Lesson Six: Air Law II (Air Rules and Procedures) and Navigation I

Don’t read:
o Air Law: Anything past what we’ve covered today.
 The handbook from last year says to cover “Right of Way” and “Rules of
the Air” sections only. We’ll do that today; if we have time at the end,
we’ll go over the rest of the chapter.
o Air Nav: Read everything up to but not including “Dry Vertical Card Compass”


Air laws in Canada governed by the Canadian Aviation Regulations (CARs).
The Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM) contains CARs and other aeronautical
information pertinent to flying in Canadian airspace. Amendments published twice per
year.
Required documents on board:
o AROWILLI
 Certificate of Airworthiness
 Shows that your plane is safe to fly.
 May be out of force if the owner/operator doesn’t maintain the
aircraft in accordance with airworthiness directives (ADs)
 An Annual Airworthiness Information Report must be submitted
to keep it valid.
 Certificate of Registration
 Shows the actual registration information of your plane.
 Basically confirms that your aircraft is legit.
 Operator’s Handbook (POH)
 The “manual” of the plane, detailing its specs, speeds and limits.
 Includes emergency procedures for the plane.
 Weight and Balance
 Shows the loading of the plane; pilot’s responsibility to confirm
that the plane is loaded appropriately.
 Copy of Insurance
 Logbooks
 Crew logbooks and journey log (as necessary)
 **Technical log NOT allowed on board the airplane.
 Licenses
 Crew licenses must be valid for the type of operation (night, sea,
float, co-pilot, etc.) and the type of plane (single-engine, multiengine, etc.)
 Licenses for radio operation



Pilot’s license
o No person may act as PIC or co-pilot of an airplane unless
he/she holds a valid pilot’s license.
o Holder of a student permit may fly an airplane only under
the supervision of an authorized instructor and can’t carry
passengers.
o Holder of a pilot license can’t use his/her license unless he
has acted as PIC or co-pilot of an aircraft within the five
years preceding the flight OR has met the written exam
requirements for the licence within the 12 months
preceding the flight
o If passengers are carried, he must have, within 6 months
preceding the flight, completed at least 5 T/O and landings
in an aircraft of the same category and class
o Private pilot can’t make money by flying.
 Interception orders
 What to do if you suddenly see a CF-18 flying next to you.
**Right of way (Collision avoidance)
o Responsibility of PIC to not fly aircraft in close proximity to other aircraft and
other obstructions.
o When two aircraft are approaching head-on, both should alter course to the
right.
o An aircraft passing another, whether climbing, descending or in horizontal flight,
shall alter its heading to the right to pass on the right.
o When two airplanes are on converging courses at approx. the same altitude, the
airplane that has the other on its right must give way.
o Based on their ability to maneuver, priority is given in the following order:
 Fixed/free balloons
 Gliders
 Airships
 Power-driven, heavier-than-air aircraft
o An airplane towing another has priority over other aircraft having mechanical
power.
o If two planes are approaching to land at the same time, the airplane at the lower
altitude has right of way.
o Over built-up areas of any settlement, or any open-air assembly, the min.
altitude at which an aircraft may be flown is one that will permit the landing of
the aircraft in an emergency without creating a hazard to persons or property on
the ground




o Over built-up areas, this min. altitude may not be less than 1000’ above the
highest obstacle within a radius of 2000’ from the aircraft
o Otherwise (non-built-up areas), it is 500’ above the highest obstacle within a
radius of 500’ from the aircraft.
o Except for T/O and landing, an airplane may not be flown at a height of less than
2000’ over an aerodrome.
Fuel requirements
o Any aircraft operating under VFR must have enough fuel to fly to its destination +
30 min. at normal cruising speed during the day; must have enough fuel to fly to
destination + 45 min. at normal cruising speed during the night.
Night requirements
o Night: any period of time during which the centre of the sun is more than 6o
below the horizon
 Between the end of evening civil twilight and the beginning of morning
civil twilight
o Lighting
 Left wing tip: steady red (vis. For 2 miles dead ahead through an
unobstructed angle of 110o)
 Right wing tip: steady green (vis. For 2 miles dead ahead through an
unobstructed angle of 110o)
 Tail: steady white light, visible for a distance of 2 miles through an angle
of 140o
o Anti-collision light must also be installed, high intensity flashing light may be
white or red or red/white segmented, visible through 360o and project 30o above
and below the horizontal plane of the aircraft.
Over-water flights
o Seaplanes must have life jacket for every person on board the plane.
o A single-engine land plane may make an overwater flight if it remains within
gliding distance of land.
 Beyond gliding distance (or 50 n.m.) from land, it must be equipped with
approved life jackets for all on board.
 If operating more than 100 n.m. from shore, must be equipped with a life
raft with sufficient capacity for everyone on board.
Aerobatics
o Any maneuver intentionally performed by an aircraft involving an abrupt change
in its attitude, an abnormal attitude, or an abrupt variation in speed.
o Not permitted over any urban or populous area.
o Not permitted in controlled airspace or over an assembly of people except with
written authorization from Transport Canada



