Preflight Preparation (Instrument Rating – Airplane, Area of Operation I)
Preflight Preparation (Area of Operation I)
Preflight Preparation asks one question: can you prove, on paper and on the gauges, that this airplane and this pilot are legal for IMC? The tasks cover documents, airworthiness, weather, flight planning, and performance.
Airworthiness items examiners ask about
- Annual inspection within the preceding 12 calendar months (14 CFR 91.409); a 100-hour inspection is additionally required only when operating for hire.
- Altimeter and static system tested and inspected within the preceding 24 calendar months (91.411).
- Transponder tested within 24 calendar months (91.413).
- VOR receiver check within 30 days, logged with date, place, bearing error, and signature (91.171).
- GRABCARD equipment: Generator/alternator, two-way Radios, sensitive Altimeter, Ball (slip-skid), Clock with seconds, Attitude indicator, Rate-of-turn indicator, Directional gyro (91.205(d)).
- Oxygen: crew above 12,500 ft MSL for more than 30 minutes, and continuously above 14,000 ft MSL (91.211).
Flight planning rules
Under 91.169 an alternate is required unless the destination forecast, from 1 hour before to 1 hour after ETA, shows a ceiling of at least 2,000 ft and visibility of at least 3 SM. Standard alternate minimums are 600 ft and 2 SM for a precision approach, 800 ft and 2 SM for a non-precision approach; published alternate minimums on the chart always supersede. Fuel under 91.167 must take you to the first airport of intended landing, then to the alternate, then 45 minutes at normal cruise speed; when no alternate is required, destination plus 45 minutes.
Worked example
Destination 120 NM, alternate 40 NM, 120 KTAS, 10 gph, no wind. Leg 1: 1.0 h = 10.0 gal. Leg 2: 40 NM at 2 NM/min = 20 min = 3.3 gal. Reserve: 45 min = 7.5 gal. Legal minimum = 20.8 gal. Because that assumes perfect winds and no delay, plan-block 26–28 gal and cross-check against tank quantity rather than launching with 21.
Traps that cost marks
Confusing the 24-month altimeter/static and transponder inspections with the 12-month annual; treating the 30-day VOR check as optional; using standard alternate minimums where the chart publishes non-standard ones; forgetting the 1-hour-before/1-hour-after window; and counting the 45-minute reserve as fuel you may burn en route.