Do you your gear every year or leave the same old stuff in it? It’s good to take an inventory once in a while to get rid of no-longer-useful or expired items.
When you are far away from the ground, you want to carry with you the things that will make you comfortable while still keeping the weight down. What you take depends on when, when and why you are flying.
Take a look at the following suggestions. You may want to add to your flight bag.
- Photo ID
- Logbook with certificate and medical in it
- Headset (with extra batteries if necessary)
- Sunglasses – avoid polarized ones as they can make reading instruments difficult.
- Electronic Flight Bag (iPad or Tablet), cell phone, and charging cords
- USB charger if plane is equipped with a 12v cigarette lighter port and/or backup battery
- POH
- Checklists
- Kneeboard with Paper or Notepad
- Lots of pens that keep falling to the bottom of the bag
- Watch
- Guide to light signals
- Fuel checker with a screwdriver
- Tire guage
- Water
- Chewing gum
- Emergency snacks
- Sunscreen
- Barf bags
- A couple of zip lock gallon freezer bags (for Barf bag disposal or emergency bladder relief
- Wet-wipe packets; paper towels
- Cheap Swiss Army type multi-purpose knife
- Small wrench or pliers for loosing tight oil caps
- Small first aid kit with disinfectant and band aids
- Eye drops, allergy tablets, ibuprofen or aspirin
- Flashlights with spare batteries
- Lightweight rain poncho
- Emergency survival kit with a compass, first aid kit, signal mirror
- Twenty dollar bill (for that day when you have to divert and realize you have NO cash) AND/OR
- Credit card
More Stuff
Other itmes to consider depending on your needs or the flight.
- Up-to-date paper charts and maps for the area in which you’re flying
- Foggles
- Timer
- Spare microphone
- Handheld radio/Transceiver with aux power cord and headset adaptor
- Radio – Hand held
- Glasses (if you’re wearing contacts and you have to remove them for some reason)
- Postit notes (for covering up failed instruments, bookmarking AFD, etc.)
- Camera
- Gloves (in the winter)
- Extra tools