Part 43

Preventive Maintenance
The FAA provides for a limited amount of owner- operator-performed preventive maintenance. 14 CPR
Part 43 is the governing regulation, and this is what you can do:
1.Removal, installation, and repair of landing gear tires.
2. Servicing landing gear shock struts by adding oil, air,or both.
3. Servicing landing gear wheel bearings.
4. Lubrication not requiring disassembly, other than removal of nonstructural items such as coverplates,
cowlings, and fairings.
5. Making simple fabric patches not requiring rib Cng or the removal of structural parts or control
surfaces.
6. Replenishing hydraulic fluid in the hydraulic
reservoir.
7. Making small, simple repairs to fairings, o structural cover plates, cowlings, and small patches and
reinforcements, but not changing the contour so as to interfere with proper airflow.
8. Replacing safety belts.
9. Replacing seats or belt parts with replacement parts approved for the aircraft, not involving
disassembly of any primary structure or operating system.
10. Troubleshooting and repairing broken circuits on landing light wiring circuits.
11. Replacing bulbs, reflectors, and lenses of position and landing lights.
12. Replacing wheels and skis where no weight and balance computation is involved.
13. Replacing or cleaning spark plugs and setting spark plug gap clearance.
14. Replacing any hose connection except hydraulic connections.
15. Cleaning fuel and oil strainers.
16, Replacing batteries and checking fluid level and specific gravity.

You can perform other preventive maintenance activities under the supervision of a certificated
mechanic if you hold a private or commercial pilot certificate. 14 CFR 91.417 says that you should keep a
record of your preveńtive maintenance activities (the aircraft and engine logs would seem like a good
place).

Airworthiness Directives
When the FAA determines that there is a problem with a specific aircraft or engine model or an
operating procedure, it issues an Airworthiness Directive (AD)–it is unlikely that you will ever see an AD
in your everyday flying activities. Compliance with ADS 1S mandatory, and responsibility for carying Out
tne provisions of an AD is placed on the owner or operator. Many ADs require inspections on scheduled
basis ("Every 50 hours"), or allow time for compliance ("Within the next 100 flight hours..."), so you can
fly an airplane on which an AD has been issued if the AD makes provision for continued flight.

Minimum Equipment Lists

As mentioned under FAR 91.213, the FAA does not want you to fly an aircraft that has something
important inoperative or missing without some kind of warning-after takeoff is a bad time to learn about
such things. Twins have an MEL; most singles do not. The example usually given to drive home the
importance/silliness of this regulation is the cigarette lighter; if it is listed under Required Equipment in
the Approved Flight Manual, it must be present and working. Very few FAA inspectors would go to such
an extreme looking for violations, but that is what the regulation calls for.
 Airport/Facility Directory
Before setting off on a cross-country flight, you are required to become familiar with all available
information regarding the flight, and the Airport/Facility Directory (A/FD) is your source of information
on the destination airport and any others along the route you may decide to visit. Aeronautical charts
show the elevation, runway length, and limited radio frequency information for an airport, but only in
the Airport/Facility Directory will you learn that the runway is gravel, 75 feet wide, with trees on the
west, and that it slopes upward to the north. The legend for individual airport listings is provided in
Appendix Cof this text. You will also find pertinent excerpts in Lesson 11. In addition to the individual
airport listings, the A/FD contains:
• Special notices in regard to airports listed
• FSS and National Weather Service ephone ir Route Traffic Control Centers numbers
• FAA General Aviatior District Office telephone
• Frequencies of A numbers VOR receiver check points
• Parachute jumping area Aeronautical Chart Bulletin (contains information about obstacles and
hazards that have been noted since the last chart was printed and which will be included in the next
printing) Location of Enroute Flight Advisory Stations Flight Watch)
• Airport diagrams for all public airports; detailed airport diagrams for large airports; airport diagrams
are also available at www.aeronav.faa.gov VFR GPS waypoints published in

QR Codes
Ifyou have a smartphone, all Aeronav products now have QR codes on their covers. For sectional charts,
the QR will take you to any of these sites:

