Private Pilot (Airplane) Airworthiness Requirements Lesson Plan

Private Pilot (Airplane) • ACS Area I, Task B

The Private Pilot (Airplane) Airworthiness Requirements Lesson Plan covers the knowledge, risk management, and skills associated with airworthiness requirements, including airplane certificates.

Private Pilot (Airplane) Airworthiness Requirements Lesson Plan

Introduction

  • Schedule

    Topic:
    Time:
    Attention/Motivator:
    0:05
    Part 1, Lesson Introduction:
    0:05
    Part 2, Airworthiness Overview:
    0:15
    Part 3, Airworthiness Documentation:
    0:15
    Part 4, Compliance:
    0:15
    Part 5, Preventive Maintenance:
    0:15
    Part 6, Airworthiness Risk Management:
    0:15
    Part 7, Airworthiness Guided Scenario(s):
    0:20
    Part 8, Lesson Conclusion:
    0:05
    Remotivation/Closure:
    0:05
    Total Ground Time:
    0:00

  • Attention Getter:

    • Research and present a mishap case study:
    • Discuss how the initial conditions developed into an incident/accident/mishap.
    • Relate similar personal experiences of the same type of incident/accident/mishap.
    • Consider incorporating a case study as a guided scenario.

  • Motivator:

    • Federal Aviation Regulation 91.7 states, "No person may operate a civil aircraft unless it is in an airworthy condition."
    • To understand airworthiness requirements, we must define what it means to be airworthy.
    • To determine airworthiness, the pilot must examine several documents and inspection records.
    • The pilot must have certain documents that demonstrate they are legal to fly.
    • Aircraft can be flown with inoperative equipment.

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Private Pilot (Airplane) Airworthiness Requirements Lesson Plan

