NCAA PPL Flight Performance & Planning case studies
NCAA PPL Flight Performance & Planning · Put your knowledge to work in context.
Flight Performance and Planning is the ground-examination subject that tests whether a private pilot candidate can predict, before leaving the ground, what the aeroplane will actually do. It sits alongside Air Law, Meteorology, Navigation and Human Performance in the PPL theoretical syllabus, and it is the subject where arithmetic and graph-reading meet real operational decisions: will this aircraft lift off before the end of the runway, will it clear the obstacle, will it still be within limits when it lands with less fuel. The NCAA PPL Flight Performance & Planning case studies are 5 cases and about 3,491 words.
1The Aft-Loaded 172 and the Club Legend
Your club's Cessna 172S has a basic empty mass of 745 kg at an arm of 1.00 m aft of datum, a maximum take-off mass of 1,157 kg and a CG range of 0.89 m to 1.20 m aft of datum. Station arms are: front seats 0.94 m, rear seats 1.85 m, baggage area 2.41 m, fuel tanks 1.22 m.
711 words, about 4 min2Hot Day, Six Knots Tailwind, Trees Ahead
You are departing a private strip near Makurdi: elevation 1,250 ft, QNH 1,013, OAT 32°C, runway 09, 1,200 m of dry asphalt with a 1% upslope in the take-off direction. The aircraft's POH chart, for the actual take-off mass, gives 480 m ground roll and 860 m to 50 ft at these conditions, and there is no clearway or stopway.
688 words, about 3 min3Double the Planned Burn, Halfway to Yola
You are flying a club Cessna 172 from Kaduna to Yola, a planned distance of 246 nm. Usable fuel is 144 L, cruise consumption 34 L/h, TAS 108 kt, and the forecast wind 090/20 gives an expected 14 kt tailwind.
675 words, about 3 min4Two Friends, 102 Days and a Sunset
It is 17:55 on Friday 12 September. You hold a PPL(A) issued 14 months ago and a Class 2 medical valid until 15 September.
717 words, about 4 min5Standing Water, a Downslope and 40 Nautical Miles to Decide
You are 40 nm from destination in a Cessna 172 with two persons on board and a planned landing mass of 1,050 kg. Destination: elevation 900 ft, QNH 1,011, OAT 33°C, runway 27, 1,050 m long, 1% downslope toward 27, light rain with standing water in patches, braking action reported medium to poor on the middle third, wind 250°/08 kt.
700 words, about 4 min