EASA PPL cheat sheet

ICAO Annex 2: VFR flights must remain clear of cloud and in sight of the surface; at and below 900 m AMSL or 300 m AGL, minimum flight visibility is 5 km (EASA SERA.5001).

SERA.5005 VFR minima above 900 m AMSL/300 m AGL: 5 km visibility and 1500 m horizontal, 300 m vertical distance from cloud.

SERA.5010: special VFR is only available inside a control zone, requires ATC clearance, and the pilot must remain clear of cloud and keep the surface in sight.

Class G airspace is uncontrolled; class A only permits IFR; classes B–D permit VFR with ATC clearance (B and C require clearance for all flights).

Aircraft nationality marks and registration must be displayed; the certificate of registration and certificate of airworthiness must be carried on board for international flights.

Aircraft must carry a valid certificate of airworthiness, noise certificate where required, and insurance covering third-party liability per Regulation (EC) No 785/2004.

A controlled flight must comply with ATC instructions; if unable, the pilot must advise ATC and request amended clearance (SERA.8005).

Aircraft lights: navigation lights required between sunset and sunrise or in reduced visibility; anti-collision lights shall be on unless they adversely affect safety.

A change of address or ownership of an aircraft must be notified to the competent authority; the registration certificate remains valid until expiry shown on it.

Four-stroke cycle: intake, compression, power, ignition/combustion, exhaust; the camshaft rotates at half crankshaft speed in a four-stroke engine.

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

Mixture is leaned with altitude because air density falls; at high altitude rich mixture causes rough running, fouled plugs and power loss.

Carburettor icing is most likely at outside air temperatures between about -7 °C and +21 °C with high humidity; use carb heat when in the caution range.

The pitot-static system: total pressure from the pitot tube, static pressure from the static port; blockage of the static port causes the ASI to over-read in climb and under-read in descent.

The altimeter is set to QNH to indicate altitude above mean sea level, QFE for height above the aerodrome, and 1013.25 hPa for flight levels.

Electrical system: the battery supplies power when the alternator/generator is offline; the ammeter shows current flow, not voltage.

Hydraulic and vacuum systems: loss of vacuum typically disables the attitude indicator and heading indicator; the turn coordinator is electrically driven.

The magnetic compass is affected by variation (geographic), deviation (aircraft), and turning/dip errors; it is most reliable in straight, level, unaccelerated flight.

Density altitude increases with high elevation, high temperature, high humidity and low pressure; it degrades take-off, climb and landing performance.

Take-off distance required increases with mass, altitude, temperature, tailwind and upslope; use the aircraft flight manual charts for the specific configuration.

Landing distance increases with mass, altitude, temperature, tailwind and downslope; runway surface condition (wet, contaminated) adds a factor.

Mass and balance: the centre of gravity must remain within the forward and aft limits for all phases; aft CG reduces stability and can make stall recovery difficult.

The load sheet computes zero-fuel mass, take-off mass and landing mass; maximum structural masses must not be exceeded.

Fuel planning: trip fuel + contingency + alternate + final reserve + taxi fuel = minimum fuel; final reserve for VFR is typically 30 minutes.

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

Pressure altitude = elevation + (1013.25 − QNH) × 30 ft per hPa; use this before entering performance charts.

Runway slope: 1 % upslope increases take-off distance by roughly 5–10 % depending on type; always use the AFM data.

Hypoxia symptoms: euphoria, impaired judgement, cyanosis, headache, tunnel vision; time of useful consciousness at FL350 is about 30–60 seconds.

Hyperventilation causes dizziness, tingling and cramps; treatment is to slow the breathing rate, not to increase oxygen unless hypoxia is suspected.

Spatial disorientation: the somatogyral illusion (the leans) and somatogravic illusion (false climb/descent) occur without visual references; trust the instruments.

The vestibular system senses angular acceleration and gravity; it cannot reliably detect a constant-velocity turn or a slow roll.

Night vision uses rods (peripheral, low light); the fovea (cones) has a blind spot at the optic disc; allow 30 minutes for dark adaptation.

Carbon monoxide is odourless; symptoms include headache, drowsiness and cherry-red skin; suspect it if cabin heat is on and symptoms appear.

Stress: moderate stress improves performance; excessive stress narrows attention and increases error rates; use workload management and prioritisation.

Alcohol: even small amounts impair judgement; the standard rule is no alcohol within 8 hours before flight and blood alcohol below the legal limit.

Decompression sickness occurs with rapid pressure changes after diving; follow the recommended no-fly interval after scuba diving (typically 12–24 hours).

Standard atmosphere: sea level pressure 1013.25 hPa, temperature 15 °C, lapse rate 1.98 °C per 1000 ft (about 2 °C/1000 ft) up to the tropopause.

