ANAC Commercial Pilot Airplane (PCA) cheat sheet

Brazilian civil aviation is regulated by ANAC under Lei 7.565 (Código Brasileiro de Aeronáutica) and RBAC rules; RBHA/RBAC 91 governs general operating and flight rules.

VFR meteorological minima (RBAC 91) in controlled airspace below 3,050 m: flight visibility 5 km and cloud clearance 300 m horizontally and 150 m vertically from cloud.

VFR minima at or above 3,050 m: visibility 8 km; cloud distance 600 m horizontal and 300 m vertical.

Aircraft categories by Vso at maximum landing weight: category A below 169 km/h, B 169-224 km/h, C 224-261 km/h.

Pilot recency: to carry passengers, 3 takeoffs and 3 landings within the preceding 90 days, in the same category/class/type.

Aircraft airworthiness certificate classes in Brazil: standard, special, and experimental; the certificate must be aboard and displayed per regulation.

Right-of-way: lower category number has priority (A before B before C); head-on both turn right; converging, the aircraft with the other on its right gives way.

ICAO Annex 2: an aircraft in distress has priority over all others; a distress call is MAYDAY (spoken three times), urgency is PAN-PAN.

Four-stroke cycle: intake, compression, combustion (power), exhaust; two crankshaft revolutions complete one cycle in a four-stroke engine.

Detonation is uncontrolled explosive combustion causing high pressures and temperatures; pre-ignition is ignition before the spark, often from a hot spot.

Mixture control: lean for density-altitude increase; best power mixture is richer than best economy; full rich for takeoff and go-around below ~3,000 ft unless leaning procedure applies.

Constant-speed propeller: governor regulates blade angle via oil pressure to hold selected RPM; increasing blade angle (coarser) reduces RPM at constant power.

Electrical system: alternator charges the battery and supplies bus; ammeter shows charge/discharge; a failed alternator leaves battery-only operation with limited endurance.

Pitot-static: pitot feeds airspeed indicator only; static feeds altimeter, VSI, and airspeed; a blocked static causes ASI to read like an altimeter and VSI to freeze.

Gyroscopic instruments: attitude and heading indicators are vacuum/electrically driven; turn coordinator is electrically driven and shows rate of turn and coordination.

Carburetor ice forms most readily at 20-70% relative humidity and temperatures roughly -7 C to +21 C; carburetor heat enriches the mixture and reduces power.

Density altitude rises with high elevation, high temperature, high humidity, and low pressure; it degrades takeoff, climb, and landing performance.

Takeoff distance increases approximately 10% for each 10% increase in weight, and roughly 10% per 1,000 ft of density altitude (rule of thumb).

Headwind decreases ground roll and increases climb gradient over ground; tailwind does the opposite; use the aircraft POH tables, not rules of thumb, for legal planning.

Vx is best angle of climb (most altitude per distance); Vy is best rate of climb (most altitude per time); Vx increases with altitude and meets Vy near absolute ceiling.

Load factor n = 1/cos(bank angle); at 60 degrees bank n = 2, so stall speed increases by sqrt(n) (40%).

Stall speed varies with square root of load factor and decreases with lower weight; Vs at 2g = 1.41 times the 1g stall speed.

Landing distance increases with higher approach speed (kinetic energy ~ v squared), higher weight, tailwind, and upslope; add 50% to landing distance for safety in planning.

Service ceiling is where maximum climb rate falls to 100 ft/min; absolute ceiling is where climb rate is zero.

Weight and balance: total moment = sum of (weight x arm); CG = total moment / total weight; CG must lie within the envelope at takeoff and landing.

Standard empty weight plus unusable fuel and full oil gives basic empty weight; useful load = maximum takeoff weight minus basic empty weight.

Moving weight: shift of a weight changes CG by (weight moved x distance moved) / total weight.

Fuel planning: VFR reserve in Brazil is 30 minutes by day and 45 minutes by night (RBAC 91); IFR alternate reserves follow the applicable rule.

