✈️ Aviation Brief — Issue #21
Weekly insights for student pilots and the instructors who train them.
THIS WEEK'S TOPIC
PA.I.C — Cross-Country Flight Planning (Private Pilot ACS)
### 1. ACS STANDARDS SUMMARY
For Private Pilot ACS Task PA.I.C (Cross-Country Flight Planning), the applicant must demonstrate knowledge of required data sources (POH/AFM, charts, weather reports, regulations) and the ability to select a suitable route, obtain appropriate charts, plot the course, compute magnetic course/heading, groundspeed, time enroute, and fuel requirements, select altitudes complying with regulations, and identify risk management elements like weather, terrain, and fuel contingencies. The examiner expects you to explain your planning process, complete a navigation log, and show compliance with 14 CFR §91.153 (VFR flight plan requirements), including checkpoints, alternates, and reserves—often by verbally walking through a sample flight plan during the oral or by submitting one pre-flight.
### 2. THREE COMMON STUDENT MISTAKES
- Inaccurate wind corrections: Students often forget to apply wind fully to their groundspeed and heading calculations, leading to overly optimistic ETA and fuel burn estimates—examiners catch this when your nav log shows unrealistic times compared to actual flight.
- Neglecting terrain and airspace: Failing to check minimum enroute altitudes (MEAs), controlled airspace boundaries, or terrain elevations, resulting in a route that clips a Class B shelf or flies too low over mountains without oxygen considerations.
- Inadequate fuel and alternate planning: Underestimating total fuel needs by ignoring reserves (45 minutes night/30 day VFR) or not selecting a viable alternate with current weather/ runway length, often because they skip the "what if" scenarios like headwinds or delays.
### 3. CFI PRO TIP
Always start your cross-country planning with a "big picture" paper chart overview before diving into apps like ForeFlight—mark your airports, draw the straight-line route, note obvious no-gos like MOAs or mountains, then layer in winds, weather, and NOTAMs. This builds situational awareness and catches digital oversights; I've seen students shave 20 minutes off planning time and boost checkride confidence by treating the chart as their "flight director."
### 4. SAFETY SPOTLIGHT
Poor cross-country planning contributes to fuel exhaustion, the top cause of fatal GA accidents per NTSB data (e.g., 2019-2023 stats show over 100 incidents, many VFR XC flights). A classic case is the 2021 Cessna 172 crash in Arizona (NTSB CEN21FA193), where underestimated headwinds and no alternate led to running dry mid-flight—ASRS reports echo this, with pilots citing "optimistic winds aloft" as a recurring theme. Double-check your fuel with a conservative 10% buffer.
### 5. DID YOU KNOW
14 CFR §91.153 requires you to file a flight plan for any VFR cross-country over 50 NM, but even if you don't file, you must still carry enough fuel for the flight plus reserves—and ATC can provide search-and-rescue coordination if you do file. Pro tip: Many Vegas students discover filing via phone to FSS activates DUATS weather briefings for free!
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Based in Las Vegas, NV
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