o May not carry passengers unless PIC has at least 10 hours dual flight instruction
in the conducting of aerobatic maneuvers, or 20 hours conducting aero
maneuvers and at least one hour of conducting aerobatic maneuvers in the
preceding six months.
Aircraft occurrences
o Report all accidents or incidents to the Transportation Safety Board (TSB)
o Accident: any person suffers death or serious injury, or the aircraft sustains
substantial damage or is destroyed
o Incident: involving an aircraft with a gross weight of > 5700 kg where an engine
fails; smoke or fire occurs; malfunction of some sort, etc.
o Purpose of investigations is to further aviation safety and to prevent recurrence
of that type of occurrence.
Types of Navigation
o Pilotage – nav by reference only to landmarks
o Dead reckoning – nav by use of predetermined vectors of wind and true airspeed
and precalculated heading
o Radio navigation – nav by use of radio aids
o Celestial navigation – nav by using positions of sun, moon, stars
o Inertial navigation – nav by self-contained airborne gyroscopic equipment or
electronic computers that provide a continuous display of position
o Satellite navigation – nav by use of positioning and guidance systems using
transmitters (aka GPS)
Coordinate systems
o Lines running north-south called meridians of longitude, lines running east-west
called parallels of latitude
 Meridians go through north and south poles (all intersect all the poles),
and so they are not parallel to each other.
 0o at the Prime Meridian through Greenwich, England. Goes 180o
E and W. 180o is the International Date Line
 Parallels are parallel to each other (don’t intersect with each other). 0 o is
the equator. Measured 90o N and S.
 60’’ (seconds) = 1’ (minute), 60’ = 1o
o Coordinates given as latitude first, then longitude
 Vancouver: 49°15′N 123°6′W
o Mean time can be expressed in terms of longitude and vice-versa, because of
Earth’s rotation:
 24 hrs = 360o longitude
 1 hr. = 15o longitude
o Local mean time relative to coordinated universal time/Zulu time (UTC/Z)
 West of Prime Meridian = LMT behind UTC
 East of Prime Meridian = LMT ahead of UTC
 Pacific Standard Time = -8 hrs. (so 2000 UTC = 1200 PST)
o Times in aviation given in UTC time
o A great circle is any curve on the surface of a sphere which would go around said
sphere and be able to cut it into two equal parts.
 A section of the curve intersecting two points on the surface of the
sphere would be the shortest distance between those two points.
 The equator, and two diametrically-opposite meridians, are all examples
of great circles.
 A great circle, however, does not cross the meridians it meets at the
same angle (with the exception of the equator and the meridians);
heading must be changed frequently to maintain great circle route
(inconvenient)
o A rhumb line is a curved line on the surface of the earth which intersects all
meridians it meets at the same angle.
 All parallels of latitude are rhumb lines.
 The meridians are also rhumb lines.
 Generally not the shortest distance between two points unless the line is
also a great circle; however, does away with having to switch headings all
the time.
o **Direction is measured from 0o (N) through 90o (E), 180o (S) and 270o (W)
 Heading is defined as the direction your nose is pointed in (relative to a
meridian  true heading)
 The bearing of an object is the direction that an object is at relative to a
meridian passing through your plane.

The Earth’s core produces magnetic fields which radiate out from pole to pole.
o Compasses are magnets, which are attracted to their opposite pole. Hence the
North Pole is technically a magnetic south pole (but geographically, we refer to it
as the north)
o Compass needles are aligned with the magnetic fields, so as you get closer to the
poles, the needles tend to “dip” towards the poles.
o Since the true north doesn’t coincide with the magnetic north, there is a
“difference” between the two (i.e. the needle pointing “north” is usually slightly
off from where north is)
 This difference called variation
 Changes yearly as the magnetic poles move due to the movement of
magnetic material in Earth’s outer core

Isogonic lines or isogonals are lines joining places of equal magnetic
variation
 Numbered east to west depending on whether the variation is
east or west of true north
 Represented on aeronautical charts by dashed lines with variation
indicated
 Agonic lines join places of no magnetic variation.
 Occurs when magnetic north is “aligned” with true north, such
that the compass points in the correct direction anyway.
o To convert from true heading to magnetic heading
 Easterly variation  subtract variation from true
 Westerly variation  add variation to true
 “West is Best”
o Read Construction of the Magnetic Compass
o Compass Errors
 Deviation occurs when the plane’s metal parts create an “internal
magnetic field” which messes up the compass
 Magnetic north deflected to what is called compass north
 Deviation typically tested and recorded after swinging the
compass (see book), with results recorded on a compass deviation
card
 To convert from magnetic to compass
o Easterly deviation  subtract deviation from magnetic
o Westerly deviation  add deviation to magnetic
 TVMDC (True  Variation  Magnetic  Deviation 
Compass)
 Magnetic dip
 Compass needle dips at higher latitudes
 Can compensate by having the magnet system oriented on its
pivot a certain way (forcing the CoG of the compass rearwards to
counter dip)
 Northerly Turning Error
 Read the textbook for an analysis of the forces which result in
northerly turning error (i.e. plane of gyration of magnetic system
offset  results in large error from what you SHOULD see)
 Most apparent on headings of north/south
 Turns FROM a north heading  results in compass lag
 Turns FROM a south heading  results in compass lead
 Error less pronounced in turns from south than from north


Effect greatest over the poles and gradually decreases towards
the magnetic equator
 While reading the compass when holding north or south
headings, make sure wings are level and the turn needle is
centred
Acceleration/Deceleration Errors
 Read textbook for physical explanation
 Most apparent on headings of east/west
 Accelerating will cause the compass to register a turn towards
north
 Decelerating will cause the compass to register a turn towards
south
 When reading the magnetic compass on east/west headings,
make sure airspeed is constant.