• Aeronautical Chart User s Guide

• Airport/Facility Directory
• NOTAMS and TFRS
 Safety alerts
 VFR chart update bulletins
• VFR Class B enhancement graphics
 Weather cameras (Alaska only, as of early 2014)

The QR code on the Airport/Facility Directory will

take you to:

 Aeronautical Chart User s Guide

 Digital AFD
 NOTAMS and TFRS
 Safety alerts
 Weather cameras

The OR codes provide the opportunity to get the dosolute latest information available.
 Notices to Airmen
Information that miht affect the safety of a flight, Such as a runway closure, Temporary Flight
Restriction(TFR), NAVAID outage, lighting system change, etc., is available from your flight service
station briefer.

Your briefer has access to NOTAMS. So do you, at https:/pilotweb.nas.faa, gov/distribution/atescc.html.

If you use one of the computer flight planning prodcts such as DUATS or the AOPA flight planner, you
will also receive current NOTAMS -but be aware that TFRS can pop up without warning. Always check for
them with flight service before takeoff to avoid being intercepted by F-16s or Coast Guard helicopters
and forced to land.

Aviation Media
All pilots are expected to stay abreast of changes in regulations and procedures, but advancing
technology is teaching new ways of navigating and of solving some of the mysteries of weather, and
pilots cannot expect today's methods to apply forever. The aviation press is the best source of
information on the changing world of fight, and we recommend that
you read aviation newspapers and magazines. The FAA's Aviation Safety Bulletin, published six times a
year, is available from the FAA home page, and you will find a wealth of information on the Air Safety
Foundation website, www.asf.org.

The Electronic Flight Bag

This entire chapter has been devoted to things you
should look up or be aware of before flight. How
about having all of them available in the cockpit
without the problems of juggling charts and books
while keeping the airplane under control? The avia-
tion industry has come up with a solution: the elec-
tronic flight bag. It consists of a tablet computer
which, with the appropriate software, puts everything
you need to know at your fingertips. Caveat: Some
services may require a subscription.
Developments in this arena move so fast that I can-
not keep abreast of them in print, so let me sug-
gest that you use any search engine to get the latest
information.

LESSON 5
Procedures and Airport Operations
Note: Revisions to The Pilot's Bill of Rights are
currently (2015) being considered by Congress. If
enacted, the revisions will change several regulations
discussed in this book. To be sure that you have the
most current information, go to www.faa.gov, click
on Federal Aviation Regulations, and on the ensuing
page select Current Federal Regulations. Parts 61
and 67 contain the regulations under consideration.

The Five P's

The preceding lessons have provided the basicsthe
airframe, aerodynamics, the engine, and the instru-
mentation--all the tools you need: You know how
to make the airplane go where you want it to go, what
makes the engine tick, you can interpret the engine
and flight instruments, you know the regulations that
atfect your flights, you can navigate both by pilotage
and electronically, and you know how your body
Ieacts to your new-found ability to move in three
mensions. Now we are going to put this informa-
uon all together. As we do, we will place each ele-
nent in one of the 5 P's as defined by the FAA's
Dingle-pilot resource management (SRM) program:
The Plan
First and foremost is the weather. Everything else
can be perfect, but if you can't fly under visual flight
.rules with a large margin of error, the flight just won't
happen. If you read accident reports in the aviation
press or look at National Transportation Safety Board
website (www.ntsb.gov), you know that the most
common cause of light plane accidents is “Contin-
ued VFR fight into IFR weather conditions." When
you go to one (or several) of the websites you will
find by searching for "aviation weather," you have
at your fingertips graphic displays of both existing
conditions and forecasts. You do not want to fly
toward a destination that is reporting deteriorating
weather, and you do not want to fly above anything
less than scattered clouds (nor do you want to scud
run between a low cloud deck and the terrain). I
recommend going to the ADDS webpage (www.
aviationweather.gov), clicking on Java Tools, and
using their Flight Plan tool. This will enable you to
see a cross-section of your planned flight with terrain
and clouds displayed.
• Plan
• Plane
• Pilot
. Passengers
• Programming

Publications
The Airport/Facility Directory should be a part of
your preflight planning. Note frequencies that will
be used, including those for radar facilities you will
use for flight following (radar services to pilots). Yon
can find airport diagrams for many large airports
online (www.aopa.org, www.landings.com, www.
airnav.com, many subscription services). I hope that
it goes without saying that you will have sectional
and Class B (if needed) charts.

