Most pilots are familiar with Parts 61 and 91 of the Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs). These two parts alone contain more than 200 sections and within each section may be a dozen or more sub parts. What FARs do we really need to know to fly safely, and legally, day in and day out? Well, all of them of course! But let?s try to narrow it down to 10 that you can place in your hip pocket and review quickly on a regular basis.
10. FAR 61.23
Medical certificates: Requirement and duration
?a person: (3) Must hold at least a third-class medical certificate (i) When exercising the privileges of a private pilot certificate; (c) Duration of medical certificate. (3) A third-class medical certificate for operations requiring?a private pilot certificate (i) expires at the end of (A) The 36th month after the month of the date of the examination shown on the certificate if the person has not reached his or her 40th birthday on or before the date of the examination; or (B) The 24th month after the month of the date of the examination shown on the certificate if the person has reached his or her 40th birthday on or before the date of the examination. In other words, you will need a third-class medical certificate to act as pilot in command. The certificate is good for three years if you are under the age of 40 at the time of the exam and two years if you are 40 or older.
Not only must we pay regular visits to our aviation medical examiner, we must also medically self certify ourselves before each flight. A good way to ensure that we are able to fly is by using the ?I?m Safe? personal checklist from the Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM): I?m physically and mentally safe to fly, not being impaired by illness, medication, stress, alcohol, fatigue, or emotion.
9. FAR 61.56
Flight review
(a)?a flight review consists of a minimum of 1 hour of flight training and 1 hour of ground training. The review must include: (1) A review of current general operating and flight rules of part 91 of this chapter; and (2) A review of those maneuvers and procedures that?are necessary for the pilot to demonstrate the safe exercise of the pilot certificate. (c)?no person may act as pilot in command of an aircraft unless, since the beginning of the 24th calendar month before the month in which that pilot acts as pilot in command, that person has: (1) Accomplished a flight review?and (2) A logbook endorsed from an authorized instructor who gave the review certifying that the person has satisfactorily completed the review.
Again, in simple English this means that you need to perform a flight review every two years, and the instructor who conducts the review must endorse your logbook. This is a sensible, safety enhancing FAR. Airline pilots accomplish recurrent flight training or pilot proficiency checks in advanced flight simulators every six months. Why shouldn?t private pilots strive to maintain and enhance their skills periodically as well?
A good pilot is always learning, and a flight review is a golden opportunity to put your skills to the test, without the pressure of a flight test environment. During your flight review, you will no doubt learn some new things and increase your overall confidence level as a pilot.
8. FAR 91.205
Powered civil aircraft... Instrument and equipment requirements
(a)?no person may operate a powered civil aircraft?unless that aircraft contains the instruments and equipment specified?for that type of operation, and those instruments and items of equipment are in operable condition. (b) Visual flight rules (day). (1) Airspeed indicator (2) Altimeter (3) Magnetic direction indicator (4) Tachometer for each engine (5) Oil pressure gauge? (6) Temperature gauge for each liquid-cooled engine (7) Oil temperature gauge for each air-cooled engine (8) Manifold pressure gauge for each altitude engine (9) Fuel gauge indicating the quantity of fuel in each tank (10) Landing gear position indicator, if the airplane has a retractable landing gear (11)?an approved aviation red or aviation white anticollision light system? (13) An approved safety belt for each passenger?(14) An approved shoulder harness for each front seat (15) An emergency locator transmitter?(c) Visual flight rules (night)?(2) Approved position lights (6) One spare set of fuses?
This regulation helps define whether an aircraft is airworthy or not. You should note that for night flight, you need all of the minimum equipment required for day flight in addition to those items listed specifically for night VFR. Make sure that all of the required instruments are working properly. Flying at 5,500 feet msl is not the time or place to wonder why your magnetic direction indicator says you?re traveling west when you?re really going south.
7. FAR 91.203
Civil aircraft: Certifications required
(a)?no person may operate a civil aircraft unless it has within it the following: (1) An appropriate and current airworthiness certificate? (2) An effective U.S. registration certificate issued to its owner?
These are the first two items from the acronym AROW, which you can use to remember four items you need on board the aircraft for legal flight. AROW stands for airworthiness certificate, registration certificate, operating handbook, and weight and balance information.
6. FAR 61.57
Recent flight experience: Pilot in command (a)?no person may act as a pilot in command of an aircraft carrying passengers?unless that person has made at least three takeoffs and landings within the preceding 90 days.
(b) Night takeoff and landing experience. (1)?no person may act as pilot in command of an aircraft carrying passengers during the period beginning 1 hour after sunset and ending 1 hour before sunrise unless within the preceding 90 days that person has made at least three takeoffs and three landings to a full stop during the period beginning 1 hour after sunset and ending 1 hour before sunrise.
