Before-a-flying-trip Checklist

[PPL152]

Hi guys, I am planning to go to a foreign country to do some flying at a non controlled area... what would you take with you apart from the following...



PPL licence
Class 2 medical
Pilot logbook
English proficiency certificate
E6-B computer/flight computer
GPS
Navplotter
Navlog (empty copies)
Charts (Jeppesen)
Airfield charts and data
Kneeboard
Headsets
Permanent markers – black, red, blue, green
Biros – black, red, blue, green
Pencils
Pencil Sharpener
Rubber
A4 paper
Comfortable clothes and shoes
Flight bag


any more items to add to my checklist are greatly appreciated :)

thank you!

[douglasheld]

Put a notch for filing the flight plan and return flight plan on your list;
Legal 500K map for all areas overflying;
Arrival plates for your primary and alternate airports;
Check equipment minima, like mode S transponder, ELT, etc.

if overwater flight:

lifevest
PLB (do the battery test)
life raft if you're rich - orange garbage bag, if you're not. Or some appropriate survival gear.

[hvogt]

Your radio licence.

[dublinpilot]

Driving licence can came in very handy if you get stuck somewhere ;)

A credit card is virtually essential, even if you don't plan on using it!

[Sallyann1234]

Passport !

[Blues&twos]

A torch (my preference is an adjustable LED 'headlamp' type). Even if flying in daylight only, always useful for unexpectedly having to look into nooks and crannies, and at things concealed in dark corners of an engine.

[flybymike]

A rich widow...

[DX Wombat]

Fully charged mobile phone with plenty of credit, D&D's number and ICE (http://www.stock.org.uk/articles/ice-number.htm) number on it.

[BackPacker]

Sunglasses - how else are they going to know you're a pilot?:ok:

(The set of permanent markers is hardly a giveaway, and what do you need them for anyway? If you have the Jeppesen non-laminated charts, all you need is a pencil and possibly an eraser.)

Like others said - some stuff in case you get stuck somewhere. Mobile phone, credit card, spare underwear, toothbrush, something to read etc.

Depending on where you're going, it might be a good idea to put a hi-viz in your flight bag. And my flight bag also contains a microfibre rag (kept reasonably clean), a bottle of water, a tiny bottle of soap, a leatherman and a camera. Not essential, but handy sometimes.

[TractorBoy]

And don't forget your interception procedures. Not sure why you actually need them as if a large jet fighter appeared off my port wing I'd probably wished I'd packed bicycle clips instead....

[dublinpilot]

I always keep with me enough cash for a full tank of avgas, and a night's accomodation. You never know when you'll be forced to divert into an unplanned airport where they won't take anything other than cash for the fuel, and the only place to stay nearby is a small guest house.

[172driver]

Dublinpilot beat me to it - carry enough cash and carry it in small(ish) denominations.

You don't say where you are going (or, indeed, where you are based). Will this country accept the license you hold? If not, have you made arrangements for a validation? If your license is a UK CAA issued one and you need a validation, make sure you are familiar with the procedures and allow ample time for this.

[thing]

Take some felt tip pens for the local schools, they'll love you for ever.

[douglasheld]

OK, I live in the UK and we have a document CAP393 that spells out which documents need to be carried in the airplane. Ahem, here goes:


SCHEDULE 9 Articles 150(2) and 156(3)
DOCUMENTS TO BE CARRIED

1. Circumstances in which documents are to be carried
Subject to paragraph 3:
(a) on a public transport flight, Documents A, B, C, D, E, F, H and, if the flight is international air navigation, Documents G and I must be carried;
(b) on an aerial work flight, Documents A, B, C, E, F and, if the flight is international air navigation, Documents G and I must be carried;
(c) on a private flight which is international air navigation, Documents A, B, C, G and I must be carried;
(d) on a flight made in accordance with the terms of a permission granted to the operator under article 41(3), Document J must be carried.

2. Description of documents
For the purposes of this Schedule:
(a) 'Document A' means the licence in force under the Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006(a) for the aircraft radio station installed in the aircraft;
(b) 'Document B' means in the case of a non-EASA aircraft the national certificate of airworthiness in force for the aircraft(b);
(c) 'Document C' means the licences of the members of the flight crew of the aircraft;
(d) 'Document D' means one copy of the load sheet, if any, required by article 100 for the flight;
(e) 'Document E' means one copy of each certificate of maintenance review required by article 25(2), if any, in force for the aircraft;
(f) 'Document F' means the technical log, if any, in which entries are required to be made under article 27(2);
(g) 'Document G' means the certificate of registration in force for the aircraft;
(h) 'Document H' means those parts of the operations manual, if any, required by article 83(4)(c) to be carried on the flight;
(i) 'Document I' means a copy of the notified procedures to be followed by the pilot in command of an intercepted aircraft, and the notified visual signals for use by intercepting and intercepted aircraft;
(j) 'Document J' means the permission, if any, granted for the aircraft under article 41(3).

[douglasheld]

In the UK, we have a document CAP393, the Air Navigation Order, which has a section called "Schedule 9: Documents to be carried".

I pasted this icky text in another posting, but it's stuck in moderator approval.

If I could take a quick guess that a) you're going to be undertaking private flight in this foreign country, and b) you're based in the UK, your documents checklist is: (drum roll?)


Radio equipment license
CofA
Your PPL
Certificate of Registration
Interception procedures

In practical terms, I would carry more than this, as many intelligent people have pointed out in the thread already.

I AM NOT A LAWYER and this is not legal advice. Just a reading comprehension exercise...

[IO540]

It may be interesting to observe that people who are renting are having to carry a huge amount of stuff. For example pencils and a pencil sharpener (incidentally why not use clutch pencils, notwithstanding them not being CAA approved?)

If you have your own plane, or are a member of even a half civilised syndicate, all this stuff can live in the plane full-time. That includes all the required aircraft documents.

Then all you need to worry about is your personal stuff: passport, pilot license, medical, radio license if flying an N-reg, etc.

Then there is a long list of specific stuff like shaver, toothbrush, spare mobile phone, a spare set of aircraft keys for a passenger to carry... well you get the idea. I have a long checklist of things to do pre-flight (routepacks, printing out approach plates, weather, notams, PPR, etc) and on it is a long list of things to pack. I can't post it because for some reason I can't find the original document...

Incidentally a list, believed to be accurate, for N-regs is here (http://www.peter2000.co.uk/aviation/faa-nreg/docs.html).

[srayne]

Proof that VAT has been paid in the EU on the aircraft.

[KeesM]

An adapter for European sockets if you take anything electric with you.(including chargers for GPS, cell phone, laptop ect).

Something to eat(cookies, candy bars) if you got stuck somewhere for a few hours.
A roll of toilet paper can be handy.
And do not forget water.

[dont overfil]

Does Germany still ask for a noise certificate?
D.O.

[KeesM]

Does Germany still ask for a noise certificate?
D.O.


They did not ask me for one the last couple of years, but I fly a D-reg.

[IO540]

It seems to vary with airports.

I was asked only at Grenchen, Switzerland, in 2004, and since I didn't know I had it, I had to pay another 30 quid or so.

Never been asked since. But then I have not been to many German airports. The big ones don't seem to care. Maybe they have a system where they look up the aircraft type and get the noise figure from that. I could never understand the point of a noise certificate.

[Katamarino]

As you have stated IO540, it's simply a way of getting an extra 30 quid out of people :ok: