Ground School Syllabus Lesson 1

Training so far has been a little haphazard with regard to what to study. I have been reading the ASA Student Pilot Flight Manual for quite some time. Not long ago I bought a Sporty’s Pilot Training Online course and I’ve been going through the videos. Fairly recently my instructor sent me his syllabus. So I’m going to log what I’ve been studying today for first lesson in the syllabus he sent me. I’ll probably call these “Syllabus” vs “Sporty’s” vs “AOPA.” I’ve got a huge number of books so far, and a lot of notes and studying to do in them…probably too many of them.

So to start, I’ll go through the questions to be answered in the first lesson.

1. Why is a thorough preflight inspection important? To determine if the airplane is in a condition that is safe to fly.
   
2. What would you do if you noticed that the tail hook was missing during the preflight inspection? Deem the aircraft is not airworthy and not safe to fly. In order to be airworthy, it must be in a safe condition, and it must conform to the type certificate and authorized modifications. If the tail hook is missing it is a sign that the airplane might be damaged; a missing tail hook, or any missing part that was present when the airplane left the factory floor, does not conform to the type certificate and is thus also not airworthy.
3. As you take the runway what should you do with your HDG indicator? Check/adjust to ensure that it aligns with the runway heading.
4. How can we determine the wind direction while walking out to the airplane? Check the wind sock, trapezoid, or wind-T. You can also look for flags, nearby smoke/steam, water, trees, etc…
5. Why is wind speed and direction important? Wind direction is important to know which runway will be used at the airport. Wind speed and direction are important to calculate the necessary runway to take off and roll-out on landing.
6. How should the ailerons be positioned during taxi? “Turn into the wind, dive away from the wind.” Headwind turn the yoke towards the wind; tailwind turn the yoke away.
7. Why do we check the brakes immediately after the aircraft begins to move? To ensure that the brakes are effective before we begin to taxi and that they will be effective during run-up. If they are not effective immediately shut down the engine.
8. Is it safe to fly if you found a large puddle of red fluid under the brakes? No, red fluid is brake line fluid and the puddle signifies that there is likely a leak that will make the airplane unsafe.
9. What color is 100LL fuel? 100LL is blue in color.
10. What would you do if you saw water in the fuel you strained? Continue straining the fuel until all of the water is removed from the tank. Tap the tank and rock the airplane and continue to strain until there is no water for a few strains consistently. Repeat this for both tanks and the fuel sump.
11. How much oil should be in the sump? For the Archer II there should be 6 to 8 qts.
12. Should you fly with a large flat spot on one of the tires? No, the plane is not airworthy with a flat spot on the tire.
13. Which control surfaces does the yoke move? The ailerons and elevators.
14. Which controls steer the airplane on the ground? The rudder pedals and brake pedals.
15. Where should the pilot keep their right hand during taxi? On the throttle.
16. Name the three axes about which the aircraft moves. Yaw (vertical), roll (longitudinal), and pitch (lateral).
17. The elevator controls: pitch
18. The rudder controls: yaw
19. The ailerons control: roll
20. Name to ways we can change speed in flight. Pitch and power.
21. Does the plane stop flying if the engine stops? No, the plane will continue to fly without the engine – it will glide.
22. How do we manually move an airplane on the ground to reposition before start? With a tow bar. Never move an airplane by the propeller or hub.
23. Can we push on the propeller spinner? No, it can damage or dislodge the spinner or damage the hub.

AOPA Safety Quiz: Aircraft Preflight (10/10…woohoo) –

A pretty nice link I found when looking over some of these questions, especially the one about the tail hook:

https://www.cfinotebook.net/notebook/rules-and-regulations/airworthiness#defining-airworthiness

Rereading the AFH (Airplane Flying Handbook) chapters 2 and 3 was a refresher. I haven’t read very far into PHAK (Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge) so I’ll have to take a look at chapters 1 and 14.

Other links I have to get downloaded, and I’ll probably load onto my Kindle are:

Risk Management Handbook: https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/aviation/media/faa-h-8083-2.pdf

Aviation Weather: https://www.faa.gov/documentlibrary/media/advisory_circular/ac_00-6b.pdf

Aviation Weather Services: https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Advisory_Circular/AC_00-45H_CHG_2.pdf

Oh and some other tidbits I picked up doing the AOPA quiz: