Preflight planning is a very important element of any flight and, especially cross country flights. There are a number of items to be done in preparation for a VFR cross country flight so that nothing is overlooked and the intended flight is done as safely as possible.

The important parts of preflight planning involve checking flight information publications, aviation weather reports and determining airplane performance, including the computation of weight and balance and fuel requirements. Things as influence of altitude, temperature and wind should not be ignored and you should know the pressure and density altitudes and the effect that they have on airplane performance. Know also the runway length as compared to your takeoff requirements and the rotational and initial climb speeds recommended in your airplane's manual (POH).

The checklists presented here can be used as a guide for this phase of preflight planning and we have divided it into two sections. Part one is what we call the preliminary preflight phase which can be done at any time. Part two is the final preflight and is done on the day the flight will actually take place, and in this part the weather briefing takes a prominent role.

Airport and enroute planning is part of the preflight phase and this can be done any time. Just make sure to use the latest publications as a number of those are published on a monthly basis if you plan flights ahead of the actual date.

Airport, Enroute Information

In the preflight planning phase aeronautical information must be gathered about intended route, the departure-, destination- and alternate airports. Make sure to bring along the complete VFR guide or Bottlang as diverting to an alternate airport could be a different one than planned for if the weather turns bad sooner than expected.

Below you will find a checklist of items that can be handy as a reminder when obtaining this information.

Things you may want to look for are:

• Current enroute charts and maps (be sure to get the latest!)
• Runway lengths, layout and taxiway diagrams (so we're not getting lost at the airport)
• Elevation of the airport, density altitude
• Weather minima for the intended airport
• Communication: airport frequencies: approach, tower and ground, ATIS for local weather, VOLMET for area weather, Flight Service Stations (FSS/AIS) for enroute traffic and weather information as PIREPs
• Navigation: VOR (TACAN), NDB, Marker beacons and (if any) GPS arrivals
• Arrival and departure route procedures and requirements as: altitude, areas to avoid, obstacles and landmarks
• Any delays to be expected on your departure, route and destination airport
• Non radio procedures, just in case yours fails along the way
• Noise abatement's procedures, lets keep the neighbours happy!
• Oil, fuel and type of oil or fuel and availability
• Meteorological service available on the airport or via phone
• Times when the tower / airport is open or closed
• Any telephone number for the destination airport: tower, meteo etc
• Customs availability and requirements if you're crossing the border
• Hotels and restaurants, just in case you need to stay over and sit out the weather

After checking all points described above it is wise to see what the weather will be for the planned route. Do this ahead of the flight and with a broad view. Not only along the route but also check the direction the weather is coming from, how fast it moves (weather fronts over sea sometimes slow down when they move from water onto land), if it intensifies or dies out.

Take note of the jet stream, frontal systems are moved by the jet. Check to see if mountain ranges have any influence on the trip, check the direction the wind is blowing over such ranges. This type of mountain turbulence can be felt many miles downwind from the range. Make sure to check the cloud base and visibility enroute and the minima for those on the airports you wish to use.

We have aviation weather forecasts sites available on our weather page.