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Learning to Fly

Frequently Asked Questions

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R48 — page content was last changed January 25, 2005

 

Regulations & Categories

  • Q101 – What is a 95.10 aircraft?

  • Q102 – What is a 95.55 aircraft?

  • Q103 – What is a 95.32 aircraft?

  • Q104 – What is CAO 101.28?

  • Q105 – What is CAO 101.55?

  • Q106 – What is FAR103?

  • Q113 – What does 'Type certification', 'Type approval' and 'Certificate of Type Approval' signify?

Jargon

  • Q201 – What is a Trike?

  • Q202 – What is a flexwing?

  • Q203 – What is a weight-shift aircraft?

  • Q204 – What is a 2-axis aircraft?

  • Q205 – What is a 3-axis aircraft?

  • Q207 – What are the V- speeds?

  • Q208 – What is the significance of CAS and IAS?

  • Q210 – What is the flight or performance envelope?

  • Q211 – What is airmanship?



Navigation, communications & controlled air space.

  • Q301 – What is the best GPS instrument for use in an ultralight?

  • Q302 – Where can I find GPS software suitable for ultralight navigation?

  • Q303 – What is the 1-in-60 rule?

  • Q305 – When can an ultralight fly in controlled airspace?

  • Q306 – When can an ultralight fly in a CTAF or MBZ?

  • Q307 – What is pilotage and dead reckoning?

  • Q308 – What are VFR cruising levels?

  • Q309 – How can the line of sight distance from a particular altitude be calculated?



Micro meteorology

  • Q501 – What is wind shear?

  • Q502 – What is a microburst?


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    • Q101 – What is a 95.10 aircraft?
Civil Aviation Order 95.10 is an instrument which legalises the flight of an amateur built single seat "experimental" aeroplane without it being certificated to any airworthiness standard for design or building. It was initially promulgated in 1976, by a forward thinking authority, to allow the "minimum aircraft' movement an exemption from the then existing Air Navigation Orders – provided the aeroplane was not flown above 300 feet agl, nor within 300 metres of a sealed road or within 5 km of an airport, the intent being that the only person put at risk was the pilot. In Australia, 95.10 put in place the platform on which low cost amateur ultralight aviation was built.

CAO 95.10 still continues to provide the means by which a talented individual (who may not have any aeronautical experience whatsoever) can design and build a low cost single place aeroplane, whether the design is conventional or unconventional, with no restrictions, except take off weight must not exceed 300 kg and wing loading must not exceed 30 kg/m². A placard must be placed in the cockpit warning that neither CASA nor the AUF guarantee the airworthiness of the aeroplane and pilots operate it at their own risk.

If transposed to the present time, the Bleriot XI – the first aircraft to fly the English Channel – would have to operate as an RAA 95.10 aircraft. It is interesting to note that Bleriot invented the stick and rudder cockpit control system – still used in modern ultralights. The first aircraft to achieve sustained powered flight, the Wright Flyer, would have to operate as an RAA 95.55 para 1.5 aircraft – its MTOW was about 350 kg.

David Rowe's UFO The photograph shows a recent construction from designer / builder David Rowe – his UFO or "Useless Flying Object". This aircraft is a consequence of David's curiosity about the behaviour of round wings and illustrates the educational and true experimental essence of 95.10 and its importance to the ultralight movement. It also emphasises that, in 95.10, the designer/ builder must also be the test pilot!

The operating restrictions in 95.10 were loosened in 1983, with the inception of the AUF/RAA, and now 95.10 aircraft, with current RAA registration documents, may be flown by an unlicenced, but RAA certificated pilot, in day VMC, generally below 5000 feet amsl – unless considered unsafe to do so, and not over cities or towns. The aircraft must remain outside controlled air space (OCTA). The 95.10 exemption is currently applied to privately built (i.e. not “amateur-built”), single place, aircraft registered with RAA . The aircraft may be designed by its builder, without complying with any promulgated design standard [however it would a most imprudent designer/builder who did not follow some recognised standard route in the development of his/her aircraft]; or built in accordance with drawings or a data package approved by RAA ; or built from a CAO101.55 certificated kit. There is no requirement that it be built under supervision. CAO95.10 is a true 'experimental' category. The RAA registration is 10-xxxx and there are about 400 such aeroplanes in the RAA register.

