Flight planning checklist.

The thing every pilot does on a kneeboard before a flight — in one canonical reference. Each line links to the agency surface or a TallyAero calculator. Browse online, print as a kneeboard, or check items off as you work through your brief.

If you had TallyAero

Every line here auto-populates from your syllabus event or your current rating: weather, NOTAMs, TFRs, density altitude, performance numbers, currency, and equipment status — wired live from the FAA and NWS the moment you tap into your cockpit. It's an SMS pillar built into the TallyAero logbook. This page is the manual version.

01 · Self

Self · Pilot fitness

You. The PIC. Before anything else, are you legally and physically ready.

I'M SAFE — illness, medication, stress, alcohol (8h+), fatigue, eating
AIM 8-1-1. If any one of these is borderline, it is a no-go.

AIM 8-1 →
Medical certificate current
14 CFR 61.23 — class, calendar month limits.

§ 61.23 →
Flight review (BFR) current within 24 calendar months
§ 61.56 →
IFR currency / IPC if filing IFR — last 6 calendar months: 6 approaches, holding, intercept/track
§ 61.57(c) →
Passenger currency — 3 takeoffs and landings in 90 days (full stop if tailwheel/night)
§ 61.57(a) →
Required endorsements current (complex/HP/HA/tailwheel/etc.)
§ 61.31 →

02 · Aircraft

Aircraft · Documents + airworthiness

AROW + 91.205. The plane is legal to leave the ground.

AROW — Airworthiness, Registration, Operating limits (POH/AFM), Weight & balance
Required onboard. § 91.203 / § 91.9.

§ 91.203 →
Inspections — annual (12mo), 100-hr (commercial), pitot-static + transponder + ELT (24mo each)
§ 91.409 →
Equipment list (91.205) for the operation — VFR day/night, IFR additions
§ 91.205 →
MEL / placards reviewed; deferred items signed off
§ 91.213 →
Open ADs / SAIBs reviewed for this tail + type
Look up your tail; we link applicable ADs and SAIBs from the type page.

Atlas Aircraft →

03 · Weather

Weather · Brief

Standard brief — § 91.103. The weather you got, not the weather you wanted.

Standard or abbreviated briefing (1800wxbrief or DUATS)
Required by § 91.103 to be familiar with all available information.

1800wxbrief.com →
METAR — departure, en route, destination, alternate(s)
Decoder →
TAF — destination + alternate; check change groups (FM/BECMG/TEMPO)
Decoder →
Winds aloft for cruise altitude; pick best altitude
AWC winds aloft →
SIGMET / AIRMET / G-AIRMET — convective, icing, turbulence, IFR conditions
AWC →
PIREPs along route
AWC PIREPs →
Radar / satellite — convective trends 1–3 hours pre-departure
AWC radar →
Go / no-go for personal weather minimums
Stricter than legal? Document why. Personal mins exist for a reason.

04 · Airspace

Airspace · NOTAMs + TFRs + chart review

What's broken, what's closed, what's special-use.

NOTAMs — departure, destination, alternates, en-route navaids
NOTAM decoder →
TFRs along the route (presidential / sporting events / firefighting / disaster)
FAA TFR map →
Special-use airspace — restricted, prohibited, MOA, alert, warning
FAA SUA portal →
Sectional / TAC / IFR low chart current edition; route highlighted
FAA digital products →
Frequency + waypoint review for entire route + alternate
Not just departure ATIS / clearance — every transition.

05 · Performance

Performance · Numbers

Will it fit, will it climb, will it stop. POH numbers at today's DA, not field elevation.

Density altitude — departure, en route ridgeline, destination
DA calculator →
Crosswind component — verify within demonstrated limit
Crosswind calculator →
Takeoff distance — from POH at today's DA, weight, surface, slope, wind
Add the FAA recommended 50% safety margin for short field.
Climb gradient verified for any departure procedure / obstacle clearance
Landing distance — destination + alternate. Both. At today's conditions.
Weight & balance — within envelope at takeoff and after fuel burn at landing

06 · Fuel

Fuel · Reserves + alternates

Legal minimums first, then what you actually need.

VFR fuel — destination + 30 min day / 45 min night at normal cruise
§ 91.151 →
IFR fuel — destination + alternate (when required) + 45 min reserve
§ 91.167 →
Alternate required? 1-2-3 rule (1 hour before/after dest, 2,000 ft ceiling, 3 SM vis)
§ 91.169 →
Alternate weather meets 600/2 (precision) or 800/2 (non-precision) at ETA
§ 91.169 →
Time + fuel plan with leg-by-leg breakdown; ETA + ETE; PIM updated en route

07 · Plan

Plan · File + brief

File the plan, brief the passengers, brief yourself.

Flight plan filed (VFR or IFR) — departure / destination / alternate / fuel / souls / route
Passenger brief — seatbelts, doors, no-smoking, no-talking-on-radio, sterile cockpit takeoff/landing, sickness bag
Takeoff brief — abort below Vr; engine fail before 700 AGL → straight ahead +/- 30°; engine fail above → return-to-field decision; lost comm
Approach brief — runway, expected, weather, missed approach, missed alt, expected hold

08 · In the cockpit

In the cockpit · Setup

Last 10 minutes before engine start.

Walk-around per POH — fuel quantity + grade + sumps; oil; controls; pitot/static; lights; baggage door + tie-downs
Avionics — flight plan loaded, frequencies preset, transponder set, altimeter set
Charts up — sectional / approach plates / chart supplement page for departure airport
Kneeboard set — tail #, route, ATIS, clearance, freqs
Survival gear / PFDs / ELT armed / first aid for the operation

SMS pillar in TallyAero.

Inside the TallyAero logbook, this checklist is automatic. The system knows what flight you're about to log (syllabus event for school students, the rating you're working toward for solo pilots, the operation type for everyone else) and pre-populates:

· Weather brief — current METAR / TAF / winds / SIGMET / PIREPs auto-pulled and stamped to the logbook entry.
· NOTAMs along route — decoded, severity-classified, route-scored.
· Density altitude + crosswind — computed from current ASOS.
· Performance — runway-vs-required at today's conditions per your tail's POH.
· Currency — every § 61.57 clock with green/yellow/red status before engine start.
· AROW + airworthiness — pulled from the tail record + your maintenance log.
· Aircraft fitness — open ADs / SAIBs / squawks for this tail since last flight.

Brief auto-fills with the verified, citation-traceable numbers. Briefing card goes to the iPad and a snapshot lives on the flight in the logbook for your school's SMS audit trail. It's not "AI flight planning" — it's the same FAA + NWS data, but assembled correctly the first time.

See the logbook →