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Pre-flight and cockpit organization

After reading the post “Worrying the night before a flight – is it normal? I thought about pre-flight and cockpit organization.

After checking the weather and deciding it is acceptable I then go through a check list of other things to do before I leave home and as we are more involved in electronics these days, there are more things to keep adding to the list.
GPS. Charged Tablet x 2. Charged Mobile. Charged
Enroute charts. Printed. Approach charts. Printed. Notams for destination airfield. Read etc etc.

When to file the flight plan? Before leaving for the airfield? That is mostly what I do, but then I find I am under pressure to get everything ready for the filed EOBT. The theoretical answer is to file at the airfield when everything else is in order. I don’t have wi-fi at the airfield so it has to be done with either a laptop and 3G dongle (another piece of kit to carry) or through the iPad, which up to now has been hit and miss. Just one more thing to get the pressure rising.

In the cockpit I mount my Garmin 296 via a suction cup, in line with the instrument 6 pack. That way it is easy to incorporate into the scan
My IPad mini is strapped to my knee, for reference only.

In the 40 minutes before landing I will review the approach and set the navs up, and although I have committed all the essentials to short term memory, I like to have the Jepp stuck to the canopy side on a suction mount clipboard, in view for a glance at anything I need to check. I have found that using a tablet for the approach charts is not practical. As I don’t have a yoke to mount the tablet it would mean looking up and down from lap to panel. A sure way to start disorientation. If it was not on my lap, then I would have to hold it in one hand whilst holding the stick in the other,(no autopilot) with my eyes dancing backwards and forwards between panel and tablet – not ideal.
Paper approach charts don’t suffer from battery problems and unless I switch to an aircraft with a G1000 setup (unlikely) I can see paper being used indefinitely.
How do other members organise their pre-flight tasks and pre-flight their cockpits? I would be happy to pick up some tips.

Bold

Propman
Nuthampstead , United Kingdom

Good discussion topic. I found that shifting – some time ago now – to a mobile phone based flight plan filing/management system very liberating. Too many old memories of waiting in a hotel lobby for the taxi that is “about to come” having filed a flight plan by fax with a best guess EOBT. There are a number of solutions out there. I’m about to migrate to Autorouter for filing, and I understand they have a very smart “bring forward” capability as well as the more common delay. All these things take time and I’ve been too busy to get around to it. I do a mixture of filing the night before so I can forget about it and filing as I arrive to start the pre-flight checks.

Similarly, I shifted to paperless. I use Skydemon for IFR plates and for nav backup. The principle I use is to protect against single point failure. That means I have an iPad mini as primary, and an iPhone 5 as backup. The iPhone is surprisingly useable as a backup plate reader. Two USB power sources in the cockpit, two USB cables. By having the whole AIP on two devices, I don’t need to think about what to print out, so one less source of error and by inference, stress. I find that the iPad loose on my knee works fine for me – better even than fixed – but I know I’m in a minority here, but not alone. Regarding batteries, I’m of the view that if some combination of failure involving two devices and/or two batteries and/or two cables etc etc – then I will shamelessly explain my predicament and ask for vectors or an approach briefing on the radio.

On a very practical point, I note you are based at the nearest airfield to my home. Best thing I did was to switch to using EE from Vodafone both for data and call quality. If you ever fancy a face to face conversation over a cup of tea, let me know and I can come and pick you up.

I have just started using Autorouter for filing plans, after having used Eurofpl for a year or two.

Sending a Delay or Change via the Eurofpl iPad-app is very easy, but the app Telegram used with Autorouter beats it. I just press “EOBT 1234” and after about a quarter of a second the confirmation beeps on the phone, with no iPad required for that. With autorouter I also receive a text message with squawk code 10 mins before EOBT, and when taking off from VFR-fields that is very useful.

I tend to plan as much as possible before leaving home. I find that even if plans are changed, it is good to have a reference to work from.

huv
EKRK, Denmark

huv wrote:

With autorouter I also receive a text message with squawk code 10 mins before EOBT

I never got this. Could someone state again the conditions under which I would get such a text?

Rwy20 wrote:

I never got this. Could someone state again the conditions under which I would get such a text?

You have to depart from a country that participates in the CCAMS (Centralised SSR Code Assignment and Management System). Neither Switzerland, Germany nor France participate. From my memory, the following countries always issue a CCAMS (which we promptly forward):

  • UK
  • Croatia
  • Sweden
  • Norway
  • Austria
  • Denmark
  • Italy
  • Ireland

You can see, as always the Scandinavians lead the way, the Germans follow when there is no possibility to further avoid it and then, when even the Germans do it, the Swiss start looking at it

You must file via Autorouter and the country the departure airfield lies in must be participating in CCAMS

Participating states seem to be: Albania, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Lithuania, Moldova, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom, Ukraine

LSZK, Switzerland

my Sunday experience with squawk – I get it emailed for my flight LOLW-LKTB – departing from Austria as non participating country. I was speaking to Linz radar on phone before departure /as local procedure for IFR departures requires/ and his first question was “do you have squawk already?” – so obviously he was expecting me to have it from some source. But the squawk actually assigned by him next second was different no idea why.

Last Edited by Michal at 18 Aug 06:55
LKKU, LKTB

General rules I abide by are:

  • Everything has to be easily accesible, without reaching if possible. Stow stuff in such a way that you can pull it out straight away (i.e. don’t pile stuff on top, but rather put maps and folders upright so you can pull each out)
  • Yet take only the essentials (avoids confusion)
  • Pre-fold maps to the section that you need
  • Have a small EUR 3 pocket calculator that can do + – * / =
  • Get a shirt with pockets! To stow that calculator and other handy things. I feel so out of place in a t-shirt.
  • Put stuff in the same place. Always!
  • Adhere to sterile cockpit during critical phases of flight i.e. stow all items before take-off & landing
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