. . . . JB

  • Q102 – What is a 95.55 aircraft? CAO 95.55 is an operational standard which provides exemption, for certain single engine ultralight aeroplanes registered with RAA, from some provisions of the Civil Aviation Regulations. There are two design standards associated with CAO 95.55. There are five special Certificate of Airworthiness (CoA) including two 'Amateur-built' ultralight classifications within 95.55. The relevant paragraphs of the CAO, are:

  – 1.2: Special CoA in the Amateur-built (ABAA) category: builds on 95.10 requirements in that the ultralight aeroplane is built under supervision from the SAAA and that it complies with the minimum design standards of CAO 101.28, plus – MTOW = 450 kg; maximum Vso = 40 knots; maximum Vs1 = 45 knots; (maximum weight and Vso can be 480 kg and 42 knots respectively under certain conditions) and with no more than two places. If built from an eligible (under the 51% rule) commercially supplied kit that kit must comply with the design standards of CAO 101.55 and the major portion (51% +) of the aircraft must be fabricated and assembled by the owner. The aircraft is intended for educational or recreational purposes. The aircraft need not be of an approved design, or constructed from certified type materials, and can be of any origin but it must be owner built under supervision of CASA, if the 'first of type', or built under the supervision, and with the help of SAAA, if a subsequent model. When flight testing is satisfactorily concluded, CASA issues a special CoA as an aircraft accepted under an ABAA – Amateur Built Aircraft Acceptance. The aircraft is then registered by RAA as 28-xxxx.

  – 1.3: Special CoA: a commercial ultralight aircraft type certificated by CASA as complying with the minimum design standards of CAO 101.55 and built in a factory – in Australia or elsewhere – holding a CASA Certificate of Approval to Manufacture for its manufacturing technique. CASA approved Maintenance Manuals and approved Flight Manuals are required. MTOW = 450 kg; maximum Vso = 40 knots CAS; maximum Vs1 = 45 knots CAS; Maximum weight and Vso can be 480 kg and 42 knots CAS if, and only if, the product of the square of Vso and the MTOW does not exceed 768,000. Straight and level speed under full power is not to exceed 100 knots but may be approved with a control flutter substantiation. Maximum 2 places. Can be used for training. RAA registration 55-xxxx.

  – 1.4: Special CoA: to cover the two place ultralights built in a CASA approved factory to a CASA certificated design and registered under the old CAO 95.25. The latter was originally issued in 1985 – as both an operational and a quasi-design standard – when, because of a high accident rate in 95.10 aircraft, the need for 2 place training aircraft was determined. The specified airworthiness conditions included rather basic performance and structural tests and a demonstrated history of safe operation. CAO 95.25 also introduced the CASA certificated design for factory built single seaters with a 340 kg MTOW such as the Sapphire and Vampire. The CAO 95.25 was an emergency document, finally cancelled in 1990, and is now superseded by CAO 101.55 for design standards and CAO 95.55 for operations, although 95.25 aeroplanes can still be manufactured if they were approved before the order was cancelled. There were various iterations of acceptable MTOWs as 95.25 was developed, the final one being 450 kg for two place aircraft meaning that the MTOW for any particular 95.25 aeroplane is the MTOW specifically approved for that aeroplane either at the time of manufacture or as later approved under the regulations by a Reg 35 Engineer. Although the design specification was limited the 95.25 aircraft proved to be very successful, training most of the RAA pilots; but nowadays operators need to remain vigilant in ensuring the continued airworthiness of the airframe. RAA registration 25-xxxx.

  – 1.5: RAA Amateur-built (Experimental) : an expansion of 95.10 allowing a heavier, but more durable, structure. A privately built ultralight where the major portion (51% +) of the aircraft must be fabricated and assembled by the owner. The aircraft is intended for educational or recreational purposes, plus – MTOW = 544 kg; maximum Vso = 45 knots CAS; maximum 2 places. In the case of a two place seaplane the weight is extended to 614 kg. The aircraft need not be designed to an approved standard, or constructed from certified type materials, and can be of any origin but must be built in accordance with the RAA Technical Manual section 3.3. Can be built from a kit supplied by a manufacturer who may or may not hold a CASA Production Certificate but the kit must also be eligible to comply with the 51% 'Major Portion Rule' under CASR part 21. There is no requirement that the aircraft be built under supervision. A pre-cover/pre-closure inspection is highly recommended, and there must be a pre-flight final inspection, observed by RAA / CASA authorised inspectors, but that final inspection does not determine airworthiness – the owner/builder must accept entire responsibility for that, and sign a document to that effect before the first flight. As with 95.10 the aircraft must carry a cockpit placard warning that the aircraft is not required to comply with the safety regulations for standard aircraft and persons (passengers) fly in it at their own risk. Although the aircraft is issued with a special CoA this certificate does not attest to the aircraft being fully airworthy. RAA registration 19-xxxx.
Taildragger Jabiru
The photograph shows a Jabiru where Peter Kayne, the owner/builder, modified a standard tricycle undercarriage kit to produce an experimental taildragger configuration. This was so successful that the Jabiru company is now producing kits for the new model. These kits would comply with the Amateur Built (ABAA) category.

  – 1.6: Special CoA; allows the manufacture of a heavier aircraft than allowed under CAO 95.25 and CAO 95.55 Section 1.3. The aircraft is commercially built in Australia or overseas for sale by the holder of a CASA Certificate of Approval or a Production Certificate or an equivalent overseas approval, plus – MTOW = 544 kg; maximum Vso = 45 knots; maximum 2 places; and the aircraft has a minimum useful payload. This minimum payload is calculated with a formula which would result in a minimum payload of 180 kg for an aircraft with a 100 hp engine. In the case of a seaplane MTOW is extended to 614 kg. Can be used for training. RAA registration 24-xxxx. The MTOW at which an overseas factory-built aircraft is accepted for RAA registration may be less than the weights stated in this paragraph, please read the weight and balance module of the Flight Theory Guide.

The foregoing is summarised (for landplanes) in the table below:

Category Places MTOW Performance Construction Design Other requirements
95.10 1 300 W/S=30 kg/m3 Amateur exp'ment nil
95.55/1.2 2 450/480 Vso=40/42 Vs1=45 51% ABAA 101.28 Built under supervision
95.55/1.3 2 450/480 Vso=40/42 Vno=100 Factory 101.55 nil
95.55/1.4 1 / 2 340/450 nil Factory 95.25 nil
95.55/1.5 2 544 Vso=45 51% amateur exp'ment RAA inspections
95.55/1.6 2 544 Vso=45 Factory 101.55 Minimum useful payload


  • Q103 – What is a 95.32 aircraft? CAO 95.32 is an operational standard which provides exemption, for single place and two place weight shift controlled aeroplanes ('trikes') and powered parachutes, registered with RAA – or the HGFA in the case of trikes – from some provisions of the Civil Aviation Regulations. The manufacturer of the aeroplane, or kit, must hold a CASA approval, usually in the form of a 'Certificate of Type Approval'. A lesser CASA 'Certificate of Approval' allows a manufacture to proceed subject to ongoing CASA surveillance. In the latter case the manufacturer might advertise the product as "CASA approved". Trikes have a MTOW limitation of 450 kg and stall speed not greater than 40 knots. Powered chutes have weight and stall speed limitations of 300 kg and 10 knots.

