DGAC Bolivia Commercial Pilot (PCA) cheat sheet

Bolivia's civil aviation authority is the Dirección General de Aeronáutica Civil (DGAC); it issues the Reglamento Aeronáutico Boliviano (RAB), which mirrors ICAO Annexes.

A commercial pilot licence (PCA) requires a Class 1 medical certificate; validity shortens with age and lapses automatically when the holder fails to renew before expiry.

Privileges of the PCA: act as PIC or co-pilot of aircraft engaged in commercial air transport and exercise all PPL privileges, provided ratings and recency are current.

Recency rule: no passenger-carrying flight as PIC unless the pilot has made at least three take-offs and three landings within the preceding 90 days in the same type.

Documents carried on board: certificate of registration, certificate of airworthiness, crew licences, journey log, weight-and-balance record, and insurance certificate.

Rules of the air follow ICAO Annex 2: right-of-way to the aircraft on the right, landing aircraft priority, and minimum VFR visibility and cloud-distance limits.

Aircraft must be registered in Bolivia (matrícula CP-xxx) and hold a valid certificate of airworthiness; operation of an unairworthy aircraft is prohibited.

Accident and incident notification to the DGAC is mandatory and immediate for accidents and serious incidents; occurrence reports are mandatory and non-punitive.

Four-stroke cycle: intake, compression, combustion (power), exhaust; the camshaft drives valves at half crankshaft speed, and the magneto fires the spark plug.

Reciprocating engine power depends on mixture, manifold pressure, and RPM; a fixed-pitch propeller couples these, while a constant-speed propeller governor holds a selected RPM.

Carburettor icing can occur at ambient temperatures between roughly -7°C and +21°C with high humidity; carburettor heat is the corrective action.

Dual magnetos provide redundancy; magneto checks at run-up show RPM drop on each magneto within the manufacturer's limits, and no drop indicates a fault.

Hydraulic systems use a reservoir, pump, pressure relief valve, and selector valves; a pressure loss may leave gear and flaps inoperative and requires alternate extension.

Electrical system: battery, alternator/generator, bus bar, and circuit breakers; an alternator failure leaves the battery as the sole source with limited endurance.

Pitot-static system: pitot tube feeds the airspeed indicator; static ports feed altimeter, VSI, and airspeed indicator; blockage causes erroneous readings.

Structural limits: Vne never-exceed speed, Vno maximum structural cruising speed, and Va manoeuvring speed; exceeding Va in turbulence risks structural damage.

Mass and balance: sum empty mass, crew, fuel, payload, and baggage; the centre of gravity must lie within the forward and aft limits for the whole flight.

Fuel planning includes taxi, trip, contingency, alternate, and final reserve; Bolivia's high-altitude airfields increase take-off and landing distances.

Density altitude rises with elevation and temperature; high density altitude reduces engine power and lift, increasing take-off and landing distances.

Take-off distance increases with mass, altitude, temperature, tailwind, and uphill slope; landing distance increases with mass, altitude, temperature, and tailwind.

Crosswind and headwind components: headwind component = wind speed × cos(angle between wind and runway); crosswind = wind speed × sin(angle).

Load sheet: compute zero-fuel mass and take-off mass; verify the CG position against the envelope and adjust by redistributing load or fuel.

Climb performance: rate of climb depends on excess power; service ceiling is the altitude where climb rate falls to a specified minimum.

V speeds: Vr rotation, Vx best angle of climb, Vy best rate of climb, Vref landing reference; Vx increases with altitude until it equals Vy at the absolute ceiling.

Hypoxia: symptoms include euphoria, headache, and impaired judgement; time of useful consciousness falls rapidly above 10,000 ft without supplemental oxygen.

Hyperventilation mimics hypoxia; corrective action is controlled breathing at a normal rate, not supplemental oxygen alone.

Spatial disorientation: the vestibular system cannot distinguish sustained turns or acceleration; rely on instruments, not sensations.

Fatigue degrades vigilance and reaction time; circadian low points occur around 03:00–05:00 and 15:00–17:00 local time.

Stress and workload: high arousal degrades performance; maintain a sterile cockpit below 10,000 ft during critical phases.

Vision: night vision uses rods and is poor in the fovea; scan off-centre at night and allow 20–30 minutes for dark adaptation.

Decompression sickness and barotrauma relate to pressure changes; avoid flying after diving per the recommended surface interval.

Standard atmosphere: sea-level pressure 1013.25 hPa, temperature 15°C, lapse rate 2°C per 1,000 ft up to the tropopause.

QNH is pressure reduced to sea level; QFE is pressure at the aerodrome; QNE is 1013.25 hPa used above the transition altitude.

Cloud types: cumulus, stratus, cirrus, and cumulonimbus; CB indicates thunderstorms with severe turbulence, icing, and hail.

Thunderstorm life cycle: cumulus, mature, dissipating; the mature stage has both updrafts and downdrafts and produces the most severe weather.

Icing: clear ice forms in large supercooled droplets and is most dangerous; rime ice forms in small droplets; both degrade lift and increase drag.

Wind shear and microbursts cause sudden airspeed and altitude changes near the ground; escape by pitching up and applying maximum power.