Fuel weight: aviation gasoline 100LL is about 0.72 kg/L (6 lb/US gal); Jet A-1 about 0.80 kg/L.

Endurance = usable fuel / fuel flow; range = endurance x true airspeed, corrected for wind (groundspeed).

Maximum zero-fuel weight limits the payload plus fuel combination; exceeding it stresses the wing root structure independent of total weight.

CG forward of the limit increases stall speed and elevator forces; CG aft of the limit reduces stability and can cause unrecoverable stall or spin.

Hypoxia symptoms: euphoria, impaired judgment, headache, cyanosis, tingling; time of useful consciousness at 25,000 ft is about 3-5 minutes, at 35,000 ft about 30-60 seconds.

Hyperventilation causes dizziness and tingling from low CO2; treatment is controlled slow breathing; hypoxia and hyperventilation look similar, so use oxygen first if in doubt.

Spatial disorientation: the somatogravic illusion makes acceleration feel like a climb; the leans and graveyard spiral arise from unperceived bank; trust instruments.

Coriolis illusion is caused by head movement during a sustained turn, producing a tumbling sensation; avoid rapid head movements under IFR.

Carbon monoxide is odorless and binds hemoglobin; symptoms include headache and drowsiness; suspect it with cabin heat use and treat with fresh air and oxygen.

Night vision depends on rods (peripheral, low light) and is degraded by smoking, alcohol, and bright light; use off-center viewing to see dim objects.

Alcohol: 8 hours bottle-to-throttle minimum and blood alcohol below the regulatory limit; fatigue and alcohol both slow reaction time and impair judgment.

Decompression sickness (bends) results from dissolved nitrogen at altitude; risk rises with repeated altitude exposures and scuba diving before flight.

Standard atmosphere: sea level 15 C, 1013.25 hPa, lapse rate 2 C per 1,000 ft (6.5 C/km) up to the tropopause.

Altimeter setting: flying from high to low pressure without resetting reads higher than actual altitude; from hot to cold air the true altitude is lower than indicated.

ISA temperature deviation: ISA temp at altitude = 15 C - 2 C x (altitude in thousands of ft); density altitude rises with positive deviation.

Stability: stable air gives stratiform clouds and steady precipitation; unstable air gives cumuliform clouds, turbulence, and showers.

Fronts: cold front has steep slope, fast passage, showers and squall lines; warm front has gentle slope and widespread steady rain; occluded front combines both.

Thunderstorm life cycle: cumulus, mature (updrafts and downdrafts, hail, lightning), dissipating; avoid cells by at least 20 NM and never under a storm.

Wind shear and microbursts cause sudden airspeed loss on approach; escape by maximum power, pitch to maintain attitude, and do not chase the glideslope.

Icing: airframe ice forms near 0 C in visible moisture; carburetor ice can form at higher temperatures; freezing rain indicates severe icing risk.

True course corrected for wind gives heading; magnetic heading = true heading minus easterly variation (or plus westerly); compass heading adds deviation.

Wind triangle: wind correction angle = arcsin(wind speed x sin(angle off course) / TAS); groundspeed = TAS x cos(WCA) - wind component along course.

1 in 60 rule: a 1 NM off-track error after 60 NM equals 1 degree of heading error; use to compute correction angles.

VOR gives magnetic bearing (radial) from the station; CDI centered with TO/FROM flag indicates the selected radial; reverse sensing occurs when tracking the reciprocal.

NDB/ADF: the needle points to the station; relative bearing plus magnetic heading equals magnetic bearing to the station.

GPS: RAIM checks integrity; receiver autonomous integrity monitoring requires enough satellites; WAAS/SBAS improves accuracy for approach use.

ILS: localizer gives lateral guidance, glideslope vertical; decision altitude at minimums; marker beacons or DME provide fixes along the approach.

Great circle vs rhumb line: great circle is the shortest path; on a Mercator chart a straight line is a rhumb line of constant course.

Before takeoff: check weight and balance, fuel, performance, and takeoff briefing; reject takeoff below V1 or before rotation if an abnormality occurs.

