Flight Planning

Pre-flight planning starts with a sectional and a plotter, runs through E6B / ForeFlight wind correction and fuel math, and ends with a filed flight plan and brief. Pilotage and dead reckoning are the in-flight techniques. The PPL standard is doing all of this manually before relying on the iPad. Required preflight per 14 CFR § 91.103; reference: FAA-H-8083-25 PHAK Ch. 16.

A pilot’s planning sheet and a visual flight log, both filled in for a flight from Chickasha to Guthrie. The planning sheet columns run true course, wind, altitude, wind correction angle, true heading, magnetic variation, magnetic heading, deviation, compass heading, total miles, groundspeed, total time, fuel rate and total fuel. The flight log below lists four checkpoints with distances point-to-point and cumulative, estimated and actual elapsed times, groundspeed and compass heading. — The planning sheet and the flight log, worked through for one leg. The top sheet is the arithmetic done on the ground — true course through to compass heading, and fuel; the log below is what you actually fill in airborne, checkpoint by checkpoint, so that estimated and actual sit next to each other and a growing gap tells you the wind is not what you planned for. FAA Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge (FAA-H-8083-25C) — US Government work, public domain

The course chain — true → magnetic → compass

Plot a course on the sectional with a plotter. The number you measure off the chart is your true course (against true north — the longitude lines). To get to a heading you can fly:

True course (TC) — measured off the chart.
True heading (TH) = TC ± wind correction angle (WCA). Use an E6B or ForeFlight to compute WCA from forecast winds aloft.
Magnetic heading (MH) = TH ± variation. Variation comes from the isogonic line on the sectional. "East is least, West is best" — east variation subtracts; west adds.
Compass heading (CH) = MH ± deviation. Deviation comes from the compass correction card in your aircraft (different at each cardinal heading).

The full mnemonic: "True Virgins Make Dull Companions" — True → Variation → Magnetic → Deviation → Compass. Or "Cans Of Beer Cause Trouble" running the other direction (Compass → Deviation → Magnetic → Variation → True).

Wind correction & groundspeed

Vector diagram of the wind triangle drawn over a compass rose. A yellow arrow from E to P is course and groundspeed, a black arrow is heading and airspeed, and a blue and white hashed arrow from W is wind direction and velocity, closing the triangle. — The wind triangle. Three vectors, and any two give you the third: wind, heading-and-airspeed, and the course-and-groundspeed that actually results. Every wind correction angle you will ever compute — by E6B, by app, or in your head — is this triangle. FAA Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge (FAA-H-8083-25C) — US Government work, public domain

Forecast winds aloft — get from aviationweather.gov/winds (FB / FD products) or via 1-800-WX-BRIEF.
For each leg, use an E6B (manual or electronic) to compute:
- Wind correction angle (WCA) — how far to crab into the wind to track the desired course
- Groundspeed (GS) — true airspeed adjusted for headwind/tailwind component
- Estimated time enroute (ETE) — leg distance ÷ groundspeed
Cross-check in flight: compare GPS groundspeed to your planned groundspeed. A meaningful difference means winds aren't what was forecast — adjust your fuel and ETA accordingly.
ForeFlight, Garmin Pilot, and SkyVector all do these computations automatically — but the PPL exam expects you to do them by hand at least once.

Fuel planning

Fuel burn × ETE = leg fuel. Sum across all legs for total trip fuel.
Add legal reserve per § 91.151: helicopter VFR — 20 minutes day or night. Fixed-wing: 30 min day, 45 min night.
Add company / personal reserve on top — most operators want at least 30 min day / 45 min night, regardless of regs.
For IFR, see § 91.167: destination + alternate (if required) + 30 minutes for a helicopter (45 minutes is the fixed-wing figure) — § 91.167(a)(3).
Use POH numbers for your specific aircraft, not generic burn rates. R-22 burns ~7 GPH; R-44 burns ~15 GPH; numbers vary with weight and DA.

Filing & briefing

VFR flight plans are not required but strongly encouraged. File via 1800wxbrief.com, ForeFlight, or by phone. Activate after takeoff (call Flight Service or "Flightwatch") and close after landing — failing to close triggers a search.
Standard briefing: adverse conditions, synopsis, current conditions, en-route forecast, destination forecast, winds aloft, NOTAMs, ATC delays, alternates. Also available via 1-800-WX-BRIEF or app interface.
NOTAMs: check for runway closures, instrument approach unavailability, lighting outages, GPS test interference, TFRs.
TFRs: check tfr.faa.gov the morning of and again at flight time. New TFRs publish frequently.
Brief the route to yourself out loud — checkpoints, ETEs, frequencies, alternates.

Pilotage & dead reckoning

Pilotage: navigating by visual reference to landmarks on the sectional — roads, rivers, towns, lakes, towers, distinctive terrain features. The primary in-flight VFR technique.
Dead reckoning: calculating your position based on known speed, heading, and elapsed time from the last known position. Use it as a cross-check on pilotage.
Identify each checkpoint before you reach it — pick something you'll see, look for it, then verify time/heading. If you don't see it when you expect to, start troubleshooting before the next leg.
Pick checkpoints 3-6 NM apart on a typical 90-knot helicopter cross-country. Closer in dense terrain or unfamiliar area; farther in open country.
Avoid checkpoints that look like other things (one of three identical lakes in a row, an unmarked bend in a river). Use linear features (highways, railroads, rivers) as fail-safe backstops.

If you get lost — the 5 Cs

Climb — for radio/radar coverage and a wider view of the ground
Conserve — reduce power to best-endurance airspeed; preserve fuel
Communicate — call ATC on 121.5 or the nearest known frequency; "121.5" is monitored by ATC, military, and most airliners
Confess — tell them clearly that you are lost and need help
Comply — do what they ask; controllers can vector you with radar or a DF (direction finding) steer

The discipline that prevents getting lost: track time and fuel from each checkpoint. The moment something doesn't match, stop and verify before pressing on. Pilots who get lost ignored the first mismatch.