# Flight Acronyms



## Bograt (24 Apr 2006)

I attempted to find these acronyms in the AIP, but was unsuccessful. 

ATPL
Cb- *CB* is Cumulonimbus, not sure Cb is same
CRFI
MFA- MFAU is Military Flight Advisory Unit, again not sure if same
PPC
TROWAL


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## Dizzy (24 Apr 2006)

ATPL = Airline Transport Pilot Licence
You're right about CB as far as I know
CRFI = canadian runway friction index, what most of us grew up with and still call James Brake Index
PPC = Pilot Proficiency check, a flight test on a specific aircraft done either every six months or year depending
TROWAL = trough of warm air aloft
  You've got me stumped on MFA though. Could you show the context in which it was used?


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## Bograt (24 Apr 2006)

Prep sheet for PFT. It was below MF (Mandatory Frequency), and above MSL (Mean Sea Level). 

Thanks for your quick response.


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## ROTP Applicant (24 Apr 2006)

MFA = Military Flying Area

Not 100% sure if it applies to your situation though...


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## Dizzy (24 Apr 2006)

Hmmm, I don't think so, they usually go by MOA (guess). I thought minimum flight altitude maybe. Look on the bright side, if no one here can tell you, it probably won't come up on the test.


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## SupersonicMax (24 Apr 2006)

PFT isn't that hard after all.  They give you PLENTY of time to study... Don't worry!  You'll know what you have to know in time.

Max


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## ROTP Applicant (24 Apr 2006)

Dizzy said:
			
		

> Hmmm, I don't think so, they usually go by MOA (guess). I thought minimum flight altitude maybe. Look on the bright side, if no one here can tell you, it probably won't come up on the test.



I also thought that MFA was Min. Flight Altitude thinking it was related to AIM's listing of MDA (Min. descent altitude), MHA (Min. holding altitude), etc. The AIM does not, however, list MFA, which led me to the site below that defines MFA as Military Flying Area. Either way, we're probably both wrong.  ;D

http://www.meriweather.com/fd/def.html


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## Crimmsy (24 Apr 2006)

I checked my 204B (admittedly out of date, but it's the only one I have here at home) and MFA doesn't appear in it at all. *MF area* does appear and is defined as "Abbreviation for: *manditory frequency area*". As well, as you mentioned in the OP, *MFAU* appears and is defined as: "Abbreviation for: *Military Flight advisory Unit*.

Maybe one of these is it.

Crimmsy


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## Inch (24 Apr 2006)

MOA is American. I've never heard of an MFA.

We don't do PPCs in the CF, at least we don't in my neck of the woods. We do Annual Proficiency Checks, APCs.


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## Dizzy (24 Apr 2006)

So what does PPC stand for in military lingo?


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## Inch (25 Apr 2006)

PPC is Pilot Proficiency Check, but we don't do PPCs in the CF, we do APCs. PPCs are what civilian pilots do to get checked out on a new aircraft, the term isn't used in my experience in the CF. It's not that easy for us since we don't have blanket ratings, ie all helos. I'm only qualified to fly Sea Kings, to fly Griffons I would have to do a conversion course at the Operational Training Unit which would include a Clearhood check ride, an instrument rating test and depending on the airframe, a tactical flying test. I would then be qualified on Griffons and for a short time, still qualified on Sea Kings though I wouldn't have met the currency requirements for the Sea King.


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## Good2Golf (25 Apr 2006)

Like Inch says, PPC is not military lingo.

CF pilots will normally fly two kinds of annual check rides.  

The first is the CF Instrument Rating Test (or IRT) and has a written and a flown portion.  The CF Pilot Instrument Rating is most closely equivalent to a PPL, CPL or ATPL in civy parlance.  A CF pilot's instrument rating (also known as his/her "ticket") is their principal authority to fly CF aircraft, and includes general knowledge that all CF pilots must know as well as items specific to the class of aircraft flown (jet/multi/helo) during the written portion and specific to the type of aircraft flown (CC150, CC130, CT142, CH146, etc....) during the flown portion of the test.  The flown portion of the test is not undertaken until open and closed-book written tests are successfully passed and corrected to 100%.  After the flight test, the pilot's "ticket" is recommended for renewal by the ICP (instrument check pilot) and approved by 1 Cdn Air Div ICP.  The ticket is endorsed for a specific airframe in the CF (sometimes folks may be dual-type qualified, not often...)

The second check ride flown by most CF pilots is what we call a "category ride" and relates to the operational specifics of not only the specific aircraft flown but the tactical environment it is flown in.  An example would be three different CH146 Griffon pilots...one a Combat Support Squadron (CSS) pilot conduction Secondary SAR, another a Tactical Aviator flying at a Tac Hel squadron and a third, a Special Operations aviator.  All three pilots would likely fly a similar IRT (see above) but they would have different category check rides relating to their operational employment.  This category ride in the military is about the closest thing we have to a civilian PPC, it is aircraft-specific but goes beyond just knowing where buttons and switches are.

Good luck on your test!

Cheers,
Duey


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