Plane Answers: What's really in a pilot's 'kitbag?'

Company Procedures and Regulations Manual

The captain is required to carry a manual we call "Part 1" which covers the company rules, procedures and FAA regulations. In this manual you'll find information on flight planning, crew qualifications and responsibilities, approach and landing regulations and even specifics on our uniform dress code (black socks are OK, blue are not).

Aircraft Specific Minimum Equipment List

The FAA requires that everything operates on an aircraft before it can depart. But they understand that a flight needn't be delayed to fix a seat-back recline mechanism for a seat that won't be used, or an oven that's inoperative.

So the airline, working with the FAA, has come up with a list of the minimum equipment needed to fly an airplane. Pilots call this the MEL and they refer to it anytime something isn't working properly while on the ground. If the specific item isn't in the MEL, (the extreme example is, say the LEFT WING) then obviously the airplane isn't legal to fly.

On our airplane, the Captain carries the 757 MEL and the co-pilot and relief pilot, if there is one, carry the 767 MEL.

Trip Book

This is entirely optional. But I carry a smaller binder with the approach plates and maps for the more common airports that I fly to. Right now, I have the Jeppesen pages for Boston, Miami, London, San Juan, Santo Domingo, St. Thomas, Aruba and Cancun in there, but it can change every month as we add or remove destinations from my base.

I also carry the normal procedures paper checklist in this book, an RNAV approach guide and a quick reference guide to be used if our airlines dispatching computer system is offline before a departure.



Other Items

The FAA also requires that we carry a Flashlight adequate to accomplish all required tasks as well as a spare pair of glasses or contacts if we wear corrective lenses.

The airline provides a headset and wearable microphone in each airplane, but many pilots, myself included, prefer to buy our own type to use. I've tried a number of them so far, but most recently I've been using the Telex Airman 850.

And most importantly, I always carry a camera with me. I prefer to use something with a wide-angle lens, and the Panasonic LX3 is perfect for a kitbag camera. If I had more room in my bag, I'd bring a DSLR on every trip, but the added weight and bulk of the full sized Canon means the Panasonic sees more frequent use.

I often carry a Sigg water bottle with me as well.

Can't we make this bag lighter?

In the past few years, our company has allowed us to carry what's called a Class 1 Electronic Flight Bag. It's a fancy name for a laptop, essentially. I have a Macbook loaded with the company manuals in a PDF format along with an extra battery and powerport charger.

This allows me to ditch the regulations manual, the MEL and the aircraft manual. I now only carry the QRH and the trip book in my kitbag, and I've been putting the larger two Jeppesen manuals which we're still required to carry, in my main suitcase which sits behind my seat, since we rarely need access to them.

So with a need for a much smaller bag, I searched for the perfect solution. After reading Scott Carmichael's review of the Tom Bihn Checkpoint Flyer, I figured this could be the lightweight bag I need. And maybe I'd set a new trend in pilot kitbags.



I have a feeling this type of bag will be far more common in the future among airline pilots, especially as cockpits enter the 21st century. The Tom Bihn bag had all the features I wanted and a few that I didn't realize I needed.

It includes a fold out section that houses a laptop, which the TSA now allows in lieu of taking the computer out of it's case. Flip out the laptop portion and let it slide through security. It's definitely been a time saver, especially when you have to go through the process two or three times a day.

There are side pockets that hold my camera and headset perfectly, and the main section which holds the trip book and QRH. They've even got a small pocket on both ends that's perfect for a flashlight and keys.

I shouldn't be too surprised at the pilot oriented layout for this bag, since Tom Bihn's dad was a Pan Am pilot.

I can think of no less than five pilots who have done damage significant enough to require surgery while lifting their full-sized kitbags into the cockpit. This Tom Bihn bag, coupled with the EFB and Jeppesen manuals relocated to a wheeled suitcase is my attempt at avoiding injury.

Hopefully airlines will retrofit their airplanes quickly with electronic flight bags, in which case, the behemoth kitbag might be a thing of the past.



Do you have a question about something related to the pointy end of an airplane? Ask Kent and maybe he'll use it for next Monday's Plane Answers. Check out his other blog, Cockpit Chronicles and travel along with him at work.