  • Q104 – What is 101.28? CAO 101.28 is a combination of rules covering the airworthiness certification requirements, and design standards, for amateur built ABAA category aeroplanes. An aircraft in this category can have up to 4 places, take off weight 544 kg (or 614 kg as a seaplane). Vso less than 61 knots CAS, if fitted with a type certificated engine(s), or 55 knots CAS otherwise. The aircraft is to be used for educational or recreational purposes and the owners construction input must be more than 50% of the total construction input.The general design standards are in accordance with FAR part 23 (viewable via the links page, as are CAO 101.28 and 101.55). The flight handling quality standards are also in accordance with FAR 23. The full CAO 101.28 can be viewed in pdf format.

The ABAA (Amateur Built Aircraft Acceptance) is an acceptance by CASA that the aircraft complies with CAO 101.28, ie the ABAA is a certificate against which a special Certificate of Airworthiness (CoA) is issued. CAO 101.28 is not a standard acceptable in the ICAO sense, so the CoA under 101.28 is not an ICAO recognised CoA. It is only recognised in Australia as qualifying the aeroplane to be registered on the national register as VH-xxxx. In view of the legislative minefield involving Certificates of Airworthiness and the ICAO convention, it is to DCA's (the old Australian Department of Civil Aviation ) great credit that a system was developed and is continuing in Australia giving National Registration and its attendant privileges to “Home Built” aeroplanes under CAO101.28.

Note too that the building process involved strict control under the eye of CASA, and while the Regulatory Authority of the day actually performed surveillance on the building this activity was delegated to the Sport Aircraft Association of Australia (SAAA) where it now resides until the sun sets on the order. CAO 101.28 has been "sunsetted" in CASR 21.190 and ABAAs for new types will no longer be issued after 30 September 2001. New types are now covered under CASR 21.191 which introduced the Experimental Amateur Built category. These aircraft require no building supervision, are registerable as VH although operational restrictions apply until they are removed under the authority of a CASA Delegate – if the aircraft can meet the necessary requirements. — RH-C

  • Q105 – What is 101.55? All commercially manufactured and sold ultralights (and GA aircraft) should be designed to an acceptable standard, type certificated as meeting that standard, and manufactured under a Certificate of Approval of the production and quality assurance process. CAO 101.55 is a set of rules covering the aircraft certification requirements for a Certificate of Type Approval – including minimum design, manufacture, operational and safety standards – for commercially built single engine / propeller ultralight aeroplanes and kits. Take off weight not exceeding 450 kg and Vso not exceeding 40 knots CAS. Under some conditions these figures may be increased to 480 kg and 42 knots CAS. The aircraft may have no more than two places. Under CAO101.55 the aircraft must comply with one of the following international design standards – FAR part 23, BCAR section K, JAR-VLA or some other acceptable standard or combination of standards.


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    • Q106 – What is FAR 103?
FAR103 is the United States' Federal Aviation Regulation pertinent to ultralight "vehicles". The vehicle must be single place and used for recreation only. There is no airworthiness certificate and, if unpowered, must weigh less than 70 kg.

If powered the vehicle shall:
        –  have a fuel capacity less than 19 litres.
        –  not be capable of a level flight speed exceeding 55 knots CAS.
        –  not have a stall speed in excess of 24 knots CAS.
        –  weigh less than 115 kg empty, excluding floats or safety devices such as parachute recovery systems.

  • Q113 – What does 'Type certification' & 'Type approval' mean?
'Type Certification' is the assessment of an aircraft, for compliance with a recognised minimum design standard, by a national airworthiness statutory authority. In Australia that authority is the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA). Type certification design standards are a set of commonsense rules, graded according to the activity for which the aircraft is designed, that have evolved over the past 90 years or so, which – while not providing absolute safety – do provide a reasonably stable and controllable aircraft, as long as it is operated within its specified flight envelope.

