Speeds

• Vne: Never exceed speed; 163 knots

• Vno: maximum structural cruising speed; do not exceed this speed except in smooth air, then only with caution; 129 knots

• Vx: best angle of climb (62 knots); best for when you want to clear something during take off

• Vy: best rate of climb for time (74 knots)

• Va: maneuvering speed (can find in the POH); 105/98/90 knots

  • The heavier the weight, the higher Va

  • The lower the weight, the lower Va

• VLE: maximum landing gear extended speed (you can find this in the POH) 

• Vso: stall speed landing config, with full flaps (ready to land) 40 knots

• Vs: Stall speed in the clean config, 48 knots

• Vfe: maximum flap extended speed for full flaps; exceeding this speed with the flaps extended may cause damage to the flap system or wing

  • 0 degrees: 110 knots; 10 degrees to full: 85 knots

Forward & Aft CG

• Forward CG: more stable, less fuel efficient, higher stall speed, good stall recovery 

• AFT CG: less stable, more fuel efficient, less drag, lower stall speed, bad stall recovery

Newton’s 1st Law of Motion

Any object at rest or moving in a straight line remains at rest or continues in a straight line unless a force comes in to disturb it

Newton’s 3rd Law

For every action or force, there is an equal but opposite reaction force

Bernoulli’s Principle

• As molecules move faster, there is a decrease in pressure

• On a straight line, air moves slower

• On a curved line, air moves faster

The Propeller

• On a straight bottom and curved top line, the air moves faster over the top and slower over the bottom

• Any increase in lift causes an increase in drag

• Top of wing=low pressure

• Below the wing= high pressure

• He had a venturi tube that went wide, then thin, then wide, and as the air molecules moved through the thin middle part of the tube, they sped up. The more narrow something is that air has to travel through, the higher the speed of the air molecules and the lower the pressure

IMSAFE (Personal Fitness of Flight)

I- Illness (congestion + headaches are a NO GO for flying)

M- Medication (FAA document that lists medication that will say if it’s safe to fly or not, or you can contact your AME and ask)

S- Stress (Acute Stress: you can fly + Chronic Stress: you cannot fly)

A- Alcohol (8-hour rule to throttle, 0.04 BAC, can’t have any hangover side effects)

F-Fatigue (Acute Fatigue: you cannot fly + Chronic Fatigue: you cannot fly)

E-Emotion + Eating

Go Around Procedure

1. Full Power

2. Flaps immediately to 20 degrees

3. 60 knots & positive climb, flaps to 10 degrees

4. 65 knots & positive climb, flaps to full

5. Capture 74 (Vy) knots to climb back out

Touch + Gos

1. Land

2. Full Power

3. Flaps immediately to 20 degrees

4. Stay on Center Line

5. Pitch up at 55 knots

6. 60 knots & positive climb, flaps to 10 degrees

7. 65 knots & positive climb, flaps to 0 degrees

5 C’s Procedure for Go Arounds

Cram- power to full

Climb- get the aircraft in a Vy (74 knots)

Clean-flaps up to 20 degrees immediately, 60 knots & positive; flaps to 10 degrees, 65 knots & postive; flaps to 0 degrees

Call- make the call to ATC to go around

Comply-to whatever ATC is telling you

Take Off Briefing

• If we have an engine failure or abnormality before rotation: Immediately throttle idle, braking as required.

• If we have an engine failure after takeoff with runway remaining: Land on remaining runway

• If we have an engine failure below 1000' AGL: Best glide 68/65, find a landing spot no more than 30 degrees from our nose, declare emergency and execute a forced landing.

• If we have an engine failure above 1000' AGL: Best glide 68/65, attempt to return to the airport and land on the runway.

SAFETY Briefing

• S-seatbelts work just like they do in your car should be worn during all phases of flight 

• A-airvents are to your left and right; twist to let out more air

• F-fire extinguisher is below us and between us; to use it, pull the pin, aim, and sweep side to side

• E-emergency, to open the door pull the handle up and push out, exit away from the propeller

• T-traffic/talking: if you see something, say something. We use a clock code: 12 o'clock in front, 6 o’clock behind. Please limit personal conversations or anything not about the flight during the critical phases: taxi, takeoff, and landing

• Y- Do YOU have any questions

Instrument Check Briefing

• Airspeed at zero

• Blue above brown; wings are level.

