Kneeboard Library
Pilot References Airspace, weather, IFR, regulations, currency, and systems — the pages you would mark in the AIM. Search, filter, and open a card. Confirm the AFM and the current FAR; this is a memory aid, not a legal document.
By Topic A–Z By FAR
All 93 Airspace 4 Weather 12 VFR 4 IFR 11 Airport 7 Comms 5 Emergency 5 Regs 12 Currency 6 Human 5 Systems 5 Performance 9 Nav 8
93 cards
Airspace at a glance Airspace AIM 3-2 What you need to enter, and who is separating whom. Open Class B operations Airspace 91.131 Clearance before entry. Mode C veil is 30 NM from the primary, surface to 10,000. Open Mode C veil & transponder Airspace 91.215 / 91.225 Where the box has to be on, and when ADS-B Out is mandatory. Open Special use airspace Airspace AIM 3-4 What you can enter, what you cannot, and who to call. Open AIRMET / SIGMET / CWA Weather AIM 7-1-6 AIRMETs are common IMC/ice/turb for small aircraft. SIGMETs are for everybody. Open Clouds that matter Weather Vertical development means updrafts. Nimbus means rain. Cirrus is ice and a warm front's telegraph. Open Fog Weather Vis under 5/8 SM, touching the ground. Temp/dew spread of 2°C or less is a yellow flag. Open Fronts Weather Wind shift, temperature change, and a pressure trough. The weather is at the boundary. Open Highs, lows, and wind Weather Wind around a low is counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere. Closely packed isobars = wind. Open Icing Weather AIM 7-1-21 Visible moisture + temp near freezing. Known icing plus a non-FIKI airframe is a 91.13 problem. Open Legal weather briefing Weather 91.103 91.103 says you must become familiar with all available information. For a flight not in the pattern, that includes weather. Open METAR decode Weather AIM 7-1-31 Routine every hour. SPECI when it changes enough to matter. Open TAF decode Weather AIM 7-1-31 24 or 30 hours for the 5 SM around the airport. FM is a rapid change. TEMPO is less than half the period. Open Thunderstorms Weather AIM 7-1-29 Fuel, lifting, unstable. Stay 20 NM from severe cells. Don't fly under the anvil. Open Weather charts worth opening Weather AIM 7-1 Don't brief off a single METAR. Look at the system, then the field. Open Wind shear & microbursts Weather AIM 7-1-26 A 15-kt performance-killing change. Microbursts last 2–5 minutes and can exceed 6,000 fpm downdrafts. Open Basic VFR weather minimums VFR 91.155 The table you quote on a checkride. SVFR is 91.157, not this. Open Fuel reserves VFR 91.151 / 91.167 Legal floor, not a personal minimum. Night VFR is 45 for a reason. Open Night VFR 91.209 / 61.57 Position lights from sunset to sunrise. Night passenger currency is a different clock than logging night. Open Special VFR VFR 91.157 ATC clearance, surface area of B/C/D/E, 1 SM and clear of clouds. Open Approach brief (knob to knob) IFR Name, nav, course, FAF, MDA/DA, missed, lights, notes. Out loud, even solo. Open Approach types IFR AIM 5-4 Precision, APV, nonprecision. Minima live on the plate, not in your memory. Open Hold entries IFR AIM 5-3-8 Draw the holding course. Your heading to the fix decides the sector. Open IFR alternate — 1-2-3 rule IFR 91.169 File an alternate unless, from 1 hour before to 1 hour after ETA, dest is forecast at least 2,000 and 3 SM. Open IFR lost communications IFR 91.185 Squawk 7600. If VMC, stay VFR and land. If IMC, AVE-F and MEA. Open IFR required instruments IFR 91.205(d) VFR night kit plus the IFR set. GRIN is the schoolhouse mnemonic; the FAR is the list. Open ILS inner / middle / outer IFR AIM 1-1-9 Localizer is four times as sensitive as a VOR. GS is 3° unless the plate says otherwise. Open MEA, MOCA, MCA, OROCA, MVA IFR AIM 5-3-5 Obstacle clearance is not the same as navaid reception. Open Missed approach IFR AIM 5-4-21 At DA: decide. At MDA: not below, and not past the MAP without the runway environment. Open Procedure turn / hold-in-lieu IFR AIM 5-4-9 If the plate shows a PT, you fly it unless you are NoPT, radar vectored, timed, or already