Two 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. Your last flight was on 2 June, when you flew one circuit with an instructor. You want to take two friends for a 45-minute local flight in the club Cessna 172, departing at 18:50. Sunset is 18:37 and the end of civil twilight 19:03; you hold no night rating. The aircraft's C of A expires on 30 September, the maintenance release was signed today and shows 22 h remaining before the 50-hour check, the insurance certificate is in the folder, and the radio station licence expired on 31 August. The aircraft has 60 L of fuel, the mass and balance is within limits and the forecast is fine. The booking sheet shows the aircraft as 'available'.
1. Assess each licence, medical and aircraft document as pass or fail, and give the overall decision.
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- PPL(A): valid - 14 months old and within its validity, but it is only one element.
- Class 2 medical: valid on 12 September (expires 15th). Pass for this flight, with a note that it would not cover a delay past the 15th.
- Recent experience for passenger carrying: 3 take-offs and 3 landings in the preceding 90 days are required. Last flight 2 June = 102 days and only one landing. Fail.
- Night privilege: departure 18:50 is after sunset 18:37, so the flight is at night. No night rating. Fail. Even with a night rating, night passenger carriage needs 3 night take-offs and landings in 90 days.
- C of A: expires 30 September. Pass.
- Maintenance release: signed today with 22 h to the check. Pass.
- Insurance: in the folder. Pass.
- Radio station licence: expired 31 August. Fail - an administrative/regulatory defect that must be corrected before the aircraft is dispatched.
Overall decision: the flight cannot operate. Cancel it and tell the friends now, not at the aircraft.
2. What is the minimum you must do before you can legally take these two passengers flying?
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Two separate things, and both are needed.
Recency. Complete three take-offs and three landings (full stop, in the same type or class) within the preceding 90 days. In practice: fly three circuits with an instructor or solo, get them entered and signed in the logbook, and confirm the 90-day clock and the licence/medical validity before carrying anyone.
Daylight. Plan the flight to depart and return with comfortable daylight margin - for a 45-minute local flight, departing around 16:30 and landing by 17:45 gives a buffer before the 18:37 sunset and avoids any argument about the night definition. If night flying is the goal, obtain the night rating first, then build three night take-offs and landings before carrying passengers at night.
Radio licence. Chase the renewal with the club before the next dispatch. It does not fix the recency problem, but it is a defect the regulator will find in a ramp inspection, and some insurers will treat an unlicensed radio installation as a breach of conditions. So the legal answer is: three circuits in daylight, licence renewed, then passengers - not tonight.
3. Which documents must be on board for the flight, and what is the practical consequence of the expired radio licence?
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On board: the Certificate of Registration, the Certificate of Airworthiness, the current maintenance release/airworthiness certificate, the radio station licence, the insurance certificate (or evidence of cover), the aircraft journey/technical log, the pilot's licence and medical certificate, and the flight manual plus the current mass and balance report. For a local flight, also carry the flight notification or flight plan confirmation if one was filed, and know the aircraft's emergency and radio procedures.
The expired radio licence does not, by itself, make the airframe unairworthy - but it does mean the radio installation is not licensed, which is a regulatory non-compliance and can invalidate the authority to use that frequency, complicate insurance cover and expose the pilot and operator to enforcement action. The practical response is: do not dispatch under your own authority; raise it with the club, get written confirmation of renewal or a temporary document, and record the defect in the tech log so that the next pilot cannot claim ignorance.