# CH.I.D — Cross-Country Flight Planning — Commercial Pilot Rotorcraft ACS

> CH.I.D from FAA-S-ACS-16, including the official objective, references, notes, and 22 exact knowledge, risk-management, and skill descriptions.

Canonical HTML: [https://www.check-ride.ai/acs/rotorcraft/commercial-pilot/ch-i-d](https://www.check-ride.ai/acs/rotorcraft/commercial-pilot/ch-i-d)

Site reference: [https://www.check-ride.ai/llms.txt](https://www.check-ride.ai/llms.txt)

## Official Task context

- FAA document: Commercial Pilot for Rotorcraft Category Helicopter Rating Airman Certification Standards
- Identifier: FAA-S-ACS-16
- Published source date: November 2023
- Aircraft category: Rotorcraft
- Certificate or rating: Commercial Pilot
- Area of Operation: Area of Operation I. Preflight Preparation
- Task: Task D. Cross-Country Flight Planning
- Task code prefix: CH.I.D
- Official references: 14 CFR part 91; AC 91.21-1; AIM; Chart Supplements; FAA-H-8083-2, FAA-H-8083-21, FAA-H-8083-25; Helicopter Route Charts; NOTAMs; VFR Navigation Charts
- FAA source library: https://www.faa.gov/training_testing/testing/acs

## Official Task objective

To determine the applicant exhibits satisfactory knowledge, risk management, and skills associated with cross-country flights and VFR flight planning.

## Knowledge elements

- **CH.I.D.K1** — Route planning, including consideration of different classes and special use airspace (SUA) and selection of appropriate and available navigation/communication systems and facilities.
- **CH.I.D.K1a** — Use of an electronic flight bag (EFB), if used
- **CH.I.D.K2** — Altitude selection accounting for terrain and obstacles, autorotation requirements of the helicopter, VFR cruising altitudes, and the effect of wind.
- **CH.I.D.K3** — Calculating:
- **CH.I.D.K3a** — Time, climb and descent rates, course, distance, heading, true airspeed, and groundspeed
- **CH.I.D.K3b** — Estimated time of arrival, including conversion to universal coordinated time (UTC)
- **CH.I.D.K3c** — Fuel requirements, including reserve
- **CH.I.D.K4** — Elements of a VFR flight plan.
- **CH.I.D.K5** — Procedures for filing, activating, and closing a VFR flight plan.
- **CH.I.D.K6** — Inflight intercept procedures.

## Risk management elements

- **CH.I.D.R1** — Pilot.
- **CH.I.D.R2** — Aircraft.
- **CH.I.D.R3** — Environment (e.g., weather, airports, airspace, terrain, obstacles, including wire strike hazards).
- **CH.I.D.R4** — External pressures.
- **CH.I.D.R5** — Limitations of air traffic control (ATC) services.
- **CH.I.D.R6** — Fuel planning.
- **CH.I.D.R7** — Use of an electronic flight bag (EFB), if used.

## Skills elements

- **CH.I.D.S1** — Prepare, present, and explain a cross-country flight plan assigned by the evaluator, including a risk analysis based on real-time weather, to the first fuel stop.
- **CH.I.D.S2** — Apply pertinent information from appropriate and current aeronautical charts, Chart Supplements; Notices to Air Missions (NOTAMs) relative to airport/heliport/helipad/landing area, runway and taxiway closures; and other flight publications.
- **CH.I.D.S3** — Create a navigation log and prepare a VFR flight plan.
- **CH.I.D.S4** — Recalculate fuel reserves based on a scenario provided by the evaluator.
- **CH.I.D.S5** — Use an electronic flight bag (EFB), if applicable.

## Difficulty methodology

Difficulty calibration is ongoing for this Task. Observed difficulty is a privacy-thresholded check-ride.ai mock-oral practice proxy, not an FAA practical-test pass or fail rate. Underlying sample sizes and the private reporting threshold are not published.

## Use in practice

A mock examiner can ask a pilot to explain the published elements, apply them to the configured aircraft and airport context, identify risks, and defend a decision. Practice prompts are not represented as actual FAA examiner scripts or predictions of the questions a candidate will receive.