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

ISA temperature at altitude = 15 °C − 2 °C × (altitude in thousands of feet); compare with actual to find ISA deviation.

Cloud types: cumulus (convective, unstable), stratus (stable, layered), cirrus (high ice cloud); cumulonimbus indicates thunderstorms and severe turbulence.

Fronts: a cold front moves faster and produces narrow, intense precipitation; a warm front produces wide, steady precipitation and low cloud.

Wind: surface friction reduces wind speed and turns it towards low pressure; wind backs with descent and veers with altitude in the northern hemisphere.

Icing: airframe icing occurs between 0 °C and about −20 °C in visible moisture; severe icing risk is highest in freezing rain and cumuliform cloud.

METAR is an aerodrome routine report; TAF is a forecast; both use QNH, visibility, cloud and wind in the standard coded format.

Thunderstorm life cycle: cumulus stage (updrafts), mature stage (updrafts and downdrafts, hail, lightning), dissipating stage (downdrafts).

True course is measured from true north; magnetic course = true course − easterly variation (or + westerly variation).

Compass heading = magnetic heading + deviation; deviation is read from the compass deviation card for the aircraft.

1 in 60 rule: a track error of 1 NM over 60 NM equals 1°; use it for mental drift corrections.

Time to station = (distance flown × minutes between bearings) / (change in bearing); the result is in the same time units as the interval.

The triangle of velocities: true airspeed, wind velocity and ground speed/heading; use the wind triangle to compute heading and ground speed.

Great circle routes are the shortest path on a sphere; rhumb lines cut all meridians at the same angle but are longer.

VOR gives magnetic bearing (radial) from the station; DME gives slant range; the combination gives a position fix.

GPS accuracy depends on satellite geometry (HDOP) and ionospheric error; RAIM checks integrity, and the receiver must be approved for the intended use.

Dead reckoning: heading, time and speed give the estimated position; update with visual fixes, VOR/DME or GNSS.

Before take-off: check NOTAMs, weather, mass and balance, fuel, performance and emergency briefings; complete the pre-flight checklist.

Wake turbulence: generated by heavy aircraft, strongest behind and below; take off after a heavy jet with a suitable delay and climb above its flight path.

The go-around decision must be made by the decision altitude/height; if not stabilised, go around and follow the missed approach procedure.

Emergency: 121.5 MHz is the international distress frequency; set transponder to 7700 for distress, 7600 for radio failure, 7500 for unlawful interference.

Radio failure in VMC: continue VFR, land as soon as practicable; in IMC follow the published radio failure procedure and the last assigned clearance.

Winter operations: check for snow, ice and frost on critical surfaces; contamination degrades lift and increases drag; de-icing must be done before take-off.

Fire: use the correct extinguisher for the fire class; electrical fires need a non-conductive agent; fuel fires need foam or dry powder.

Hypoxia/rapid decompression: don oxygen masks, descend to below 10,000 ft, and follow the emergency descent procedure.

Lift = ½ × ρ × V² × S × CL; lift increases with the square of airspeed and with air density.

The four forces: lift, weight, thrust and drag; in steady level flight lift = weight and thrust = drag.

Induced drag decreases with speed; parasite drag increases with the square of speed; total drag is minimum at the speed for best glide/L/D.

The critical angle of attack is where the wing stalls; it is independent of airspeed, mass and bank angle (though the stall speed changes with mass).

Load factor n = lift/weight; in a level 60° bank n = 2, so the stall speed increases by the square root of n.

The centre of pressure moves forward as angle of attack increases; the CG must be ahead of the aerodynamic centre for longitudinal stability.

Adverse yaw: the downgoing aileron produces more induced drag, yawing the aircraft away from the turn; coordinated with rudder.

The Mach number is the ratio of true airspeed to local speed of sound; critical Mach is where local airflow first reaches Mach 1.

Stability: positive static stability returns the aircraft to equilibrium; positive dynamic stability damps the oscillation over time.

The phonetic alphabet: Alpha, 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.

Numbers are transmitted digit by digit; the decimal point is spoken as "decimal"; altitudes are given in feet, flight levels as "flight level" plus digits.

Read-back is required for clearances, runway assignments, altimeter settings, headings and frequencies; read back the full clearance.

Standard phraseology: "roger" means received, "wilco" means will comply, "affirm" means yes, "negative" means no.

Distress call: MAYDAY (three times) on 121.5 MHz; urgency call: PAN-PAN (three times); both are followed by the station identification and nature of the problem.

Transponder codes: 7700 distress, 7600 radio failure, 7500 unlawful interference; squawk assigned codes only when instructed.

Position report format: station called, own callsign, position, time, altitude/flight level, next position and ETA.

ATIS gives aerodrome information (weather, runway in use, QNH); obtain it before contacting approach or tower.