Materials

Private Pilot (Airplane) Airworthiness Requirements Lesson Plan

Instructor Actions

  • Before the lesson, review reference materials.
  • Part 1, Lesson Introduction:
  • Part 2, Airworthiness Overview:
    • Elicit prior knowledge about airworthiness, then have the learner explain how certificates, inspections, maintenance records, operating limitations, and PIC responsibilities establish it; distinguish original certification from the aircraft's continuing condition for safe operation. (PA.I.B.K1)
    • Distinguish the owner or operator's responsibility for maintaining airworthiness and AD compliance from the PIC's responsibility to accept or reject the aircraft for flight and discontinue a flight when an unairworthy condition occurs. (PA.I.B.K1e)
    • Define and discuss how to determine airworthiness.
    • Elicit prior knowledge, then establish the operational relevance of the roles and responsibilities of the owner and operator, assuming they are not the same individual or entity.
    • Introduce the documents required for an aircraft to be considered airworthy.
      • Elicit prior knowledge, then establish the operational relevance of airworthiness documents in the context of the acronym "ARROW" or "airworthiness certificate, registration certificate, radio station license, operating handbook, and weight and balance."
      • Contrast the responsibilities for maintaining airworthiness and determining airworthiness.
  • Part 3, Airworthiness Documentation:
    • Have the student locate the registration and airworthiness certificates, operating limitations, weight-and-balance information, and applicable maintenance records; use them to explain aircraft identity, certification, limitations, and inspection status. (PA.I.B.S1)
    • Introduce certificate carriage and display requirements, registration validity and expiration, and the effect of aircraft damage or destruction on registration status; have the student interpret actual or sample issue and expiration information using current requirements. (PA.I.B.K1a)
    • Use an aircraft- or scenario-specific example, then have the learner explain continued effectiveness of a standard airworthiness certificate in relation to approved type design, condition for safe operation, and required maintenance. Distinguish standard and special certificates, their categories or purposes, and associated operating limitations. (PA.I.B.K4)
    • Introduce the registration certificate:
      • Elicit prior knowledge about aircraft registration, then have the learner explain how it applies to airworthiness requirements.
      • Elicit prior knowledge, then establish the operational relevance of registration certificate eligibility, issuance, and validity.
      • Elicit prior knowledge, then establish the operational relevance of the location and expiration of registration certificates.
      • Present a missing-document scenario, then have the learner determine how to obtain a replacement and what qualifies as one.
    • Introduce airworthiness certificates:
    • Introduce the Pilot Operating Handbook:
      • Elicit prior knowledge, then establish the operational relevance of the difference between PIM, POH (Pilot's Operating Handbook), and AFM.
      • Elicit prior knowledge, then establish the operational relevance of the location and expiration of POH.
      • Elicit prior knowledge, then establish the operational relevance of the location of any flight manual supplements (i.e., avionics equipment).
    • Introduce the radio station license:
      • Introduce operations that require a radio station license.
      • Elicit prior knowledge, then establish the operational relevance of the location and expiration of a radio station license.
    • Introduce weight and balance:
      • Elicit prior knowledge, then establish the operational relevance of the location and expiration of an aircraft's weight and balance.
      • Discuss how the performance and limitations lesson plan will go into more depth.
  • Part 4, Compliance:
    • Review applicable annual, 100-hour, ELT, transponder, and static-system inspections; have the student use records to determine when each is next due, distinguishing calendar time, operating time, and operational applicability. Discuss when an authorized progressive inspection program substitutes for annual and 100-hour inspections. (PA.I.B.K1b)
      • Compare ELT inspection status, battery-life dates, and cumulative transmitter use using sample records.
      • Calculate annual and 100-hour due points after discontinuing a progressive inspection program, distinguishing a complete inspection from partial routine work.
    • Discuss the mandatory nature of Airworthiness Directives; have the student determine applicability and verify compliance for the aircraft, engine, propeller, and appliances. Contrast an AD with a Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin. (PA.I.B.K1c)
    • Elicit prior knowledge, then establish the operational relevance of special flight permit eligibility for an aircraft that is not currently airworthy but is capable of safe flight; discuss the request process and compliance with the limitations imposed for that flight. (PA.I.B.K1d)
    • Have the student identify equipment required for the proposed day or night VFR operation under 14 CFR 91.205, the aircraft certification basis, and operating limitations; include operative lighting and any additional requirements imposed by the intended operation. (PA.I.B.K3)
      • Elicit prior knowledge, then establish the operational relevance of engine- and aircraft-specific instruments, applicable lighting and restraints, ELT requirements, and flotation and signaling equipment for qualifying overwater-for-hire operations.
      • Use guided questioning to have the learner explain and apply manufacture-date conditions for restraints and use the aircraft's approved limitations and KOEL (Kinds of Operations Equipment List) legend to determine equipment required for the proposed operation.
    • Compare dispatch under an approved MEL and its letter of authorization with use of 14 CFR 91.213(d) without an MEL. Have the student establish eligibility for the applicable method before deciding whether an item may be deferred. (PA.I.B.K3b)
      • Use guided questioning to have the learner explain and apply required maintenance and operating procedures, records, repair intervals, and operational restrictions using an applicable MEL entry; do not treat an open repair interval as permission to ignore its conditions.
    • Have the student work through the complete applicable inoperative-equipment decision sequence: check type-certification requirements, the equipment list or KOEL, regulations and ADs; determine required removal or deactivation, placarding, authorized maintenance and record entries; and assess whether the item creates a hazard. (PA.I.B.K3a)
    • Have the student locate the KOEL in approved aircraft information and determine equipment required for the intended kind of operation. Contrast its role with an MEL, and use an approved MEL to identify applicable conditions, procedures, and deferral time limits. (PA.I.B.K3c)
    • Discuss how cockpit placards and aircraft records communicate unresolved discrepancies; have the student identify required maintenance entries and approval-for-return-to-service prerequisites before accepting an aircraft after maintenance. (PA.I.B.K3d)
    • Introduce required inspections
      • ELT (Emergency Locator Transmitter) checks, Pitot-static checks, altimeter checks, NAVAID (Navigational Aid) checks, etc.
    • Use guided questioning to have the learner explain and apply airworthiness directives.
    • Use guided questioning to have the learner explain and apply service bulletins and special airworthiness information bulletins.
    • Elicit prior knowledge, then establish the operational relevance of Special Flight Permit.
    • Airplane Logbook Documentation. (PA.I.B.K1b)
    • Introduce required equipment for both day & night VFR flight:
  • Part 5, Preventive Maintenance:
    • Have the student use the authorized preventive-maintenance list to classify a proposed action, determine who may perform it and under what conditions, and explain the required record entry and return-to-service responsibilities. (PA.I.B.K2)
    • Discuss the use of applicable maintenance instructions, acceptable methods and practices, and suitable tools and materials; distinguish permission to perform preventive maintenance from competence to complete a particular task correctly.
    • Introduce preventive maintenance.
      • Define preventive maintenance.
      • Elicit prior knowledge, then establish the operational relevance of preventive maintenance items.
      • Introduce who can perform preventive maintenance.
      • Elicit prior knowledge, then establish the operational relevance of preventive maintenance procedures in the context of the acronym "MC-PLT," or "manuals, craftsmanship, parts, logged, and tools."
      • Elicit prior knowledge, then establish the operational relevance of logging preventive maintenance.
      • Use guided questioning to have the learner explain and apply considerations for flights following preventive maintenance.
  • Part 6, Airworthiness Risk Management:
    • Have the student assess how an inoperative item affects aircraft control, workload, redundancy, navigation, communication, weather avoidance, and the intended flight. Combine the risks of multiple discrepancies and adverse conditions rather than assessing each in isolation. (PA.I.B.R1)
    • Distinguish regulatory permission from operational safety; have the student justify repair, replacement aircraft, changed conditions, delay, or cancellation using flight-specific margins.
    • Using actual or representative aircraft documents and an aircraft inspection, have the student verify certificate validity, inspection and AD status, known discrepancies, and condition for safe operation; require a supported go/no-go determination rather than reliance on another person's assurance. (PA.I.B.S2)
    • Have the student demonstrate the applicable MEL or 91.213(d) decision process without omitted decision points, specify required maintenance, placarding, records and operating limitations, and justify a final decision that addresses both compliance and risk. (PA.I.B.S3)
    • Elicit prior knowledge, then establish the operational relevance of records as legal documents, discussing substantiating work and the dangers of making or receiving falsified aircraft records.
  • Part 7, Airworthiness Guided Scenario(s):
  • Part 8, Lesson Conclusion:
    • Tie lesson back to previous lessons to reinforce past experiences (law of readiness).
    • Present the remotivation, conclude, and provide guidance for follow-on lessons.
    • Review student actions required ahead of the next lesson.
  • Update instructor endorsement records and the student's jacket, as required.
Private Pilot (Airplane) Airworthiness Requirements Lesson Plan