Engine failure after takeoff in a single-engine airplane: pitch for best glide (Vy or Vx as appropriate), select landing site, do not turn back below safe altitude.

Emergency descent: reduce power, extend speedbrakes/flaps as allowed, descend; use oxygen if available; communicate MAYDAY when able.

Fire in flight: shut off fuel and electrical to affected engine, use extinguisher, descend and land as soon as possible; do not restart a fire-damaged engine.

Go-around: apply full power, establish climb, retract flaps in stages, and re-brief; never force a landing from an unstable approach.

Checklist discipline: use written checklists for normal and emergency; memory items only for time-critical emergencies followed by checklist verification.

Wake turbulence: stay above and upwind of a preceding heavy aircraft's flight path; land beyond its touchdown point and wait for vortices to dissipate.

Emergency communications: MAYDAY on 121.5 MHz for distress; PAN-PAN for urgency; squawk 7700 for emergency, 7600 radio failure, 7500 unlawful interference.

Lift L = 1/2 rho V squared S CL; lift rises with air density, speed squared, wing area, and lift coefficient (angle of attack up to the critical angle).

Induced drag decreases with speed squared while parasite drag increases with speed squared; total drag is minimum at L/D max, which is best glide speed.

Angle of attack is the angle between chord line and relative wind; the wing stalls at the critical angle regardless of speed, weight, or attitude.

Load factor increases in turns: n = 1/cos(bank); at 60 degrees bank stall speed rises 41% and load factor doubles.

Stability: positive static stability means a disturbance creates a restoring moment; CG forward of the neutral point gives positive longitudinal stability.

Adverse yaw: aileron down on the rising wing creates more induced drag; counter with coordinated rudder; use of rudder alone causes yaw-roll coupling.

Ground effect reduces induced drag and increases lift near the surface (within about one wingspan); it can cause float on landing.

Asymmetric thrust (multi-engine): the critical engine is the one whose failure most increases Vmc; Vmc is minimum control speed with one engine inoperative.

Phonetic alphabet: Alfa, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, Hotel, India, Juliett, Kilo, Lima, Mike, November, Oscar, Papa, Quebec, Romeo, Sierra, Tango, Uniform, Victor, Whiskey, X-ray, Yankee, Zulu.

Readback required: clearances, runway assignments, hold short instructions, altitude assignments, and frequency changes; read back with the aircraft call sign.

Emergency frequencies: 121.5 MHz (VHF) and 243.0 MHz (UHF) for distress; 7700 transponder for emergency, 7600 for radio failure, 7500 for hijack.

Position report format: aircraft identification, position and time, altitude, next position and ETA, and any remarks.

Lost communications (IFR): follow the last assigned route and altitude, then the filed route; squawk 7600; try to reestablish on other frequencies.

Standard phraseology: 'roger' acknowledges, 'wilco' means will comply, 'affirm' means yes, 'negative' means no; avoid plain-language ambiguity.

Initial call to a new facility: who you are calling, your call sign, position, altitude, and request; keep transmissions short and use standard terms.

ATIS provides weather and airport information; obtain before contacting approach/ground; note the information code letter in the initial call.

Density altitude rises with high elevation, high temperature, high humidity, and low pressure; it degrades takeoff, climb, and landing performance.

Takeoff distance increases approximately 10% for each 10% increase in weight, and roughly 10% per 1,000 ft of density altitude (rule of thumb).

Headwind decreases ground roll and increases climb gradient over ground; tailwind does the opposite; use the aircraft POH tables, not rules of thumb, for legal planning.

Vx is best angle of climb (most altitude per distance); Vy is best rate of climb (most altitude per time); Vx increases with altitude and meets Vy near absolute ceiling.

Load factor n = 1/cos(bank angle); at 60 degrees bank n = 2, so stall speed increases by sqrt(n) (40%).

Stall speed varies with square root of load factor and decreases with lower weight; Vs at 2g = 1.41 times the 1g stall speed.

