Full MATED Brief
One of the most important steps in puzzling together all the different parts that I had learned during the 1st Moves and 2nd Steps (taking over the full responsibility in order to fly solo, achieving and completing the Private Pilot License) was creating the full navigation planning in short time and with high accuracy.
MATED stands for: Meteo / Aircraft / ATC / Exercise / Duties
As mentioned, my instructor had introduced me to flight planning at a very early stage. We started to practice and talk about plans in detail during all the following steps. This way, we added more and more parts until we reached the full MATED Brief. All parts of this planning play a significant role in maintaining the constant learning curve and highly satisfying, enjoyable flights.
The first part – Meteo – changes all the time and no-one would ever question repeating it before each flight. Other parts, like the weight & balance calculation or checking the insurance policy, etc. feel a bit unnecessary to be repeated every time. But, if continuously repeated, they take only a few minutes. It is definitely a good habit to fit it into the routine without even thinking about it. Simply: Good Airmenship & significant help to concentrate on more important things.
Practice & Speed up – it is worth it
It’s all the small things and none of the steps are really difficult, but, altogether they sum up to several hours in the beginning. Practicing them on a regular basis reasonably reduces the time needed and with higher accuracy at the same time.
It is possible to postpone the full MATED, do it sloppily, or only do parts of it for a while. However, I can only recommend and repeat what my instructor trained me to do – start to train early and practice the full program. It’s worth the time.
The result is a full & proper preparation before each flight. This is also key to the start of the day of the PPL exam flight, quite relaxed and just as the usual routine. There are many other things to think about on that day anyway.
Added Note
On the day of my PPL(H) Exam Flight, I was able to write down the Full MATED Brief in 30 minutes. I was totally relaxed and had the confidence that there were no major errors or stupid calculation mistakes.
Ready to go and enjoy every flight – exam flight included.
Continued Practice Development …
During the period of puzzling together all steps from planning and the first navigation flights to the X-Country Qualiflying flight, I started to create a blank online form – just to make things quicker.
It‘s not very special and it’s best that every student develops it by himself. It’s through creating that the skills improve. But, if you would like to use mine as a base to start building yours – copy it form here.