For commercially manufactured aeroplanes the design must be type certified and issued with a 'Certificate of Type Approval' before an individual aircraft off the production line can be issued with a 'Certificate of Airworthiness' by the authority – CASA in Australia. The same type certification process and Certificate of Type Approval apply to commercially manufactured kits.

CAOs 101.28 & 101.55 are the current design standards for Australian ultralights but in fact 101.55 encloses three international standards – the European Joint Airworthiness Authority's JAR-VLA, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's FAR Part 23 and the British Civil Aviation Requirement's Section K. CAO 101.28 encloses only FAR 23 and BCAR K. It should be mentioned that these two CAOs do not mandate the establishment of a safe fatigue life for the airframe or components. Further information about the type certification may be found on the FAA's certification page.

  • Q201 – What is a Trike?
Please refer to Flight Theory weight shift control module for information.

  • Q202 – What is a flexwing aircraft?
Please refer to Flight Theory weight shift control module for information.

  • Q203 – What is a weight-shift aircraft?
Please refer to Flight Theory weight shift control module for information.

  • Q204 – What is a 2-axis aircraft?
Please refer to Flight Theory weight shift control module for information.

  • Q205 – What is a 3-axis aircraft?
Please refer to the Flight Theory basic forces module for information.

  • Q207 – What are the V-speeds?
Please refer to Flight Theory Module 2 for information.

  • Q208 – What is the significance of CAS & IAS?
Please refer to Flight Theory Module 2 for information.

  • Q210 – What is the flight or performance envelope?

Please refer to Flight Theory Module 2 for information.

  • Q211 – What is airmanship?
Please refer to the Airmanship and flight discipline page for information.


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    • Q301 – What is the best GPS instrument for use in an ultralight?
There is no "best" GPS for ultralight aircraft – there are only best GPS receivers for pilots with particular expectations. GPS receivers only tell you where you are at any given time and over (a very short) time can tell you how fast you moved from one place to another and in which direction. Basically that's ALL they can actively do! (For an overview of GPS use in light aircraft navigation read the GPS module in the Flight Planning and Navigation Guide.)

All GPS have, however, a memory space which allows one to store locations or "waypoints" – either in advance or as you arrive at them. This allows the GPS to also calculate how far you are from any particular location and, once travelling, which direction to go and how long it will take. They can also calculate how far off track you are – if you tell them where you want to go in advance! It's all just mathematics to them...

The cheapest GPS is perfectly usable in an ultralight, but the more expensive models can either store more waypoints and/or have an additional database with Jeppesen airfield, navigation and airspace data (which needs to be updated regularly to be reliable). Some can access signals from more satellites than others, but from most of Australia, a maximum of 8 satellites are visible at any given time anyway – so a 12 satellite receiver is no better for Australian pilots than an 8 channel receiver.

Since GPS can't receive any signals through metal, a GPS with a removable or external aerial needs to be selected for use in an aircraft with a metal roof above the instrument panel. Some very cheap GPS are really designed to run off internal batteries only and, as a result, require a special reducing power supply to tap from the on-board electrical system.

Ah, yes, because the GPS instrument relies on a very accurate clock system, it usually can calculate,and tell with great accuracy, when last light is at any location on any given day.
Joe Hovel's GPS So, if you just want to find your way to a few (say up to 250) airfields, or paddocks, in your area, with a bit of information about your progress in terms of speed, direction and time, then the cheapest is the best. If you want to fly into a few regional airports, or even use a few NDBs on the way to confirm your navigation, or you tend to change your mind enroute about where you are going, then an aviation GPS with up-to-date Jeppesen database is the one for you! It will tell you all the important information about runways, frequencies, special airspace and approaches at the click of a few buttons. Check out the user waypoint databases on my website, via the RAA shop, for a half-way solution.

. . . contributed by Joe Hovel [joe.hovel@med.monash.edu.au]



  • Q302 – Where can I find GPS software suitable for ultralight navigation?
Please refer to recommended software in the RAA shop.

  • Q303 – What is the 1-in- 60 rule?
The 1-in-60 rule provides a rule of thumb based on the reasonably accurate assumption that the sine of any angle, up to about 45°, is equal to 0.1666 times (or 1/60) the number of degrees. e.g sine 30° is 0.1666 x 30=0.5 or 30/60 = 0.5. (There is an abridged trigonometric table in the Flight Theory manoeuvring forces module.) The sine is the ratio – in any roughly right angle triangle – of the side opposite the angle, to the hypotenuse (the longest side), thus the 1-in-60 rule is very handy in the mental arithmetic of flight theory and basic navigation as the angles involved are usually less than 45°. For angles up to 15° or 20° the tangent (opposite side/adjacent side) is practically the same value as the sine. For angles between 50° and 75° the sine is about 1/70 times the number of degrees, and for angles between 75° and 90° the sine approaches unity.

. . . . JB



  • Q305 – When can an ultralight fly in controlled airspace?
Please refer to the controlled airspace page in the navigation groundschool for information.

  • Q306 – When can an ultralight fly in a CTAF or MBZ?
Please refer to the uncontrolled airspace page in the navigation groundschool for information.

  • Q307 – What is pilotage and dead reckoning?
Pilotage and dead reckoning are two of the four systems of air navigation and are the primary navigational systems for ultralight pilots.

Like many air navigation terms they are centuries old nautical terms. Pilotage is navigation by visual reference to landmarks; dead reckoning is deriving the current position, or a future position, mathematically from the last known position. In the early days all air navigation was by pilotage with some crude dead reckoning, indeed the first Pilots' Directions published by Elrey B. Jeppesen in the early 1920s, for the early air mail pilots in the US, were just notes about the landmarks along a route. As accurate aerial charts became available then aerial dead reckoning became much more refined. (Nowadays most of the dead reckoning for RPT and military aircraft is done within the electronic circuitry of advanced navigation systems including the Global Positioning System receivers.)

Dead reckoning was born in the early days of oceanic sailing vessels and has been bringing mariners home for at least six centuries. Every hour or two during the voyage the log (a quadrant shaped piece of wood weighted to float upright with an attached knotted log-line) was heaved over the stern of a vessel under way and the vessel's speed was reckoned from the amount of line paid out over a particular period of time. In 1637 an English navigator, Richard Norwood, calculated that the spacing between knots should be 47.25 feet with a 28 second sand glass being used as the timer. If you do the calculation, using the then estimated 6075 feet to the nautical mile, you will see that the number of knots that passed over the stern rail during the 28 second period equals the ship's speed in nautical miles per hour – hence knots. The log was presumed to be 'dead in the water' i.e not affected by tide or current. Each reading was marked on a log-slate and, during each watch, the course, speed and distance reckonings – adjusted for tide and current – were entered in the logbook. Dead reckoning nowadays covers basic manual methods such as chart plotting to the highly complex machine methods such as inertial navigation systems.

Non-nautical people reckon that 'dead reckoning' is a diminutive of 'deduced' reckoning, but we reckon their reckoning is wrong. According to the Oxford English Dictionary the term 'dead reckoning' first appeared in print in 1613 in a work titled 'Magnetic Bodies' written by one M.Ridley.

The other two systems of navigation are position fixing and homing. Position fixing is usually radio based and encompasses simple techniques such as plotting the intersection of the bearings from two radio beacons through to complex systems such as VOR/DME to Loran, Decca and Omega which are both position fixing and homing. Such systems usually incorporate some degree of dead reckoning. The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a continuous position fixing system plus electronic dead reckoning to calculate a new course to steer etc. The non-radio based position fixing techniques are celestial – star sights or sun sights.

Homing is radio based and encompasses NDB and VOR homing through to Instrument Landing Systems.