METAR and TAF decode: wind direction/speed, visibility, cloud base, temperature, dewpoint, and QNH; SPECI is a special report issued on significant change.

True course, heading, and track: heading = true course ± wind correction angle; true heading plus variation gives magnetic heading.

Wind triangle: drift angle = arcsin(wind speed × sin(wind angle)/TAS); ground speed = TAS × cos(drift) adjusted for wind component.

1-in-60 rule: a 1° error over 60 NM produces 1 NM off track; use it to compute heading corrections.

Dead reckoning uses time, speed, and distance; pilotage uses visual landmarks; both are primary VFR navigation methods.

VOR provides magnetic bearing (radial) to or from a station; DME gives slant-range distance; NDB/ADF gives relative bearing to the station.

ILS: localizer gives lateral guidance, glide slope gives vertical guidance; decision altitude depends on the approach category.

GPS/GNSS: RAIM monitors integrity; the receiver outputs position, track, and ground speed, but must be cross-checked for navigation integrity.

Pre-flight: check weather, NOTAMs, fuel, mass and balance, and aircraft documents; complete a walk-around inspection before flight.

Before take-off: brief the departure, emergency actions, and abort criteria; confirm runway, wind, and V speeds.

In-flight: maintain a sterile cockpit during taxi, take-off, approach, and landing; use checklists for all normal and abnormal procedures.

Fuel management: monitor fuel against the flight plan and declare a diversion when reserves reach the minimum.

Approach briefing includes the missed-approach procedure, minima, and go-around decision point.

Post-flight: record defects in the technical log; a defect affecting airworthiness must be rectified before the next flight.

Emergency descent: use oxygen, descend to 10,000 ft or the applicable minimum, and advise ATC.

Lift = ½ × ρ × V² × S × CL; lift increases with air density, airspeed squared, wing area, and lift coefficient.

Angle of attack is the angle between the chord line and relative airflow; the critical angle of attack produces the stall regardless of airspeed.

Induced drag decreases with speed; parasite drag increases with speed squared; total drag is minimum at the speed for best glide.

Load factor increases in turns: n = 1/cos(bank angle); a 60° bank doubles the load factor and raises the stall speed by 41%.

Stability: positive static stability tends to return to equilibrium; the centre of gravity forward of the neutral point gives longitudinal stability.

Bernoulli and Newton explain lift: pressure difference and downward momentum change of the airflow both contribute.

Flaps increase lift and drag and lower the stall speed; retracting flaps raises the stall speed and reduces drag.

Standard phraseology: use ICAO standard words such as ROGER, WILCO, AFFIRM, NEGATIVE, STANDBY, and READ BACK.

Read-back is mandatory for clearances, runway assignments, hold-short instructions, and altimeter settings.

Distress call MAYDAY (three times) for grave and imminent danger; urgency call PAN-PAN for urgent but non-distress situations.

VFR position report includes call sign, position, altitude, and next reporting point; IFR reports include altitude and assigned route.

Lost communications: squawk 7600, follow the last acknowledged clearance; for IFR, follow the published lost-communication procedure.

Emergency frequencies: 121.5 MHz for civil, 243.0 MHz for military; ELT transmits on 121.5/406 MHz.

Transponder codes: 7700 emergency, 7600 radio failure, 7500 unlawful interference.

VOR: track the selected radial; CDI centred with TO/FROM flag indicates on-course; reverse sensing occurs when tracking the wrong radial.

ILS localizer is 90 Hz/150 Hz modulation; fly toward the needle to centre; glide slope is 400 Hz/150 Hz; fly toward the needle.

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

RNAV/GNSS approaches use lateral and vertical guidance from a satellite-based system; minima are published as LNAV, LNAV/VNAV, or LPV.

Instrument scan: cross-check attitude, airspeed, altitude, and heading instruments; use partial-panel techniques when a gyro fails.

Holding pattern: standard turns are right; entry depends on the aircraft's position relative to the fix and the inbound course.

Approach categories depend on Vat and visibility; decision altitude or minimum descent altitude is the go/no-go point.

Safety management system (SMS): four pillars are policy, risk management, assurance, and promotion.

Hazard identification and risk assessment: severity × likelihood gives the risk index; mitigate to acceptable levels.

Human factors: the SHELL model (software, hardware, environment, liveware) explains interactions that cause error.

Threat and error management: anticipate threats, trap errors, and avoid undesired aircraft states.

Just culture encourages reporting while distinguishing negligence from honest error.

Safety reporting: confidential reporting systems feed occurrence data to the DGAC and operators.

Checklist discipline and standard operating procedures reduce error and improve safety margins.

Engine failure in flight: establish best glide speed, select a landing site, attempt restart per checklist, and declare MAYDAY.

Engine fire: shut off fuel, mixture, and ignition; use the fire extinguisher; land as soon as possible.

CRM: clear roles, closed-loop communication, and assertiveness; the pilot flying and pilot monitoring divide tasks.

Emergency descent: don oxygen masks, descend to 10,000 ft, and advise ATC; use the autopilot cautiously.

Ditching and forced landing briefings include exit location, survival equipment, and brace position.

Cabin decompression: don masks first, then check on passengers, and descend to a safe altitude.

Decision-making models: DECIDE and FORDEC help structure emergency choices under time pressure.