aligned on a published transition that says NoPT. Open When you may descend below DA/MDA IFR 91.175 Three tests: in a position to land, flight visibility not less than published, and the runway environment in sight. Open Airport signs Airport AIM 2-3 Red is a wall. Yellow is where you are. Black is where you can go. Open Go-around / rejected landing Airport The most underused safe maneuver in GA. Unstable, occupied, or a bad feeling: go. Open LAHSO Airport AIM 4-3-11 You may refuse. If you accept, you must be able to stop in the available landing distance. Open Non-towered pattern Airport AIM 4-1-5 / 4-3-3 Left traffic unless the chart says right. Enter at pattern altitude. Open Runway markings & lights Airport AIM 2-1 / 2-3 White is runway. Yellow is taxiway. Red on the far threshold means you are looking the wrong way. Open Taxi & runway incursions Airport AIM 4-3-18 Hot spots are on the chart for a reason. Read back hold-short. Don't taxi with your head in the FMS. Open Wake turbulence Airport AIM 7-3 Vortices sink and drift with the wind. Rotate before their rotation point; land after their touchdown. Open ADS-B, traffic, intercepts Comms 91.225 / 91.227 ADS-B Out is a rule, not an app. In is a gift. Intercepts have a script. Open Light-gun signals Comms AIM 4-3-13 Acknowledge in the air by rocking wings; on the ground by taxiing or moving ailerons. Open Phonetic alphabet & numbers Comms AIM 4-2-7 Niner, tree, fife when it matters. Decimal is “point” or “decimal.” Open Transponder codes Comms AIM 4-1-20 Four digits. Don't squawk 7777. Open Who you are talking to Comms AIM 4-2 Name, who you are, where you are, what you want. Then shut up and listen. Open Electrical / fire Emergency The POH order wins. Memory items first, then the paper. Open ELT Emergency 91.207 Inspected every 12 calendar months. 406 MHz is what COSPAS-SARSAT actually hears now. Open Engine failure Emergency Pitch for glide, pick a field, try a restart if time, then fly the airplane into the landing. Open Lost, 7600, 7700 Emergency Climb, Communicate, Confess, Comply, Conserve. Then 121.5 if no one answers. Open NTSB 830 — when to pick up the phone Emergency NTSB 830 Immediate notification for the serious list. 10 days for an accident report. Open Airworthiness inspections — AVIATES Regs 91.409 / 91.411 / 91.413 / 91.207 The airplane is unairworthy if these are overdue. 100-hour is for hire / flight instruction for hire. Open Careless / reckless & dropping objects Regs 91.13 / 91.15 91.13 is the regulation when there isn't a more specific one. It shows up in almost every enforcement. Open Formation, aerobatics, parachutes Regs 91.111 / 91.303 / 91.307 Formation needs arrangement. Aerobatics have a box. Chutes have a seat-belt story. Open Inoperative equipment Regs 91.213 If it is required by 91.205, a TCDS, an AD, or the AFM, you don't fly without a deferral. Open Lights on the airplane Regs 91.209 Sunset to sunrise: position lights. Anti-collision if the airplane has them, unless it blinds someone on the ground. Open Minimum safe altitudes Regs 91.119 Never fly so low that a landing off-airport takes out a person or a house. Open Private pilot privileges Regs 61.113 You can't be paid to fly. You can share the cost. That's the whole war. Open Required documents — ARROW Regs 91.9 / 91.203 In the airplane. Photocopy of the registration is not enough. Open Right of way Regs 91.113 See and avoid still applies when you have the right of way. Open Speed limits Regs 91.117 Indicated. ATC can approve faster if you ask and they say so. Open Student pilot limits Regs 61.89 No passengers. No for-hire. No international. Weather and distance live on the endorsement. Open VFR equipment — day & night Regs 91.205 TOMATO FLAMES by day. Add FLAPS at night. The MEL, if you have one, still wins. Open Complex, HP, high-altitude, tailwheel Currency 61.31 Endorsements, not ratings. Type ratings are the extra layer for large / turbojet / specified. Open Flight review & IPC Currency 61.56 / 61.57(d) 24 calendar months. 