Planning of general aviation pilots using interviews

Abstract

This paper determines the manner in which general aviation (GA) pilots plan their flight in ordinary conditions, i.e. weather conditions suitable for visual flight rules. Twenty-seven semi-structured interviews were conducted with recreational pilots who flew a fixed-wing motor, glider and ultralight aircraft in Finland, Norway and United Kingdom, nations with major GA operations. Thematic analysis was used. Due to the careful design of the sample, distinctive differences were determined between pilots of the three aircraft designs in the following three aspects: the purpose of and the time that the pre-flight planning and the features that are most likely to be considered. Whilst most pilots of motorised aircraft started planning the flight the evening before departure, pilots that were familiar with the area or used emerging planning technologies started planning closer to take-off. The findings implicate that the diversity of GA must be considered in any safety and operational analysis.