Required contents of the airplane flight manual

The POH is a GAMA-defined document whose contents meet the regulatory requirements of an AFM, and present other information in a standardized way so that a pilot can go from a Cessna to a Piper to a Mooney to a Socata and browse the book to learn about the airplane they're about to fly with all the information presented the same way no matter who the manufacturer is.

Chapter 9 of the Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge talks a little about the differences between the two documents and a whole lot of other flight documents. Posting as an answer because formatting. Quoting from the spec directly, as an FYI which some may find interesting. In the latter case, the title shall be "Pilot's Operating Handbook".

This Specification is designed to provide guidance for the preparation of Handbooks for all types of general aviation airplanes originally certificated at maximum takeoff weights of 12, pounds or less. The Specification contains little, if any, new material or novel approaches. Basically, it is a guide to industry standardization of proven concepts to be presented in a form most useful to pilots.

The Federal Aviation Administration has reviewed this Specification and has ". AFM is meant and built specific to make and model, or by serial number.

For the same make and model, they generally use and refer to the same POH. I'm currently training to be a CFI, and this is a pretty tough question I have to prepare to answer my students.

All the above answers are wrong. All aircraft must have an approved AFM. Before this could be anything owners manual, POH, etc. All you need to know is that an AFM is specific to an aircraft serial number. A POH is less specific and generalized for a particular make or model. The POH is the official book of rules for that specific serial number airplane.

Sign up to join this community. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top. Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group. Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. Ask Question. Specific considerations should be made regarding paper documentation vs electronic documentation. An electronic documentation may just mirror the traditional paper documentation and offer a mere "book-like consultation". However, if so designed, it may offer a powerful "scenario-based consultation", whereby all elements of information have been contextualized type of information, prevailing condition and context and are presented to the crew automatically e.

For example, hydraulic system low pressure or procedure s applicable for prevailing predicament or performance data impact if any on prevailing condition. Probably more than any other aspect, the operating manuals must be "trusted" as they constitute the primary reference in case of contingency.

If you wish to contribute or participate in the discussions about articles you are invited to join SKYbrary as a registered user. Skip to main content. You are here Home » General. Development of Aircraft Operating Manuals.

Article Information. Content source:. Content control:. Terminology As is often the case in aviation, different manufacturers, different National Aviation Authority NAA , or different users often refer to a given item by different names.

Users The contents and presentation of operating manuals must meet the respective needs of different users e. Authoring Authoring operating manuals requires considering all aspects of the users, including their profile, mental model, expectations, and behaviour.

As a consequence, the description of systems and the description of procedures should establish bridges between systems descriptions and procedures: How is the system designed? Why is the system designed this way? An AFM contains the operating procedures and limitations of that aircraft. Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations 14 CFR part 91 requires that pilots comply with the operating limitations specified in the approved flight manuals, markings, and placards.

Originally, flight manuals followed whatever format and content the manufacturer felt was appropriate, but this changed with the acceptance of Specification No. Specification No. Manufacturers also have the option of including additional sections, such as one on Safety and Operational Tips or an alphabetical index at the end of the POH.

Manufacturers are required to include the serial number and registration on the title page to identify the aircraft to which the manual belongs. If a manual does not indicate a specific aircraft registration and serial number, it is limited to general study purposes only. Most manufacturers include a table of contents that identifies the order of the entire manual by section number and title. Usually, each section also contains a table of contents for that section.

Page numbers reflect the section and page within that section , , , , etc. If the manual is published in loose-leaf form, each section is usually marked with a divider tab indicating the section number, title, or both. The Emergency Procedures section may have a red tab for quick identification and reference. The General section provides the basic descriptive information on the airframe and powerplant s.

Some manuals include a three-dimensional drawing of the aircraft that provides dimensions of various components. Included are such items as wingspan, maximum height, overall length, wheelbase length, main landing gear track width, diameter of the rotor system, maximum propeller diameter, propeller ground clearance, minimum turning radius, and wing area.

This section serves as a quick reference and helps a pilot become familiar with the aircraft. The last segment of the General section contains definitions, abbreviations, explanations of symbology, and some of the terminology used in the POH.

At the discretion of the manufacturer, metric and other conversion tables may also be included. The Limitations section contains only those limitations required by regulation or that are necessary for the safe operation of the aircraft, powerplant, systems, and equipment. It includes operating limitations, instrument markings, color-coding, and basic placards.

Some of the limitation areas are airspeed, powerplant, weight and loading distribution, and flight. Airspeed limitations are shown on the airspeed indicator ASI by color coding and on placards or graphs in the aircraft. This is called the never-exceed speed V NE. Operation of an aircraft in the yellow airspeed arc is for smooth air only and then only with caution. A green arc depicts the normal operating speed range, with the upper end at V N0 and the lower end at stalling speed at maximum weight with the landing gear and flaps retracted V S1.

For airplanes, the flap operating range is depicted by the white arc, with the upper end at the maximum flap extended speed V FE , and the lower end at the stalling speed with the landing gear and flaps in the landing configuration V S0.

Figure 1. Single-engine airspeed indicator. In addition to the markings listed above, small multi-engine airplanes have a red radial line to indicate single-engine minimum controllable airspeed V MC.

A blue radial line is used to indicate single-engine best rate of climb speed at maximum weight at sea level V YSE. Figure 2.