Your instructor clears you for a solo, you walk out to the ramp, and the airplane is fueled and waiting. Before you climb in, one legal question is yours to answer: is this aircraft actually legal to fly today?
Two things have to be true. The right documents must be on board, and the right inspections must be current. Student pilots learn two mnemonics for this: ARROW for the documents and AV1ATE for the inspections.
This guide walks through both, ties each item to the federal regulation behind it, and shows you where to find the proof in the logbooks — so you can answer that question with confidence on your checkride and on every flight after.
You Are Responsible, Not Just the Flight School
It is tempting to assume the school or the aircraft owner handles all of this. They maintain the airplane, but the law puts the final check on the pilot in command.
Under 14 CFR 91.7, no person may operate a civil aircraft unless it is in an airworthy condition — and the pilot in command "is responsible for determining whether that aircraft is in condition for safe flight."
That duty starts before the engine does. 14 CFR 91.103 requires you to become familiar with all available information for the flight. Checking the documents and inspection status is part of that preflight action.
It is also one of the most common areas a designated pilot examiner probes during the oral portion of the private pilot checkride. Knowing it cold is the difference between a smooth oral and an uncomfortable one.
ARROW: The Documents That Must Be On Board
ARROW covers the paperwork that physically rides in the aircraft. Run through it any time you fly an unfamiliar tail number.
A — Airworthiness Certificate
14 CFR 91.203(a)(1) requires "an appropriate and current airworthiness certificate" aboard the aircraft.
It cannot just live in the glovebox. Paragraph (b) says it must be "displayed at the cabin or cockpit entrance so that it is legible to passengers or crew."
For most trainers this is a standard airworthiness certificate with no expiration date. It stays valid as long as the aircraft is maintained and inspected per the regulations — which is exactly what AV1ATE covers below.
R — Registration Certificate
14 CFR 91.203(a)(2) requires an effective U.S. registration certificate. Unlike the airworthiness certificate, registrations expire and must be renewed.
Glance at the date. An expired registration grounds the airplane just as surely as a missing one.
R — Radio Station License
The second R trips students up because it usually does not apply. A radio station license is an FCC requirement, not an FAA one, and is only needed for flights outside the United States.
For domestic VFR training you will not have or need one. Know why it is on the list so you can explain it on the checkride.
O — Operating Limitations
The aircraft's operating limitations must be available in the airplane. 14 CFR 91.9(b) requires a current, approved Airplane Flight Manual (AFM) or Pilot's Operating Handbook for aircraft that need one.
Operating limitations are also conveyed through required placards and instrument markings. If the POH is missing or a placard is unreadable, the operating limitations are not complete.
W — Weight and Balance Data
Current weight and balance data is part of the aircraft's required operating information. You need it to confirm your loaded weight and center of gravity fall within limits before every flight.
These are the same figures you work through when planning a cross-country, so the data in the airplane has to reflect the equipment actually installed.
AV1ATE: The Inspections That Must Be Current
The documents prove the airplane is *the* airplane. AV1ATE proves it is still *airworthy*. Each letter is an inspection or check with its own clock.
A — Annual Inspection
Per 14 CFR 91.409(a), no person may operate an aircraft unless, within the preceding 12 calendar months, it has had an annual inspection. "Calendar months" means the inspection is good through the last day of that month one year later.
This one applies to every airplane, every year, no matter how it is used.
V — VOR Check
14 CFR 91.171 requires a VOR operational check within the preceding 30 days — but only for flight under IFR using that VOR equipment.
For VFR student flying it does not apply. It earns its spot in the mnemonic for the day you start instrument training.
1 — 100-Hour Inspection
Here is where rental and training aircraft differ from privately flown ones. 14 CFR 91.409(b) requires a 100-hour inspection when an aircraft carries persons for hire, or is used to give flight instruction for hire.
Because your trainer is used for paid instruction, it needs a 100-hour inspection within the preceding 100 hours of time in service. That limit may be exceeded by up to 10 hours only to reach a place where the inspection can be done, and the overflown time counts against the next interval. An annual inspection also satisfies the 100-hour requirement — but a 100-hour does not satisfy the annual.
A — Altimeter and Static System
14 CFR 91.411 requires the altimeter and static pressure system to have been tested within the preceding 24 calendar months, for operations under IFR in controlled airspace.
Like the VOR check, this is an IFR item — but it is part of the standard maintenance many trainers keep current anyway.
T — Transponder
14 CFR 91.413 requires the ATC transponder to be tested and inspected within the preceding 24 calendar months.
This one matters for VFR students more than the other "IFR" items: if you fly into Class B or Class C airspace, under a Mode C veil, or above 10,000 feet MSL, you need a working, current transponder.
E — Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT)
Two clocks live here. 14 CFR 91.207(d) requires the ELT to be inspected within 12 calendar months of the last inspection.
Separately, 91.207(c) requires the battery to be replaced after the transmitter has been in use for more than 1 cumulative hour, or when 50 percent of its useful life has expired. That replacement date is marked on the unit and recorded in the logbook.
Where to Find the Proof
The documents are easy — they ride in the airplane. The inspections live in the maintenance records, usually separate airframe and engine logbooks kept at the front desk rather than in the cockpit.
- Annual and 100-hour: find the most recent signed inspection entries in the airframe and engine logbooks. Compare the 100-hour entry's tach time to the current tachometer reading.
- Transponder, altimeter/static, ELT: these appear as dated entries, often grouped under an avionics or pitot-static shop's sign-off.
- ELT battery: check the replacement date on the unit itself and in the records.
If you cannot establish that an inspection is current, treat the aircraft as not airworthy and ask before you fly. "I assumed it was done" is not a defense under 91.7.
A Quick Preflight Legality Check
For a typical VFR solo or rental, confirm:
- Airworthiness certificate — present and displayed at the cabin or cockpit entrance
- Registration — present and not expired
- Operating limitations — POH on board, placards and markings legible
- Weight and balance — current data available
- Annual inspection — within 12 calendar months
- 100-hour inspection — within 100 hours (training and rental aircraft)
- Transponder — within 24 calendar months (required for the airspace you will enter)
- ELT — inspected within 12 months, battery current
The radio station license and the IFR items (VOR check, altimeter and static system) round out the mnemonics, but they will not be limiting factors for everyday VFR training.
Common Student Mistakes
- Assuming the school handles it. They maintain the aircraft, but 91.7 makes *you* the final check.
- Confusing the 100-hour with the annual. Both can be required; an annual counts as a 100-hour, but a 100-hour never counts as an annual.
- Forgetting the transponder for VFR. It gets filed mentally as an "IFR item," yet it gates Class B, Class C, the Mode C veil, and flight above 10,000 feet.
- Overlooking the registration date. It is the one ARROW document with a real expiration you can spot in seconds.
Build these checks into your flow now, and the airworthiness questions on your oral exam become review instead of surprises.
Sources
- 14 CFR 91.7 — Civil aircraft airworthiness
- 14 CFR 91.103 — Preflight action
- 14 CFR 91.9 — Civil aircraft flight manual, marking, and placard requirements
- 14 CFR 91.203 — Civil aircraft: Certifications required
- 14 CFR 91.171 — VOR equipment check for IFR operations
- 14 CFR 91.207 — Emergency locator transmitters
- 14 CFR 91.409 — Inspections
- 14 CFR 91.411 — Altimeter system and altitude reporting equipment tests and inspections
- 14 CFR 91.413 — ATC transponder tests and inspections
- Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge (FAA-H-8083-25)
- Plane Sense: General Aviation Information (FAA-H-8083-19A)