Guided Scenario(s)

  • Discuss scenarios and solutions to inoperative equipment discovered before flight.
  • Discuss The Checkout That Did Not Dispatch, using its records, equipment, and condition-for-safe-operation decisions.
  • Discuss case studies.
  • While conducting a preflight, the pilot realizes there is a flat tire.
    • Who's responsibility is it to repair? Who can repair it?
  • While conducting a preflight, the pilot realizes there is no oil.
    • Who's responsibility is it to repair? Who can repair it?
  • While conducting a preflight, the pilot realizes the EGT (exhaust-gas temperature) guage is inoperative.
    • Who's responsibility is it to repair? Who can repair it?
    • If it is not repaired, what steps must be taken before flight?
  • While conducting a preflight, the pilot realizes the vertical speed indicator is inoperative.
    • Who's responsibility is it to repair? Who can repair it?
    • If it is not repaired, what steps must be taken before flight?
  • While conducting a preflight, the pilot realizes the airworthiness certificate is missing, but they saw it the other day and have a picture from a previous lesson.
    • Who's responsibility is it to replace?
    • Can the pilot legally fly?
  • In conjunction with a preflight:
    • Locate and review the documents required: airworthiness and registration certificate, radio station license (if applicable), operators manual, and weight and balance for accuracy and expiration.
      • Discuss the types of airworthiness certificates.
    • Review an aircraft maintenance logbook with an A&P and discuss:
      • What the required inspections are and how they can be found/are logged in the aircraft logbook.
      • What Airworthiness Directives exist, how to find them, and how they've been complied with and logged.
      • What Special Airworthiness Information Bulletins exist, how to find them, and how they've been complied with and logged.
  • Still with an A&P, while conducting a preflight discuss provide examples of what maintenance requirements may be discovered and who must perform them.
  • Discuss inoperative equipment found during preflight:
    • Do the items appear on a minimum equipment list? (if applicable).
    • Do the items appear on a kinds of equipment list? (if applicable).
    • What are the items required for VFR (Visual Flight Rules) operations?
    • In any case, how must these items be placarded when found?
  • Discuss if a discrepancy was noted on the ground, but could not be fixed, how a special airworthiness certificate could be obtained?
  • Provide a scenario where the pilot has determined the aircraft is airworthy, but various items start to fail.
    • At what point must the aircraft be legally terminated? (VFR required equipment/unairworthy).
    • What are other considerations to an aircraft that has multiple pieces of equipment fail together or on the same flight?
  • Related scenarios:
Private Pilot (Airplane) Airworthiness Requirements Lesson Plan

Student Actions

Private Pilot (Airplane) Airworthiness Requirements Lesson Plan

Airman Certification Standards

Private Pilot (Airplane) Airworthiness Requirements Airman Certification Standards

Knowledge 4 ACS Elements
Risk Management 1 ACS Element
Skills 3 ACS Elements
  • PA.I.B.S1:
    Locate and describe airplane airworthiness and registration information.
  • PA.I.B.S2:
    Determine the airplane is airworthy in the scenario given by the evaluator.
  • PA.I.B.S3:
    Apply appropriate procedures for operating with inoperative equipment in the scenario given by the evaluator.
Private Pilot (Airplane) Airworthiness Requirements Lesson Plan

Conclusion

  • Re-Motivation:

    • Airworthiness Requirements reinforces that safe flight begins with an aircraft that is properly documented, inspected, maintained, and determined to be airworthy.
    • Understanding the responsibilities of manufacturers, mechanics, owners, and the pilot in command helps pilots recognize discrepancies and make defensible no-go decisions.
    • Careful records review, systematic inspections, and disciplined use of regulations and aircraft limitations make airworthiness an active safety practice on every flight.
    • Continued study of Airworthiness Requirements prepares private pilots to evaluate more complex maintenance, equipment, and operational questions with confidence.

  • Closure:

    • Advise students that this lesson will be used as a starting point for the next lesson.
    • Assign study materials for the next lesson.