Guides

Guides for student and VFR pilots

Plain-language guides to the planning and weather decisions behind a VFR flight, written for people who are learning them. Each one is written to be followed step by step.

Written for training. Rules and figures differ between countries and operators, so check them against your own regulations, your school’s manual and your instructor.

How to plan a VFR cross-country flight

The whole planning job in the order most instructors teach it: route and airspace, weather, true course to compass heading, groundspeed, fuel and reserves, terrain and NOTAMs.

How to read a METAR and TAF

What every group in a weather report means, how a forecast changes through the day, and how to turn both into a go or no-go decision for a VFR flight.

VFR fuel planning and reserves

The parts of a fuel plan (taxi, trip, contingency, alternate and final reserve), a worked example in litres, how to check it against the tanks and the weight limit, and when to divert.

How to find the wind correction angle and groundspeed

A quick method with the 1-in-60 rule and two worked examples, how to correct for drift in the air, and the mistakes that catch students out.

First solo cross-country: a checklist for student pilots

What to have done the day before, on the morning, at the aeroplane, in the air and on arrival, and what to do when the flight starts going wrong.

More guides will be added here. If there is something you would like explained, tell us.

VectorEFB is a flight bag that shows the weather, airspace and terrain for your route and does the navigation arithmetic. See the student page or the pilot page.