This FAR covers a fundamental requirement encountered on every flight, as no flight can begin or end successfully without a good takeoff and landing! The regulation is designed to keep pilots and their passengers safe in these two most demanding segments of flight. It?s worth noting that the required landings for daytime flight with passengers may be touch-and-goes unless you are flying a taildragger, in which case you must make full-stop landings. Good takeoffs and landings are the result of training, practice, and experience. The more you do, the better you will get at it. Go out and practice takeoffs and landings regularly, and do more than the minimum required. Take an instructor with you on occasion who can identify and help correct any bad habits you?ve developed.
5. FAR 91.155
Basic VFR weather minimums
(a)?no person may operate an aircraft under VFR when the flight visibility is less, or at a distance from clouds that is less, than that prescribed for the corresponding altitude and class of airspace?Class B airspace, 3 statute miles, clear of clouds. Class C, Class D, and Class E airspace less than 10,000 feet msl, 3 statute miles, 500 feet below, 1,000 feet above, 2,000 feet horizontal.
This FAR is of the utmost use and importance on a daily basis, especially for those of us without an instrument rating. The memory cue ?32 1/5? (?thirty-two-and-one-fifth,? where the slash represents a cloud), may help you to remember the basic VFR weather minimums?three miles visibility, 2,000 feet horizontal distance from clouds, 1,000 feet above them, and 500 feet below them. This little rule of thumb will keep you legal day or night in all classes of airspace up to 10,000 feet msl, the airspace you will be operating in most frequently. Some parts of Class G airspace allow for lower weather minimums. If you plan on flying in Class E airspace at or above 10,000 feet msl, or Class G airspace more than 1,200 feet above the surface and at or above 10,000 feet msl, the minimums are higher: five statute miles flight visibility and a distance from clouds of 1,000 feet below, 1,000 feet above, and 1 statute mile horizontal.
4. FAR 91.119
Minimum safe altitudes
Except when necessary for takeoff or landing, no person may operate an aircraft below the following altitudes: (a) Anywhere. An altitude allowing, if a power unit fails, an emergency landing without undue hazard to persons or property on the surface. (b) Over congested areas. Over any congested area of a city, town, or settlement, or over any open air assembly of persons, an altitude of 1,000 feet above the highest obstacle within a horizontal radius of 2,000 feet of the aircraft. (c) Over other than congested areas. An altitude of 500 feet above the surface, except over open water or sparsely populated areas. In those cases, the aircraft may not be operated closer than 500 feet to any person, vessel, vehicle, or structure.
This FAR will keep you out of harm?s way in more ways than one. Don?t risk flying into an obstruction. Be sure to review your low altitude chart before every flight to familiarize yourself with tall structures or TV/radio antennas. Check notams for cranes operating in the vicinity of airports, and do not become another accident fatality statistic due to reckless behavior. Just because the FAR doesn?t designate a minimum altitude over open water doesn?t mean you should see just how low you can fly.
3. FAR 91.103
Preflight action
Each pilot in command shall, before beginning a flight, become familiar with all available information concerning that flight. This information must include?(a)?for a flight not in the vicinity of an airport, weather reports and forecasts, fuel requirements, alternatives available if the planned flight cannot be completed? (b) For any flight, runway lengths at airports of intended use? (2)?reliable information appropriate to the aircraft, relating to aircraft performance under expected values of airport elevation and runway slope, aircraft gross weight, and wind and temperature.
This FAR can be used as part of a preflight briefing checklist before departure, as it relates to many flight planning safety items. Take it one step further and always have a good backup plan, just in case your flight cannot be completed as planned.
2. FAR 91.151
Fuel requirements for flight in VFR conditions
(a) No person may begin a flight in an airplane under VFR conditions unless (considering wind and forecast weather conditions) there is enough fuel to fly to the first point of intended landing and, assuming normal cruising speed? (1) During the day, to fly after that for at least 30 minutes; or (2) At night, to fly after that for at least 45 minutes.
At first glance, you may think that this would be an obvious rule?always have enough fuel to get there and some to spare. Yet pilots still manage to run out of gas for a variety of reasons, including unexpected wind, improper preflight calculations, or defective fuel gauges, to name a few. If you can take on additional fuel and still be within your airplane?s weight and balance limits, do it. The most useless fuel is the fuel left behind in the truck when you had space for it in the airplane.
And the number one FAR for a private pilot is:
1. FAR 91.3
Responsibility and authority of the pilot in command
(a) The pilot in command of an aircraft is directly responsible for, and is the final authority as to the operation of that aircraft. (b) In an in-flight emergency requiring immediate action, the pilot in command may deviate from any rule of this part to the extent required to meet that emergency.
This is by far the most valuable regulation around. Remember that the ultimate responsibility rests solely on the pilot in command. This FAR even allows you to deviate from all the others in Part 91 to meet the requirements of an emergency, but that?s because the burden of responsibility for safe flight rests squarely on your shoulders as the pilot. And that?s as it should be. We wouldn?t want it any other way.
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