Aircraft Airworthiness, Registration, and Documentation
Airworthiness, registration and documentation asks one question in many forms: is this aircraft legal to fly right now, and can you prove it? The PSTAR tests the difference between a certificate of airworthiness and a maintenance inspection, Canadian registration marks, the documents that must be on board, and the equipment rules in CAR Part VI.
Flight authority and maintenance
- An aircraft needs a flight authority: a Certificate of Airworthiness, a Special Certificate of Airworthiness (for example, amateur-built), or a flight permit.
- A privately operated aircraft needs an annual airworthiness inspection completed within the preceding 12 months, and a maintenance release signed after any maintenance.
- The Certificate of Airworthiness has no expiry date, but the aircraft is not airworthy if its required maintenance is overdue.
Registration
- Canadian civil aircraft carry marks beginning C-F or C-G for aeroplanes, and C-I for ultralights and advanced ultralights.
- The Certificate of Registration must match the aircraft and be carried on board.
Documents on board
- Certificate of Registration, the flight authority, and the aircraft flight manual where one is required.
- Your permit or licence, medical certificate, and ROC-A.
- The journey log, or the portions relevant to current and recent flights.
Equipment
- CAR 605 Subpart 2 sets out the equipment list: seat belts, an ELT for most aeroplanes, a transponder where transponder airspace requires one, and survival equipment for flights over sparsely settled terrain.
Worked example
You preflight a club Cessna 172. The Certificate of Airworthiness is in the journey log and a maintenance release was signed after last month's magneto work, but the annual inspection was signed 12 months and 5 days ago. The aircraft is not airworthy and the flight is illegal without a ferry permit. The recent maintenance release does not substitute for the annual inspection.
Traps that cost marks
- Registration marks starting with N are American; C-F and C-G are Canadian.
- The annual inspection and the certificate of airworthiness are different documents with different roles.
- A flight permit is valid only for the purpose and conditions stated on it.