Landing distance increases with higher approach speed (kinetic energy ~ v squared), higher weight, tailwind, and upslope; add 50% to landing distance for safety in planning.

Service ceiling is where maximum climb rate falls to 100 ft/min; absolute ceiling is where climb rate is zero.

Weight and balance: total moment = sum of (weight x arm); CG = total moment / total weight; CG must lie within the envelope at takeoff and landing.

Standard empty weight plus unusable fuel and full oil gives basic empty weight; useful load = maximum takeoff weight minus basic empty weight.

Moving weight: shift of a weight changes CG by (weight moved x distance moved) / total weight.

Fuel planning: VFR reserve in Brazil is 30 minutes by day and 45 minutes by night (RBAC 91); IFR alternate reserves follow the applicable rule.

Fuel weight: aviation gasoline 100LL is about 0.72 kg/L (6 lb/US gal); Jet A-1 about 0.80 kg/L.

Endurance = usable fuel / fuel flow; range = endurance x true airspeed, corrected for wind (groundspeed).

Maximum zero-fuel weight limits the payload plus fuel combination; exceeding it stresses the wing root structure independent of total weight.

CG forward of the limit increases stall speed and elevator forces; CG aft of the limit reduces stability and can cause unrecoverable stall or spin.

Hypoxia symptoms: euphoria, impaired judgment, headache, cyanosis, tingling; time of useful consciousness at 25,000 ft is about 3-5 minutes, at 35,000 ft about 30-60 seconds.

Hyperventilation causes dizziness and tingling from low CO2; treatment is controlled slow breathing; hypoxia and hyperventilation look similar, so use oxygen first if in doubt.

Spatial disorientation: the somatogravic illusion makes acceleration feel like a climb; the leans and graveyard spiral arise from unperceived bank; trust instruments.

Coriolis illusion is caused by head movement during a sustained turn, producing a tumbling sensation; avoid rapid head movements under IFR.

Carbon monoxide is odorless and binds hemoglobin; symptoms include headache and drowsiness; suspect it with cabin heat use and treat with fresh air and oxygen.

Night vision depends on rods (peripheral, low light) and is degraded by smoking, alcohol, and bright light; use off-center viewing to see dim objects.

Alcohol: 8 hours bottle-to-throttle minimum and blood alcohol below the regulatory limit; fatigue and alcohol both slow reaction time and impair judgment.

Decompression sickness (bends) results from dissolved nitrogen at altitude; risk rises with repeated altitude exposures and scuba diving before flight.

Standard atmosphere: sea level 15 C, 1013.25 hPa, lapse rate 2 C per 1,000 ft (6.5 C/km) up to the tropopause.

Altimeter setting: flying from high to low pressure without resetting reads higher than actual altitude; from hot to cold air the true altitude is lower than indicated.

ISA temperature deviation: ISA temp at altitude = 15 C - 2 C x (altitude in thousands of ft); density altitude rises with positive deviation.

Stability: stable air gives stratiform clouds and steady precipitation; unstable air gives cumuliform clouds, turbulence, and showers.

Fronts: cold front has steep slope, fast passage, showers and squall lines; warm front has gentle slope and widespread steady rain; occluded front combines both.

Thunderstorm life cycle: cumulus, mature (updrafts and downdrafts, hail, lightning), dissipating; avoid cells by at least 20 NM and never under a storm.

Wind shear and microbursts cause sudden airspeed loss on approach; escape by maximum power, pitch to maintain attitude, and do not chase the glideslope.

Icing: airframe ice forms near 0 C in visible moisture; carburetor ice can form at higher temperatures; freezing rain indicates severe icing risk.

True course corrected for wind gives heading; magnetic heading = true heading minus easterly variation (or plus westerly); compass heading adds deviation.

Wind triangle: wind correction angle = arcsin(wind speed x sin(angle off course) / TAS); groundspeed = TAS x cos(WCA) - wind component along course.

1 in 60 rule: a 1 NM off-track error after 60 NM equals 1 degree of heading error; use to compute correction angles.

