The preflight inspection
Documents, the walkaround, weight and balance, and the decision to go.
12 min read · Airport operations and procedures
After this lesson you can
- List the ARROW documents and identify the one that must be displayed for passengers to see.
- Walk an airplane in the order the checklist gives, and explain why the order matters.
- Compute a simple weight and balance problem and place the result inside the CG envelope.
- Apply IMSAFE and PAVE, with numeric personal minimums fixed before engine start, to decide go or no-go.
The preflight is the last point in a flight where a problem still costs only time. It is also the easiest part of the flight to rush, because nothing about it feels urgent: the airplane is sitting still, the engine is off, and the pressure that builds up later in the flight has not started yet.
Three separate questions hide inside what looks like one task. Is the airplane legal and airworthy? Is the flight achievable in today conditions? Is the pilot fit to fly it? A "no" to any one of the three is enough to cancel, regardless of how the other two answer.
The rest of this lesson
- 1.The documents: ARROW
- 2.Walking the airplane
- 3.Weight, balance, and performance
- 4.The run-up and the takeoff briefing
- 5.The decision to go
- 6.The paperwork behind airworthiness
These 6 sections, their figures, the checks along the way and the end-of-lesson quiz come with the PPL track. Paid once, yours for good.
Key terms
Try to recall each definition before turning the card.