The Plane
Check the inspection status. Has the plane had an
annual inspection and been returned to service within
the past year? Any outstanding Airworthiness Direc-
tives? The weight and balance should fall within the
operating envelope, and stay within the envelope as
fuel is burned off.
The Pilot
How do you feel? If you could not pass a physical
exam for the class of medical certificate you hold on
the date of the flight, you must ground yourself. If
you have a medical condition that popped up since
your last visit to an FAA medical examiner, you can-
not wait until your next physical is due, you must
Stop tlying right now. But how about conditions we
might consider "minor," such as a head cold? It's
still a no-go decision; you might not be able to clear
your ears after altitude changes.

The Passengers
Our passengers should disembark at the destination
as enthusiastic supporters of general aviation, and it
IS your job to ensure that nothing happens along the
way to make them uncomfortable. If they are non-
pilots, explain everything. Noises and movements
that are secònd-nature to you are foreign to them.
Before you make a power change, switch tanks, or
extend the flaps/gear, tell your passengers what you
are doing. This is especially important when they
seem to be nervous or unusually silent. Enlist their
help in looking for traffic as a means of taking their
minds off of their concerns. An intercom that lets your
passengers listen in will take their minds off of their
concerns. This is a two-edged sword, of course...it
puts them in the loop, and you should explain any
transmissions that might raise red flags in their minds.
hut it affords them the opportunity to tallk to you when
vOu do not heed distractions. Enforce a silent cockpit
as you approach the destination airport.

The Programming
This “p"-this element of single-pilot resource man-
agement-is more important to pilots who fly under
Instrument Flight Rules than it is to those who fly
visually. The programming of onboard navigation
equipment (Lesson 9) is less important to VFR pilots
because they can change altitude or course at any
time. However, now is the time for you to master
the nuances of the equipment you have on board,
so that by the time you begin training for the instru-
ment rating you will not be fumbling with knobs
and switches.
The Airport
At any airport, you will have to be able to identify
the runway in USe, taxi Safely, be aware of wake
rhulence hazards, deal with the line crew, know
who if anyone) controls your actions, interpret lights
and markings, ete. This lesson will discuss general
airport operations, differentiate between tower and
non-tower airports, and provide guidance on what
you should expect.

As your flying experience expands to include more

airports, you will find some features that they all
have in common. For instance, all runways are
numbered according to their direction in relation to
magnetic north, to the closest 10°. A runway laid
out 078° from magnetic north would be numbered
8: rounded off to 080° and the zeros dropped. The
opposite end of the runway would be numbered 26,
the reciprocal (Figure 5-1). Some large airports have
parallel runways which are identified as left, right,
or center: runway 27R, runway 6L, etc.

VASI
Visual Approach Slope Indicators (VASI) are
installed at both tower-controlled and non-tower
airports, and provide a visual means for the pilot to
maintain a constant glide angle (usually 3 degrees)
on final approach. Information on the type of VASI
and the glide path angle can be found in the A/FD
listing for the desired airport. A VASI installation
defines the approach slope by providing light boxes
adjacent to the runway-each box contains a light
SOurce and filters so arranged that when the pilot
1S on the desired glide path the box closest to the
treshold (downwind) will show a white light. and
the box furthest from the threshold (upwind) will
show a red light. To the pilot on the correct glide
nath this appears as red over white: "red over white
is right." Two white lights indicate a position too
high on the glide path: “white over white, you're
high as a kite." If a pilot is below the desired glide
path both light boxes will show a red light: “red over
red-you're dead (a little morbid, but it rhymes
and conveys a strong warning). Where a VASI is
provided, you are required to use it by flying on or
above the visual glide path until descent is required
for landing. Figure 5-8 shows 2- and 3-bar VASI.
Taxiing
Strong gusty winds can make taxiinga chore, and
mishandling the controls might result in loss of con-
trol. You must understand how to use the controls
so that the wind cannot get beneath the wing or tail
surfaces and cause you to drag a wing tip or have the
propeller strike the ground. This is especially true of
light sport aircraft, which are more responsive to the
vagaries of the wind than standard category aircraft.

