IP.I.C — Cross-Country Flight Planning
IP.I.C for the Instrument Rating Powered Lift ACS: official objective, references, and 29 exact knowledge, risk-management, and skill descriptions.
FAA-S-ACS-3, November 2023. This study page does not replace the current FAA publication or an examiner's plan of action.
Official task context
| Certificate or rating | Instrument Rating |
|---|---|
| Aircraft category | Powered Lift |
| Area of operation | Area of Operation I. Preflight Preparation |
| Task | Task C. Cross-Country Flight Planning |
| Task code prefix | IP.I.C |
| Official references | 14 CFR part 91; AIM; Chart Supplements; FAA-H-8083-2, FAA-H-8083-15, FAA-H-8083-16, FAA-H-8083-25; IFR Enroute Charts; NOTAMS; IFR Navigation Charts |
| FAA document | FAA-S-ACS-3 — Instrument Rating – Powered-Lift Airman Certification Standards |
| FAA source library | Open the official ACS library |
Official task objective
To determine the applicant exhibits satisfactory knowledge, risk management, and skills associated with planning an IFR cross-country and filing an IFR flight plan.
What the ACS code means
- IP identifies the ACS standard family used for this Instrument Rating Powered Lift document.
- I identifies Preflight Preparation, the Area of Operation.
- C identifies Cross-Country Flight Planning, the Task within that Area.
- K, R, and S identify knowledge, risk-management, and skill elements. The number selects the item; a trailing lowercase letter identifies a listed sub-element.
Knowledge elements
| ACS code | Official description | How a mock oral can probe it |
|---|---|---|
| IP.I.C.K1 | Route planning, including consideration of: | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| IP.I.C.K1a | a. Available navigational facilities | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| IP.I.C.K1b | b. Special use airspace | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| IP.I.C.K1c | c. Preferred routes | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| IP.I.C.K1d | d. Primary and alternate airports | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| IP.I.C.K1e | e. Enroute charts | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| IP.I.C.K1f | f. Chart Supplements | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| IP.I.C.K1g | g. NOTAMS | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| IP.I.C.K1h | h. Terminal Procedures Publications (TPP) | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| IP.I.C.K2 | Altitude selection accounting for terrain and obstacles, IFR cruising altitudes, and effect of wind and oxygen requirements. | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| IP.I.C.K3 | Calculating: | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| IP.I.C.K3a | a. Time, climb and descent rates, course, distance, heading, true airspeed, and groundspeed | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| IP.I.C.K3b | b. Estimated time of arrival, including conversion to universal coordinated time (UTC) | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| IP.I.C.K3c | c. Fuel requirements, including reserve | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| IP.I.C.K4 | Elements of an IFR flight plan. | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| IP.I.C.K5 | Procedures for activating and closing an IFR flight plan in controlled and uncontrolled airspace. | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
Risk management elements
| ACS code | Official description | How a mock oral can probe it |
|---|---|---|
| IP.I.C.R1 | Pilot. | Work through a scenario by identifying the hazard, evaluating the risk, and explaining a practical mitigation or decision. |
| IP.I.C.R2 | Aircraft. | Work through a scenario by identifying the hazard, evaluating the risk, and explaining a practical mitigation or decision. |
| IP.I.C.R3 | Environment (e.g., weather, icing, airports/heliports/helipads/landing areas, airspace, terrain, obstacles). | Work through a scenario by identifying the hazard, evaluating the risk, and explaining a practical mitigation or decision. |
| IP.I.C.R4 | External pressures. | Work through a scenario by identifying the hazard, evaluating the risk, and explaining a practical mitigation or decision. |
| IP.I.C.R5 | Limitations of air traffic control (ATC) services. | Work through a scenario by identifying the hazard, evaluating the risk, and explaining a practical mitigation or decision. |
| IP.I.C.R6 | Limitations of electronic planning applications and programs. | Work through a scenario by identifying the hazard, evaluating the risk, and explaining a practical mitigation or decision. |
| IP.I.C.R7 | Fuel planning. | Work through a scenario by identifying the hazard, evaluating the risk, and explaining a practical mitigation or decision. |
Skills elements
| ACS code | Official description | How a mock oral can probe it |
|---|---|---|
| IP.I.C.S1 | Prepare, present, and explain a cross-country flight plan assigned by the evaluator including a risk analysis based on real time weather, which includes calculating time en route and fuel considering factors such as power settings, operating altitude, wind, fuel reserve requirements, and weight and balance requirements. | Describe the procedure, interpretation, or decision process that can be discussed during an oral. Physical aircraft performance remains part of the practical test. |
| IP.I.C.S2 | Recalculate fuel reserves based on a scenario provided by the evaluator. | Describe the procedure, interpretation, or decision process that can be discussed during an oral. Physical aircraft performance remains part of the practical test. |
| IP.I.C.S3 | Create a navigation plan and simulate filing an IFR flight plan. | Describe the procedure, interpretation, or decision process that can be discussed during an oral. Physical aircraft performance remains part of the practical test. |
| IP.I.C.S4 | Interpret departure, arrival, en route, and approach procedures with reference to appropriate and current charts. | Describe the procedure, interpretation, or decision process that can be discussed during an oral. Physical aircraft performance remains part of the practical test. |
| IP.I.C.S5 | Recognize simulated wing or thrust component contamination due to airframe icing and demonstrate knowledge of adverse effects of airframe icing during pre-takeoff, takeoff, cruise, and landing phases of flight as well as the corrective actions. | Describe the procedure, interpretation, or decision process that can be discussed during an oral. Physical aircraft performance remains part of the practical test. |
| IP.I.C.S6 | Apply pertinent information from appropriate and current aeronautical charts, Chart Supplements; Notices to Air Missions (NOTAMs) relative to airport, runway and taxiway closures; and other flight publications. | Describe the procedure, interpretation, or decision process that can be discussed during an oral. Physical aircraft performance remains part of the practical test. |
Difficulty data
Difficulty calibration is ongoing for this Task. A difficulty estimate is published only with a sufficiently large, privacy-preserving first directly recorded assessment sample. Any observed difficulty comes from Checkride AI mock-oral practice assessments and is a practice-data proxy, not an FAA practical-test pass or fail rate.
Difficulty calibration remains ongoing until an item clears the private reporting threshold. Percentages, when available, describe the share who needed review on their first directly recorded assessment. Underlying sample sizes are never published, and historical final states are not backfilled into this measure.
How to use this in a mock oral
A mock examiner can ask you to explain the published elements, apply them to the configured aircraft and airport scenario, identify risks, and defend a decision. The prompts are practice scenarios; they are not claimed to be actual FAA examiner scripts or a prediction of the questions you will receive.
Related ACS tasks
- All Instrument Rating Powered Lift ACS tasks
22 task-level resources from FAA-S-ACS-3.
- IP.I.B — Weather Information
Area of Operation I. Preflight Preparation
- IP.II.A — Aircraft Systems Related to Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) Operations
Area of Operation II. Preflight Procedures
- IP.I.A — Pilot Qualifications
Area of Operation I. Preflight Preparation