CPL Flight Performance and Planning study guide
CPL Flight Performance and Planning · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
Flight Performance and Planning is the examination area that tests whether a commercial pilot candidate can turn an aircraft's published data into safe, legal, and economical decisions. It sits at the intersection of aerodynamics, loading, and regulation: you must know why an aircraft performs as it does, then prove you can compute the consequences for a specific flight. The CPL Flight Performance and Planning study guide has 8 sections and about 2,411 words.
01Aerodynamics and Performance Fundamentals
This domain tests whether you can connect first principles to flight-manual numbers: lift and drag, thrust and power, and how mass, density altitude and configuration shift every performance speed. Lift is L = ½ρV²SC L and drag is D = ½ρV²SC D; density ρ falls with pressure altitude and temperature.
339 words, about 2 min02Mass and Balance (Loading, CG, and Structural Limits)
This domain tests whether you can build a lawful load sheet: the structural limits that cap mass, and the centre-of-gravity calculation that keeps the aircraft controllable. MTOW, MLW, MZFW, OEW and useful load cap different phases; the lowest applicable limit governs.
301 words, about 2 min03Takeoff and Landing Performance
This domain tests whether you can compare the distance the aircraft needs with the distance the runway actually offers, after applying every relevant correction. TORA is the run available; TODA adds clearway; ASDA adds stopway; LDA is the landing distance available.
298 words, about 1 min04Climb, Cruise, and Descent Performance
This domain tests whether you can plan the vertical profile: how fast and how steeply the aircraft climbs, how efficiently it cruises, and where the descent should begin. Climb gradient % = 100 × (Thrust − Drag) ÷ Weight.
320 words, about 2 min05Flight Planning: Route, Fuel, and Alternate Planning
This domain tests whether you can build a fuel plan that satisfies the regulation and a route plan that survives the weather and the NOTAMs. Taxi fuel, trip fuel, contingency fuel, alternate fuel, final reserve, additional fuel, discretionary fuel.
302 words, about 2 min06Charts, Tables, and Performance Data Interpretation
This domain tests chart literacy: entering the right axes, interpolating honestly, and applying the corrections the notes demand. Identify the axes, units and assumptions first: flap setting, bleed air, anti-ice, surface condition, pressure altitude, temperature and mass.
263 words, about 1 min07Operational Planning and Regulatory Considerations
This domain tests whether you can dispatch legally: the weather, alternates, MEL, mass and balance and crew rules that must all be satisfied before flight. ICAO Annex 6 sets performance classes and broad requirements; national rules add detail.
303 words, about 2 min08In-Flight Replanning and Fuel Management
This domain tests whether you can monitor the plan in flight, recognise a deteriorating fuel situation, and act before it becomes an emergency. Record a fuel check at each waypoint and compare actual with planned; note the trend, not just the difference.
285 words, about 1 min