What is the PAVE checklist?

PAVE is the FAA's way of sorting preflight hazards into four groups: Pilot, Aircraft, enVironment and External pressures. It comes from the Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge, chapter 2, and it is the structure most personal minimums worksheets use.

Are personal minimums required by the FAA?

No. They are limits you choose, tighter than the regulations, set on the ground when nothing is pushing you to go. The FAA encourages them because deciding in advance makes the go or no-go call easier when the day comes.

What should my personal minimums be?

Start from what you have actually flown recently and comfortably, with an instructor if possible, not from what the regulations allow. Tighten them for night, unfamiliar airports and airplanes you fly rarely, and loosen them only after training in those conditions.

How often should I update my personal minimums?

Review them at every flight review, after new training or a new rating, and whenever your recent experience drops, for example after a winter without flying. Date and sign the sheet so you know how current it is.

Pilot tool

Personal minimums worksheet

Personal minimums are the limits you set for yourself, tighter than the regulations, before there is any pressure to fly. This worksheet follows the FAA PAVE checklist: Pilot, Aircraft, enVironment and External pressures. Fill it in on screen, then print it on Letter paper and keep it in your flight bag.

Fill it in here or print it blank. Entries stay in this browser only.

Built on the FAA PAVE checklist, Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge (FAA-H-8083-25C), chapter 2. ascentefb.com/tools

PilotDate setAircraftReviewed with CFI

Pilot

Your experience and recency, and how you are today.

Certificate and ratingsTotal hoursHours in this typeHours, last 90 daysLandings, last 90 daysNight landings, last 90 daysApproaches, last 6 monthsLast flight review

IMSAFE before each flight. Tick when clear.

Aircraft

Fuel, runway and performance limits for the airplane you fly.

Fuel reserve, day (min)Fuel reserve, night (min)POH max demo crosswind (kt)Shortest runway (ft)Runway vs POH distance (×)Highest density altitude (ft)

Equipment I need working

enVironment

Weather, terrain and airports. The least you will accept, by type of flight.

Minimum	Day VFR	Night VFR	IFR
Ceiling, ft AGL
Visibility, SM
Surface wind, kt
Crosswind, kt
Gust spread, kt

Terrain, airspace and airports I avoid or need a briefing forHazards that mean no-go (icing, convection, other)

External pressures

The reasons you might push. Decide the way out now.

What is pushing this flightMy plan if I do not goWho I tell if I cancel or divertI will turn back or divert if

Pilot signatureNext review due

How it works

Regulations tell you the least that is legal. They do not know that you have not flown at night since spring, or that the airplane you rent has a 15 knot demonstrated crosswind. Personal minimums close that gap. The FAA's advice is to build them in a calm, non-flying moment and then use them as a fixed reference for the go or no-go decision, rather than deciding under pressure on the ramp.

PAVE gives the worksheet its shape. Pilot is your recent experience and your fitness today, with the IMSAFE check. Aircraft is the airplane's performance and what fuel and runway you will accept. enVironment is weather, terrain and airports, split into day VFR, night VFR and IFR, because the same ceiling means different things in each. External pressures are the passengers, schedules and costs that push pilots past their limits, so the sheet asks for your alternate plan in advance.

Set conservative numbers first, ideally with an instructor, and relax them only after you have trained in the conditions. Sign and date the sheet and review it at each flight review.

The FAA framework

PAVE, then IMSAFE.

P, Pilot: experience, recency and fitness to fly, checked with IMSAFE (illness, medication, stress, alcohol, fatigue, emotion).

A, Aircraft: airworthiness, equipment, performance, fuel and runway required.

V, enVironment: weather, terrain, airports, airspace, and day or night.

E, External pressures: anything that makes you want to complete the flight regardless.

PAVE and IMSAFE are from PHAK chapter 2, which also recommends a personal minimums checklist built away from the pressure of a specific trip as the reference point for go or no-go and continue or divert decisions.

Source

FAA Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge (FAA-H-8083-25C), Chapter 2: Aeronautical Decision-Making ↗

Worked example

Take a private pilot with 150 hours, 12 in the last 90 days, renting a Cessna 172 with a 15 knot maximum demonstrated crosswind in its POH. These are one pilot's choices, not FAA numbers.

Day VFR: ceiling 3,000 feet, visibility 5 miles, surface wind 20 knots, crosswind 10 knots, gust spread 10 knots. Night VFR is tighter: ceiling 5,000 feet, visibility 7 miles, crosswind 8 knots, and only airports flown before in daylight. No IFR column until the rating.

Aircraft: 60 minutes of fuel reserve by day and 75 at night, runways at least 1.5 times the POH distance over a 50 foot obstacle, density altitude no higher than 7,000 feet. External pressures: if the forecast is marginal the evening before, the plan is to drive. Check a real day against it with the crosswind and density altitude calculators.

Questions

What is the PAVE checklist?: PAVE is the FAA's way of sorting preflight hazards into four groups: Pilot, Aircraft, enVironment and External pressures. It comes from the Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge, chapter 2, and it is the structure most personal minimums worksheets use.
Are personal minimums required by the FAA?: No. They are limits you choose, tighter than the regulations, set on the ground when nothing is pushing you to go. The FAA encourages them because deciding in advance makes the go or no-go call easier when the day comes.
What should my personal minimums be?: Start from what you have actually flown recently and comfortably, with an instructor if possible, not from what the regulations allow. Tighten them for night, unfamiliar airports and airplanes you fly rarely, and loosen them only after training in those conditions.
How often should I update my personal minimums?: Review them at every flight review, after new training or a new rating, and whenever your recent experience drops, for example after a winter without flying. Date and sign the sheet so you know how current it is.

More pilot tools

Your minimums, checked every flight.

Ascent 1.9.6 Copilot, beta, checks your minimums: set ceiling, visibility, crosswind, gust spread, density altitude and fuel reserve once, and it checks a planned flight against them. Advisory; the decision stays with you.