Brief Yourself

You might be thinking, "He's talking about briefings again?" Yes, I am. Briefings in GA are widely underused and under-rated! I've previously written about approach briefings, which are arguably the most important of all briefings. But, there are others that deserve mention, too. Several different briefings are used routinely in airline operations, and we need to beef up our "briefings culture," for lack of a better term, in GA. Today, let's discuss departure briefings.

Remember, it's important to conduct briefings even in single-crew (single pilot) operations. In multi-crew environments, briefings benefit the briefer just as much as the brief-ee. It's been proven that information that is verbalized tends to stick better in our brains, which is why it's critical to brief aloud, even if you're the only one listening. In a moment, I'll give an example of a self-briefing I conducted for a departure out of Arcata, California on a low IFR morning. First, let's go over some departure briefing basics.

A departure briefing should be performed before every departure, no matter how simple or routine it may seem. VFR, IFR, good weather, bad weather, familiar/unfamiliar airport, no matter the case, conduct a briefing. Pilots screw up even simple departures sometimes, and they pay the ultimate price. The more organized your mind is, the more sharp your flying becomes. A departure briefing should be performed just prior to engine start and should cover these items:

Current position on airport and anticipated taxi route

Determine your current position using the airport diagram and brief the taxi route you anticipate (consider highlighting during your preflight planning). Discuss any taxiway closures.

Departure runway information

Determine which runway will be used for takeoff, available runway distance for takeoff, runway lighting, etc.

Runway conditions

Is the runway dry, wet, icy, contaminated? Abnormal runway conditions may increase takeoff roll distance.

Takeoff procedure and special considerations

Discuss what type of takeoff is required: normal, short/soft-field, crosswind. Discuss aircraft configuration requirements (flap settings, etc.).

DP walkthrough/departure transition and automation mode (if applicable)

If a departure procedure will be flown, brief it the same way you would an instrument approach procedure. If a DP will not be flown, discuss the plan for a custom departure transition. That could be as simple as "left turn on course, up to 5,000." Whatever your plan is for transitioning from the runway into the enroute structure, brief it. If autopilot will be used, discuss when and what modes.

Terrain/obstructions

Any terrain or obstructions of interest should be noted. Keep it simple, otherwise you'll forget anyway. Something like "high terrain to the east" works. The idea is to know which way NOT to turn in the event of an engine failure or other emergency.

Emergency considerations

Discuss the plan for an emergency return to the airport if one becomes necessary. I don't recommend departing from an airport where the weather is too low to permit an emergency return, but if there's a good alternate nearby, discuss the route there and the approach to be used.

Here's an example of a departure briefing I conducted for a flight in a Piper Archer out of Arcata Airport in California:

"We're currently at the GA ramp here. We'll plan to join Alpha via Delta from the ramp and taxi southbound on Alpha to Runway 32. Looks like there is a run-up pad at the approach end of Runway 32, so we'll conduct a run-up there. We'll use Runway 32 for takeoff. We've got six thousand feet of takeoff distance available. We do have edge and centerline lighting for this runway. The runway is wet but we have plenty of available distance for the roll. We'll do a normal takeoff, little bit of a left-to-right crosswind. We're cleared for the HOCUT THREE departure, Crescent City transition. I have the HOCUT THREE departure, Arcata, California, Alpha Charlie Victor. This chart is current eleven March 2008 to eight April 2008. For departure Runway 32, it'll be a climbing left turn to join the 250 outbound Arcata to position HOCUT, then a right turn to join Victor 27 northbound to TRIAL, then Crescent City. We'll climb unrestricted to 9,000. I'll hand fly until established outbound on the 250, then engage NAV GPS roll steering and Vertical speed modes. We'll use GPS as primary for navigation with VHF data as backup. I have Arcata set and positively identified on NAV2 with 250 set on the OBS with Crescent City in the standby. Once we turn northbound to join Victor 27, it will be the Crescent City 161 and 341 on the OBS. We'll be out over the ocean almost immediately with high terrain to the east. If we have to return we'll proceed directly to KNEES for the ILS 32 and continue climb to 5,900. Departure briefing complete."

I've always enjoyed briefings and found them to be very helpful. They help instill a clear mental picture of the game plan and help things go smoothly as planned. There's a lot to keep straight up there, so verbalizing a clear and concise plan will help keep you on the straight and narrow. Blog post complete!