alphabet soup
aviation is chock full of more acronyms than even the tech industry. here are the one's i've learned so far.
before you can legal fly you have to make sure that the plane has all of it's required documentation.
A: airworthiness certificate (basically, the plane's birth certificate — usually located in a plastic sleeve in the side pocket)
R: registration certificate (ownership papers/pink slip, same as for a car — usually located with A)
O: operating handbook/pilot operating handbook/air flight manual (big thick binder, including equipment list)
W: weight and balance (located in O; need to make sure cargo doesn't break limits specified on sheet)
you also need to make sure that the plane is up to date on all of the following services.
A: annual inspection (entire plane and all systems every 12 months)
V: VOR (radio naviagation, every 30 days on planes that have it — the katana doesn't)
1: 100 hours (necessary only for "for hire" planes like the katana)
A: altimeter (every 24 months? need to double check...)
T: transponder (every 24 months)
E: ELT/emergency locator transmitter (12112 — 1/2 useful life elapsed, used for over 1 hour, and/or during the annual/12 month inspection)
special note on the ELT, you can test the elt at any time from the top of the hour until 5 minutes past the hour— just dial to the emergency broadcast frequency 121.5 and hit the test switch; you'll hear it).
before practicing maneuvers, but sure to check the following things.
A: altitude (high enough from the ground)
A: airspeed (flying at a reasonably slow rate)
A: area (clearing turn to make sure there are no other planes in the area)
of course, to make it all more complicated, letters are never just letters, they're words.
alpha
bravo
charlie
delta
echo
foxtrot
golf
hotel
india
juliet
kilo
lima
mike
november
oscar
pappa
quebec
romeo
sierra
tango
uniform
victor
whiskey
x-ray
yankee
zulu
lucky for me, i've got a good memory, though i've yet to get through the phonetic alphabet without forgetting at least one of the words. usually an obvious one. oh, and golf. i can never remember golf. no shock there. never did care for that game.
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