• Turn coordinator, ball is centered

• Heading indicator matches magnetic compass

• Altimeter within 75 ft of field elevation

• VSI (vertical speed indicator) at zero

• Lights (turn them on), camera (confirm XPDR 1200), action mixture full rich (go to runway for takeoff)

Magnetos System

• Provides its own power to create the spark that ignites the engine (think of it like its own power source that sends electricity to the spark plugs)

  • Uses magnets to generate the electrical current

• Check them before takeoff and look in the POH to find the best setting for takeoff

• If the RPM drop exceeds the allowable limit (no more than 150 or a 50 difference between the 2) or there is no drop in RP when running on a single magneto, DO NOT FLY

• The magnetos provide the electrical energy for the spark plugs.

• The accessory housing is where the magnetos are located 

For example:

• Left magneto → spark plugs

• Right magneto → spark plugs

• If one magneto fails, the other can continue providing ignition.

• That's why during your run-up you check:

• LEFT → BOTH → RIGHT → BOTH

• You are checking the ignition system. The magnetos are apart of the ignition system

• The magnetos are by the ignition. The spark plugs are in the cylinders in the engine as part of the engine system

Electrical System

A basic electrical system in my Cessna 172 has a generator/alternator, a battery, a stall warning horn, pitot heat, and a starting motor. It usually has a battery switch that controls the electric power, similar to the master switch

• has a 28- volt DC on our plane

Fuel System

• Gravity feed System: uses gravity to transfer fuel from tanks to the engine

• The Cessna 172 has a Gravity Feed System | uses gravity to transfer fuel from tanks to the engine, AKA a fuel-injected system

• (TFRASSECD) (Gravity Fed)

  • Tanks (we have 2 fuel vents to prevent a vacuum from forming)

  • Fuel Selector (which tank we pull from, but we mostly do both

  • Reservoir (extra fuel we store to prevent fuel starvation at unusual altitudes and sits on the belly of the plane) 

  • Auxiliary Fuel Pump (electrically driven) (we use this to prime the plane before the engine turns on, or for engine restart for engine failures) 

  • Shut OFF Valve (red long knob and it shuts off all fuel)

  • Strainer (strains all the fuel or any extra sediment) 

  • Engine Driven Fuel Pump (mechanically driven by the engine and the primary one) 

  • Control Unit (controls the ratio of fuel and air, meters it so the right ratio is being sent to the engine)

  • Distributor (has 5 nozzles, one for each 4cylinders, and the 5th one goes into our fuel flow indicator; goes from the fuel lines and is injected into the cylinders) 

Flying The Pattern Procedure

Ignition System

Ignition System: what creates the spark that will ignite the fuel-air mixture in the engine cylinders. It's made up of 2 magnetos, 2 spark plugs in each cylinder so 8 total because we have a 4 cylinder, ignition leads + wires, and a magneto switch (OFF-L-R-BOTH)

VFR, MVFR, IFR (look in SOP to see my standards)

VFR- Visual Flight Rules (ceilings greater than 3,000 ft AGL; visibility greater than 5 SM)

MVFR- Marginal Visual Flight Rules (ceiling between 1,000 and 3,000 ft AGL; visibility between 3-5 SM)

IFR- Instrument Flight Rules (ceiling less than 1000 ft AGL, visibility less than 3 SM)

For VFR Fuel Regulations DAY FAA

You need enough fuel to make it to your destination, plus 30 extra minutes; which is 5 gallons extra

VRF Night Fuel Regulations NIGHT FAA

You need enough fuel to make it to your destination, plus 45 mins of fuel

For VFR Fuel Day + Night Regulations CAU

You need enough fuel to make it to your destination, plus 1 extra hour; which is 10 gallons extra

Documents/Endorsements Needed for Solo Flight

-Gov. issued ID

-Medical

-Endorsement from your Instructor

-Student Pilot Cert.

Our Engine

LHAND:

• Lycoming IO-360 is the cubic inches of the cylinders 

• Horizontally opposed, fuel injected, and horizontally opposed

• Air-cooled (air goes through those big air inlets in the front)

• Naturally Aspirating (when we take off, the air is dense and has more air molecules, and we have better performance; as we climb, the pressure decreases and the air molecules decrease, and we have less performance) (we have to deal with the air that's given)

• Direct Drive (our crankshaft is directly geared to the propellor)