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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hashan dis" data-source="post: 18776054" data-attributes="member: 124785">The Flight Kit Demystified! <img src="http://aerosavvy.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/splash.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />       An authentic airline pilot’s flight kit You’ve seen them… Those bags that pilots drag around airport terminals. No, not the suitcases, the smaller, catalog-style bags. What do they keep in those things? And they look pretty heavy, too. Well, pull up a chair and get comfy. It’s time to demystify… The Pilot’s Flight Kit. [Editor’s Note: Fight kits are quickly being replaced by  electronic tablets. Pilot’s still have to carry all the stuff mentioned  in this article, but the printed material is in a digital format instead  of paper.] First off, the kits are heavy; mine weighs about 35 lbs. They are no  fun to lug around, but they contain some really important stuff. Almost  everything in the bag is required by the FAA. Exceptions include my  stash of Halloween candy and a pack of Starbucks Via coffee singles…  I’ll share if you’re nice! So what’s in the kit? We’ll start with the easy stuff: You gotta have a flashlight In olden times, the flashlight had to be powered by at least 2  D-cell batteries. This ensured the light would be bright enough to  illuminate the cockpit in the event of a power failure at night (a very  bad thing). When I started flying professionally in the mid 1980’s, I  carried a 3 D-cell Maglite that could double as a self-defense weapon.  Thankfully, times have changed. My current light is a small, blindingly  bright LED powered by 3 AAA batteries. Extra Spectacles I’m over 40; way over (but thanks for asking). I need glasses  to see – anything. So I’m required to carry an extra pair when I fly.  That’s probably a good idea. Required Reading Most airlines require pilots to carry a thick book with  information about the plane they fly. Different companies have different  names for the book, but they all contain detailed guidelines on how the  company wants you to operate their machine. Airlines are really  picky about how you do things when they hand you the keys for a $200  million dollar aircraft. The book is an important in-flight reference. Plotter and Computer <img src="http://aerosavvy.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/plotter.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Ahhhh… These go way back. The circular slide rule thingie is a variant of the classic <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E6B" target="_blank">E-6B computer</a>,  affectionately known as the “Whiz-Wheel”. Developed back in the 1930’s,  the E-6B can be used for solving just about any type of navigation  problem or conversion. It’s a truly amazing device that we must carry  for over water flights. When students go through initial flight training  (private or military) they become masters of this thing. For me, that  was over 30 years ago; I haven’t a clue how to use it now. If I’m ever  over the Pacific and things are that bad, I’ll pull out  my iPhone and use my freebie E-6B app. The ruler-looking thing is a  plotter, nothing more than a glorified staight-edge. It’s great for  drawing, uhmm, straight lines. Navigation – Do you know the way to San José? By far, most of the weight in our flight bags can be blamed on  navigation charts. We have a lot of them. If you’re interested in the  sordid details with some examples, please read on! Enroute Charts   <img src="http://aerosavvy.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/enroute-charts.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Albuquerque is in here somewhere. Enroute charts are maps that show the highways in the sky. They are  used during the cruise portion of the flight to navigate from one part  of the country to another. The charts are the same size as a typical  road map (does anyone still use a road map?). I’m required to carry  about 45 of these. The navigation systems of most modern airliners  include much of this information in their database. Occasionally, we’ll  need to find something on the chart, so we have them when we need them. Terminal Procedure Charts (referred to as “Approach Plates”) <img src="http://aerosavvy.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/binder.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Terminal  charts provide pilots with routes for arriving and departing airport  terminal areas. Airports often have several arrival and departure  routes. Each runway will have one or more instrument approach charts for  landing in bad weather. The charts are kept in a 2” thick binder.  Pilots usually carry two or three of these heavy binders. Every two  weeks, a packet of updates (or “revisions”) are issued and any obsolete  charts must be removed and replaced with new ones. This is a task  despised by pilots all over the planet. Some guys pay their kids to do  it. I think a nickel a page is the going rate. Here are the main types of terminal charts we use: SID – Standard Instrument Departure <img src="http://aerosavvy.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/BNA-Departure.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> SIDs display routes to fly right after takeoff. They help move air  traffic efficiently away from the airport. Small airports might have one  or two SIDs (or none), while larger airports can have a dozens.  Shanghai’s Pudong International has 44 pages of SIDs containing over 100  different departure procedures! Ouch. Fortunately, air traffic control  will tell the pilots which procedure they expect them to fly. STAR – Standard Terminal Arrival Routes <img src="http://aerosavvy.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/BNA-Arrival.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> STARs enable the pilot to transition from cruise to the approach  phase. The STAR route ends about 5-10 miles from the runway. Upon  completing the STAR, the pilot will then fly a visual approach to the  runway (the pilot can see the runway out the window and doesn’t need any  more help from the stinking charts!) or an instrument approach with the  help of an “Instrument Approach Procedure” chart. Busy airports almost  always make us fly the instrument approach regardless of the weather. It  keeps a more orderly flow of traffic. Many small airports don’t need STARs. Large airports can have dozens  of them. Good old Shanghai has 17 pages of STARs containing over 70  different arrival routes. I get a headache every time I fly there. IAP – Instrument Approach Procedures <img src="http://aerosavvy.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/BNA-Approach.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> The IAP chart picks up where the STAR leaves off. It provides the  information needed for the flight crew to make an instrument approach  and landing on the runway.  Some approaches, usually at larger airports,  allow specially equipped aircraft (and specially trained crews) to land  in extremely low visibility. That’s right – you can’t see your hand in  front of your face, but commerce can keep moving! Airport Diagram <img src="http://aerosavvy.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/BNA-Diagram.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Some airports are really big. And really confusing. Thankfully, the  airport diagram helps us find our way. All the taxiways are marked with  letters. When the controller wants the pilot to taxi a certain route,  the route will be given as a series of phonetic alphabet letters. Like:  “Taxi via Bravo, Kilo, Tango4 to the Connector then to gate 23”. It  might sound like greek, but if you peek at the Nashville taxi diagram  you’ll be able to find taxiway B, K, T4 and the connector. They have  signs along the way to help us out as well. Look out your window next  time you fly – you’ll see the taxiway signs! Odds & Ends If you dump everything out of the average pilot’s flight kit, you’ll  typically find an assortment of instant coffee, tea, magazines,  passport, pilot license, baseball cap, hard candy, and chewing gum (the  gum stays in the bag in Singapore). Some of the more unusual stuff I’ve  seen pilots carry: <ul style="text-align: left"> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A bottle of Tabasco Sauce (more common that you might think) is</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Pepper grinder</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">I flew with a pilot that carried a small espresso machine in his kit! (his books were in a backpack)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Legend has it that a now retired pilot (for an airline I won’t  mention) carried a large crystal in his bag to ward off negative energy.  He was one strange bird!</li> </ul> source http://aerosavvy.com/the-flight-kit-demystified/ </blockquote>

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