VOR gives magnetic bearing (radial) from the station; CDI centered with TO/FROM flag indicates the selected radial; reverse sensing occurs when tracking the reciprocal.

NDB/ADF: the needle points to the station; relative bearing plus magnetic heading equals magnetic bearing to the station.

GPS: RAIM checks integrity; receiver autonomous integrity monitoring requires enough satellites; WAAS/SBAS improves accuracy for approach use.

ILS: localizer gives lateral guidance, glideslope vertical; decision altitude at minimums; marker beacons or DME provide fixes along the approach.

Great circle vs rhumb line: great circle is the shortest path; on a Mercator chart a straight line is a rhumb line of constant course.

Before takeoff: check weight and balance, fuel, performance, and takeoff briefing; reject takeoff below V1 or before rotation if an abnormality occurs.

Engine failure after takeoff in a single-engine airplane: pitch for best glide (Vy or Vx as appropriate), select landing site, do not turn back below safe altitude.

Emergency descent: reduce power, extend speedbrakes/flaps as allowed, descend; use oxygen if available; communicate MAYDAY when able.

Fire in flight: shut off fuel and electrical to affected engine, use extinguisher, descend and land as soon as possible; do not restart a fire-damaged engine.

Go-around: apply full power, establish climb, retract flaps in stages, and re-brief; never force a landing from an unstable approach.

Checklist discipline: use written checklists for normal and emergency; memory items only for time-critical emergencies followed by checklist verification.

Wake turbulence: stay above and upwind of a preceding heavy aircraft's flight path; land beyond its touchdown point and wait for vortices to dissipate.

Emergency communications: MAYDAY on 121.5 MHz for distress; PAN-PAN for urgency; squawk 7700 for emergency, 7600 radio failure, 7500 unlawful interference.

Lift L = 1/2 rho V squared S CL; lift rises with air density, speed squared, wing area, and lift coefficient (angle of attack up to the critical angle).

Induced drag decreases with speed squared while parasite drag increases with speed squared; total drag is minimum at L/D max, which is best glide speed.

Angle of attack is the angle between chord line and relative wind; the wing stalls at the critical angle regardless of speed, weight, or attitude.

Load factor increases in turns: n = 1/cos(bank); at 60 degrees bank stall speed rises 41% and load factor doubles.

Stability: positive static stability means a disturbance creates a restoring moment; CG forward of the neutral point gives positive longitudinal stability.

Adverse yaw: aileron down on the rising wing creates more induced drag; counter with coordinated rudder; use of rudder alone causes yaw-roll coupling.

Ground effect reduces induced drag and increases lift near the surface (within about one wingspan); it can cause float on landing.

Asymmetric thrust (multi-engine): the critical engine is the one whose failure most increases Vmc; Vmc is minimum control speed with one engine inoperative.

Phonetic alphabet: Alfa, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, Hotel, India, Juliett, Kilo, Lima, Mike, November, Oscar, Papa, Quebec, Romeo, Sierra, Tango, Uniform, Victor, Whiskey, X-ray, Yankee, Zulu.

Readback required: clearances, runway assignments, hold short instructions, altitude assignments, and frequency changes; read back with the aircraft call sign.

Emergency frequencies: 121.5 MHz (VHF) and 243.0 MHz (UHF) for distress; 7700 transponder for emergency, 7600 for radio failure, 7500 for hijack.

Position report format: aircraft identification, position and time, altitude, next position and ETA, and any remarks.

Lost communications (IFR): follow the last assigned route and altitude, then the filed route; squawk 7600; try to reestablish on other frequencies.

Standard phraseology: 'roger' acknowledges, 'wilco' means will comply, 'affirm' means yes, 'negative' means no; avoid plain-language ambiguity.

Initial call to a new facility: who you are calling, your call sign, position, altitude, and request; keep transmissions short and use standard terms.

ATIS provides weather and airport information; obtain before contacting approach/ground; note the information code letter in the initial call.