pilot flight bag
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pilot flight bag
I'm new to this adventure. I've taken a few lessons and would to know what you guys are keeping in your pilot flight bag. I'm sure you have your headset but i'm curious what else you have in there.
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Logbook, license, kneeboard, chart, checklist, flashlight, ipad, headsets, sunglasses, bottle of water, rulers and extra pen and pencil.
Last edited by Airgus; 4th Jul 2017 at 15:15.
Pyjamas with planes all over them.
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Hobbit - You've forgotten the hair gel, medals and four bar epaulettes.
I must have done something wrong. Sunnies, headset, Pooley's and half mil fit well in a Tesco's carrier bag - with room to spare.
I must have done something wrong. Sunnies, headset, Pooley's and half mil fit well in a Tesco's carrier bag - with room to spare.
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Just make sure you get a very large shiny black leather hard case. Consider putting some stickers like 'remove before flight', 'i'm a pilot', 'B787' 'G650' and the like. Just in case people dont actually know you are a pilot, this will help. Remember the crew tag too. Always keep it close by in the flying club bar/clubhouse.
I once had a trial lesson student actually turn up wearing a pilot shirt, single gold bars, and a case like the one described above.
I once had a trial lesson student actually turn up wearing a pilot shirt, single gold bars, and a case like the one described above.
Not to mention light airplane instructors decked out as Airline Captain with all the regalia or wearing military flight suits in a SE piston...
At least a first time student doesn't know any better.
At least a first time student doesn't know any better.
Firstly may I suggest ignoring the sarcastic bar stewards here unable to provide a straight answer to a straight question.
My flight bag is stuffed with far too much stuff even for me, but as I mix instructing, test flying and long trips in typically 6-12 types per year, by any standard what's in my flight bag isn't what you want in yours.
For a USA based student pilot, which is what you appear to be, I'd say:-
- The bag itself: don't get sucked into buying some ludicrously overpriced specialist item from a pilot shop that just wants your money. A $10 synthetic canvas school bag will do fine.
- Headset: obviously a good one. There are many options, but a second hand pair of David Clarkes from eBay will do everything you need at this stage.
- UP TO DATE Local sectional chart
- Local airfields guide
- E6B flight computer and fx83 calculator, or equivalents (I'd label the FX83 the best readily available, and exam legal, scientific calculator. There are many flight computers - my personal favourite for little aeroplanes is the Pooleys CPR1-W, but that may not be readily available in the USA)
- Pad of PLOGs: you can buy these or do what I do and design your own and print them out. At this stage, probably easiest to buy, but discuss this with your instructor who might be perfectly happy for you to just use a notepad.
- If you wear them, spare glasses.
- Sunglasses
- Baseball cap (I find this REALLY useful, even more so than sunglasses)
- Spare pens
- Your preferred protractor / ruler combination. I know what I use, but I recommend talking to your instructor about what they'd like you to be using.
- Checklist for the aeroplane you're learning in. Again, talk to your instructor about this and use what they recommend or provide.
- If you are flying in one of the hotter and sunnier states, a bottle of water.
- Generally I find having a notepad in there useful, there's all sorts of things you might want to make notes about, for example during briefs and debriefs, reminders for stuff you need to prepare for the next lesson, learning points you want to think about between flights, the fueller's cellphone number...
- And a kneeboard. My personal preference is an A5 "trifold" kneeboard - the sort that is sold by all of the pilot shops, but there's a big element of personal preference here, and it might be worth borrowing a few to see what you like best.
(And yes, if there's any risk of night flying - which doesn't happen much where I live, torch and a couple of cylume sticks. Useful hint from one who has made that mistake, don't make notes in red pen for night flying - you can't see it if you have a red lensed torch)
Once qualified you may replace much of this with an iPad of course, but the learning environment hasn't really caught up with that yet. You'll certainly once qualified probably want to supplement your bag with some form of backup GPS (even if it's just an app on your phone) and if you do a lot of trips over remote areas a handheld backup radio and personal locator beacon (PLB) - all of which I also carry, but you don't need whilst you're learning.
Not so much an issue during my PPL, but when I did my CPL I found that with the constant high workload in the cockpit I always lost at least one pen and one ruler under the seat each flight, so carrying spares did me a lot of favours, then of course always remember to retrieve them after the flight !
Hope that helps a bit more than my learned colleagues' sarcasm !
My flight bag is stuffed with far too much stuff even for me, but as I mix instructing, test flying and long trips in typically 6-12 types per year, by any standard what's in my flight bag isn't what you want in yours.
For a USA based student pilot, which is what you appear to be, I'd say:-
- The bag itself: don't get sucked into buying some ludicrously overpriced specialist item from a pilot shop that just wants your money. A $10 synthetic canvas school bag will do fine.
- Headset: obviously a good one. There are many options, but a second hand pair of David Clarkes from eBay will do everything you need at this stage.
- UP TO DATE Local sectional chart
- Local airfields guide
- E6B flight computer and fx83 calculator, or equivalents (I'd label the FX83 the best readily available, and exam legal, scientific calculator. There are many flight computers - my personal favourite for little aeroplanes is the Pooleys CPR1-W, but that may not be readily available in the USA)
- Pad of PLOGs: you can buy these or do what I do and design your own and print them out. At this stage, probably easiest to buy, but discuss this with your instructor who might be perfectly happy for you to just use a notepad.
- If you wear them, spare glasses.
- Sunglasses
- Baseball cap (I find this REALLY useful, even more so than sunglasses)
- Spare pens
- Your preferred protractor / ruler combination. I know what I use, but I recommend talking to your instructor about what they'd like you to be using.
- Checklist for the aeroplane you're learning in. Again, talk to your instructor about this and use what they recommend or provide.
- If you are flying in one of the hotter and sunnier states, a bottle of water.
- Generally I find having a notepad in there useful, there's all sorts of things you might want to make notes about, for example during briefs and debriefs, reminders for stuff you need to prepare for the next lesson, learning points you want to think about between flights, the fueller's cellphone number...
- And a kneeboard. My personal preference is an A5 "trifold" kneeboard - the sort that is sold by all of the pilot shops, but there's a big element of personal preference here, and it might be worth borrowing a few to see what you like best.
(And yes, if there's any risk of night flying - which doesn't happen much where I live, torch and a couple of cylume sticks. Useful hint from one who has made that mistake, don't make notes in red pen for night flying - you can't see it if you have a red lensed torch)
Once qualified you may replace much of this with an iPad of course, but the learning environment hasn't really caught up with that yet. You'll certainly once qualified probably want to supplement your bag with some form of backup GPS (even if it's just an app on your phone) and if you do a lot of trips over remote areas a handheld backup radio and personal locator beacon (PLB) - all of which I also carry, but you don't need whilst you're learning.
Not so much an issue during my PPL, but when I did my CPL I found that with the constant high workload in the cockpit I always lost at least one pen and one ruler under the seat each flight, so carrying spares did me a lot of favours, then of course always remember to retrieve them after the flight !
Hope that helps a bit more than my learned colleagues' sarcasm !
Last edited by Genghis the Engineer; 5th Jul 2017 at 13:26.
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Surely no student actually flies around with a bag full of all this clobber do they?
Headset. Clubs provide them. Learn from your experience of trying several over several months before you go and buy one if buy one you must. Unless you do a lot of flying a personal headset is a usually big spend for little gain. Borrow ones off friends to try them if you can and you'll immediately find that the David Clarke, though inexplicably the commonest is also by far the most uncomfortable. Hideous things. There are many far lighter and more comfortable ones out there. Also different aircraft can have different plugs so best wait until you've got a licence and a regular mount before buying the correct one. I know there are adaptors available but they are very costly and an utter nuisance as they just multiply the number of connections to go wrong. Avoid.
Learning to be a pilot is not about acquiring a bag full of geeky gadgets. All the shops and mags are trying to sell you gadgets. You don't need any of them beyond the basic set from your training days tho some can be nice and some save a bit of time. What they have in common is expense. Watch and wait before you go buying them. Most lie around forever unused amongst the sandwich crumbs and toffee wrappers at the bottom of the bag. Rmember, price is not necessarlily related to value or usefulness. The flying school will set you up with the charts, rulers and protractors you need as and when you need them, and I'm sure you don't need advice about sunnies and hats any more than you do about shoes and socks.
Pilot bags. The top-opening rigid ones are useless even on many types of airliner as there is often nowhere to store them. There is virtually never room for one in a light aircraft except on the back seat where they cannot be reached. They are totally inappropriate for general aviation (await incoming!). What you need is an A4 size or thereabouts flexible document case that you can tuck in next to you. That'll hold all you need. If it doesn't I suggest you are probanly carrying too much.
My entire basic flying training was done carrying whizz wheel and protractor in a leg pocket, chart with frequencies (and route if on Nav) appended in hand, navlog on kneepad and chinagraph in top pocket. Plus sunnies and gloves. That's all. I can't remember ever using the whizz-wheel in the air so that was probably superfluous. Airfield diagrams and data fit onto a kneeboard unless tou're touring when a more comprehensive guide is useful.
Go pros. plural!!???? As a student? That's a way to create a reputation, I'd have thought. Big no-no.
I wonder why anyone would anyone carry a compass in their pilot-bag?
Headset. Clubs provide them. Learn from your experience of trying several over several months before you go and buy one if buy one you must. Unless you do a lot of flying a personal headset is a usually big spend for little gain. Borrow ones off friends to try them if you can and you'll immediately find that the David Clarke, though inexplicably the commonest is also by far the most uncomfortable. Hideous things. There are many far lighter and more comfortable ones out there. Also different aircraft can have different plugs so best wait until you've got a licence and a regular mount before buying the correct one. I know there are adaptors available but they are very costly and an utter nuisance as they just multiply the number of connections to go wrong. Avoid.
Learning to be a pilot is not about acquiring a bag full of geeky gadgets. All the shops and mags are trying to sell you gadgets. You don't need any of them beyond the basic set from your training days tho some can be nice and some save a bit of time. What they have in common is expense. Watch and wait before you go buying them. Most lie around forever unused amongst the sandwich crumbs and toffee wrappers at the bottom of the bag. Rmember, price is not necessarlily related to value or usefulness. The flying school will set you up with the charts, rulers and protractors you need as and when you need them, and I'm sure you don't need advice about sunnies and hats any more than you do about shoes and socks.
Pilot bags. The top-opening rigid ones are useless even on many types of airliner as there is often nowhere to store them. There is virtually never room for one in a light aircraft except on the back seat where they cannot be reached. They are totally inappropriate for general aviation (await incoming!). What you need is an A4 size or thereabouts flexible document case that you can tuck in next to you. That'll hold all you need. If it doesn't I suggest you are probanly carrying too much.
My entire basic flying training was done carrying whizz wheel and protractor in a leg pocket, chart with frequencies (and route if on Nav) appended in hand, navlog on kneepad and chinagraph in top pocket. Plus sunnies and gloves. That's all. I can't remember ever using the whizz-wheel in the air so that was probably superfluous. Airfield diagrams and data fit onto a kneeboard unless tou're touring when a more comprehensive guide is useful.
Go pros. plural!!???? As a student? That's a way to create a reputation, I'd have thought. Big no-no.
I wonder why anyone would anyone carry a compass in their pilot-bag?
Last edited by noflynomore; 5th Jul 2017 at 15:56.
Let's face it, many of us have various GoPros and equivalents - I have one lives in the car too, and regularly goes flying with me. But, I'd tend to discourage it particularly in a low hours student as an unhealthy distraction.
I agree about club headsets by and large.
I agree about club headsets by and large.
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Surely far better than suggesting a stude buys a headset for hundreds before he has any clue about which he likes and which he doesn't?
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I've got my first flying lesson booked for Monday (oooh exciting!) but I'm not sure what to bring with me. I bought the £240 Pooleys flight bag a while back but it's quite heavy and bulky so wondered what bits to bring from it, for the very first lesson- if anything?
Comfortable clothing, nothing metallic, rigid or bulky in an open pocket, sunglasses. Leave the bag at home - there's nothing you need there for the early lessons.
Last edited by Genghis the Engineer; 6th Jul 2017 at 19:35.
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Get a cheap, oblong, non-pilot bag that with flap opening that has some degree of water resistance. Cheap because you do not want people to think their might be expensive stuff inside and you won't get too upset when it gets knocked and banged. Oblong bags stand better and there is nothing thing worse than fighting with a bag to get at its contents. As for contents, less is more. Let things earn their place or you'll forever be hauling around an overweight bag of expensive junk.