1 hour ground + 1 hour flight, unless a new rating, Wings, or a checkride reset the clock. Open Logging PIC Currency 61.51 Acting as PIC and logging PIC are not always the same sentence. Open Medical certificates & BasicMed Currency 61.23 / 61.113 / Part 68 Duration depends on age and class. BasicMed is not a medical — it is a path under 61.113. Open Passenger & IFR currency Currency 61.57 To carry passengers, and to act as PIC under IFR. Sims count for IFR; they don't count for passenger landings. Open Safety pilot Currency 91.109 / 61.51 The hooded pilot is PIC if they are rated and acting as such. The safety pilot is a required crewmember. Open Hypoxia, hyperventilation, CO Human AIM 8-1-2 Four hypoxias. One of them is a cracked exhaust in a Cessna heater. Open IMSAFE / PAVE / DECIDE Human The flight is optional. The go/no-go is the first maneuver. Open Personal minimums Human The FARs keep you legal. Personal minimums keep you from becoming a number. Open Spatial D & visual illusions Human AIM 8-1-5 Trust the attitude indicator. Your inner ear is a liar in IMC and on a black-hole final. Open Supplemental oxygen Human 91.211 Part 91. Pressurized rules are separate (91.211(b)). Open Ballistic parachute (CAPS-style) Systems If the airplane you fly has a chute, the envelope is in the AFM — airspeed and altitude. Brief it every flight. Open Electrical (typical GA) Systems Alternator feeds the battery and the bus. Low voltage in flight is a landing plan, not a curiosity. Open Engine: mixture, carb ice, mags Systems Carb ice in descent on a humid 20°C day is a classic. Detonation is not a sound you ignore. Open Gyros & magnetic compass Systems Vacuum dies, the AI and DG die. The turn coordinator is usually electric. The compass is always a little wrong. Open Pitot-static failures Systems Know which instrument lies when which hole ices over. Open Contaminated runway & crosswind Performance The demonstrated crosswind is not a limit, but your tires and the remaining runway are. Open Density altitude Performance Pressure altitude corrected for non-standard temp. High, hot, humid = long takeoff and anemic climb. Open Mountain flying Performance Cross ridges at 45°, have an out, and don't fly into a downdraft you can't out-climb. Open Rules of thumb Performance For briefing and sanity checks. The AFM still wins. Open Stability & load Performance Positive static: it starts back. Positive dynamic: the oscillations shrink. Open Stall & spin Performance A stall is an AoA event. A spin is a stall with yaw. PARE if the AFM wants a spin recovery. Open Standard atmosphere Performance The fake air we all compute against. Open V-speeds (language) Performance The numbers live in the AFM. This is the vocabulary. Open Weight & balance Performance Moment = weight × arm. CG = total moment / total weight. Stay in the envelope. Open Altimeter setting Nav 91.121 Below 18,000: local setting. At or above 18,000: 29.92 and flight levels. Open Cross-country planning Nav 91.103 Route, weather, fuel, alternates, runways, NOTAMs, aircraft. Then a go/no-go that you will actually obey. Open Flight plans Nav AIM 5-1 IFR: ATC opens it with the clearance. VFR: you open it, and you close it or SAR starts. Open GPS / RNAV / WAAS Nav AIM 1-1-17 The box is only legal if the database is current for the procedure you are flying. Open NOTAMs Nav AIM 5-1-3 If you didn't read them, you didn't brief. FICONs and navaid outages hide in the list. Open Time, TAS, wind correction Nav CAS → TAS with altitude and temp. Wind on the E6B or the box. Groundspeed is what burns the fuel. Open VFR / IFR cruising altitudes Nav 91.159 / 91.179 Magnetic course, not heading. VFR starts at 3,000 AGL. Open VOR / DME / ILS needles Nav AIM 1-1 TO/FROM is not a direction of flight. Reverse sensing happens when you fly a radial inbound with the OBS set to the radial. Open Stuck on a plate? Ask Copilot . Want to drill the bank? Ground school .
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