. . . . JB


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    • Q308 – What are VFR cruising levels?
Flights operating under the Visual Flight Rules (VFR) outside controlled air space – which includes all ultralight flights – must be operated at levels selected in accordance with the table below when at a height above 5000 feet AMSL and must be operated at such levels when below 5000 feet whenever practicable.
(The cruising levels for aircraft operating under Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) are 500 feet lower.)
VFR cruising levels
Magnetic tracks000° to 179°180° to 359°
Cruising
altitudes
(area QNH)
1500 ft 2500 ft
3500 ft 4500 ft
5500 ft 6500 ft
7500 ft 8500 ft
9500 ft  


Operating in accordance with the cruising levels does improve safety but pilots should be aware that the risk of collision still exists, for example consider an aircraft tracking 175° while to the south another aircraft is tracking 005° at the same correct cruising level. Those two aircraft could well be on a collision course.

. . . . JB

  • Q309 – How can the line of sight distance from a particular altitude be calculated?

The rule-of-thumb is, given good visibility, the maximum optical line of sight (LOS) distance, in nautical miles, is equal to the square root of the observer's height in feet. Actually it is 1.06 times the square root of the height but for navigation purposes that can be ignored.
Theoretical LOS distance to horizon
Observer height (feet) Maximum LOS distance (nm)
103.2
10010
100032
10 000100


Line of sight distance and landmarks:-
Knowledge and use of landmarks is an essential part of ultralight pilotage, thus on cross-country flights it is useful to know at what distance any landmark, particularly those distinguished by height and shape, should be discernible. The theoretical distance at which a landmark may be seen is near enough to the sum of the square root of the height of the top of the landmark and the square root of the observer's height. Theoretically then a pilot flying at 10 000 feet might first see the highest point of an island, with an elevation of 1000 feet, from 132 nm away ( 100 + 32).

However, in cross-country flight, the only landmarks – readily discernible at long distance – are hills or mountains, particularly sentinel types. In south-east Australia Mt Ulandra, Mt Major and The Rock, for example. Even then, for firm identification, you may need to have the top few hundred feet in view.

When doing the calculation for LOS distance the basic elevation of the general intervening terrain must be deducted from the elevation of the land mark – and from the observer's altitude. In the table below The Rock has an elevation of 1800 feet, the intervening terrain elevation is 800 feet so the top 500 feet of the sentinel begins 500 feet above the general terrain. The third column of the table shows the LOS distance from observer height above the terrain, the fourth column shows the LOS distance from a point 500 feet below the summit and the last column – the sum of columns three and four – shows the maximum distance at which all the top 500 feet might be seen, above the horizon, by an observer at a recommended ultralight hemispherical cruising level.
LOS distance to sentinel landmarks
Observer altitudeObserver height above terrainObserver LOS distanceThe Rock top 500 ft LOS distanceDistance at which The Rock visible
feetfeetnmnmnm
1500700272350
25001700422365
35002700522375
45003700612384


An observer flying at 4500 feet could see The Rock, well above the horizon, from as far as Young, Griffith, Deniliquin or Benalla. If you were heading for Yabba North, at 3500 feet, you could see Mt Major ( nine miles south of Yabba) from Culcairn, Jerilderie or Bendigo.

Estimating the square root: mental calculation is easier if you ignore the two least significant digits of the height, then estimate the square root of the remaining one or two digits and multiply by 10. For example; height 3250 feet, ignore 50, the square root of 32 is between 5 and 6 – say 5.5 and multiply by 10 = 55 nm LOS distance. Another example; height 700 feet, ignore 00, the square root of 7 is between 2 and three – say 2.6, multiply by 10 = 26 nm LOS distance.

. . . . JB



  • Q501 – What is wind shear?
Please refer to Flight Theory Module 21 for information.

  • Q502 – What is a microburst?
Please refer to Flight Theory Module 21 for information.


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Manuals and Guides

| Aviation Meteorology Guide | Flight Theory Guide | VHF Radiocommunications Guide |

| Flight Planning & Navigation Guide | Coping with Emergencies Guide |

| Learning to Fly Guide | Operations Manual |



Copyright © 2000 John Brandon     [contact information]