When the wind is coming from a direction in front

of the airplane, from wing tip to wing tip, hold the
ailerons as though you are banking into the wind.
The up-aileron on the windward side will depress
the wing as the wind strikes it–the down-aileron on
the opposite wing will create enough lift to oppose
any overturning tendency. The elevator should be in
a neutral position unless you are flying a taildragger,
in which case full back elevator control will pin the
tailwheel to the ground for steering control.

A quartering tailwind is most hazardous for a tricycle

gear airplane, because a gust can lift the wing and
tail and upset the airplane. To counter this tendency,
when the wind is coming from any direction behind
the airplane, the ailerons should be held away from
the wind, and the elevator held in neutral or slightly
forward (well forward in a taildragger). The down-
aileron will now be on the windward side, and the
wind from behind the wing will hold it down. Figure
5-11 illustrates this technique.
Crosswind Operations
Although airport designers try to align runways with
the prevailing winds, there is always the possibility
that the wind may not be blowing directly down the
runway you intend to use. The manufacturer of your
airplane has designated a maximumn crosswind com-
ponent for your airplane, and you will find it either
placarded in the cockpit or in the Pilot's perating
Handbook. It is called "maximum demonstrated
crosswind component" if the factory test pilot dem-
onstrated that the airplane was controllable with a
crosswind component at the published figure. You
offset the crosswind component by using ailerons to
control sideways drift and rudder to keep the longi-
tudinal axis (and the airplane's direction of motion)
aligned with the runway. When the crosswind com-
ponent exXceeds the published maximum, these aero-
dynamic controls may not be able to overcome the
sideways drift and the tendency of the airplane to
yaw or weathercock into the wind. You will “run out
of rudder." See Figure 5-12.

There are several techniques for crosswind takeoffs

and landings and they all have one common thread:
the airplane must be pointing and moving paral-
lel to the runway heading at liftoff or touchdown.
Some tricycle-gear airplanes have free-swiveling
nose gear which aligns itself with the direction of
travel as soon as it touches the runway, while on
other airplanes the nose gear reacts to rudder input.
If your trainer is one of the latter, any rudder input
at touchdown may result in a swerve. The crosswind
diagram (Figure 5-13) is one'method of determining
crosswind component.
Find the angle between the reported wind direc-
tion and the runway heading, and follow the line
representing that angle to its intersection with the
arc representing the reported wind velocity. A line
drawn downward from the point of intersection to
the bottom scale will give you the crosswind com-
ponent, and a horizontal line will give the headwind
Component:

Operations at Non-Tower Airports

Unless you learn to fly at a tower-controlled airport
and never venture far from the comforting sound
of a controller's voice, you will spend most of your
time flying at non-tower airports. There are approxi-
matety 19,802 landing facilities in the United States,
and only 509 had towers in 2011 (the latest year for
which statistics are available). A few (three) non-
tower airports have on-field flight service stations,
a larger number have UNICOM (see Table 5-1), and
many have no radio facility at all. Your airplane does
not have to be radio-equipped to operate at these
airports. Remembereven a tower-controlled airport
becomes Class E orG airspace when the controller
UNICOM Frequencies
122.700 122.725
123.00
122.800
123.050
122.975

goes home; the Airspace listing in the A/FD will tell

you which applies at a given airport. Also, the sec-
tional chart will have a note saying "See NOTAMS/
Directory for D/E (or D/G) effective hours". (See
Lesson 9 for airspace class descriptions.) Figure 5-18
shows a control tower and traffic pattern indicators
around the windsock. When the tower is closed at
night, only one of the parallel runways will be lighted
and the traffic pattern indicators will dictate traffic
flow, If the wind direction changes during the night,
e lighted runway may not be aligned with the wind;
check the windsock.