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Commercial pilot · ACS CA.II.D · Instructor lesson plan

Taxiing

Student pack: Train: Taxiing · Full lesson: Prepare guide

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1 · Objective

By the end of this lesson your student can explain taxiing in their own words, apply it in a realistic situation, and fly it to the ACS standard for CA.II.D.

Why it matters for safety: Runway incursions happen at walking speed, often to experienced pilots who heard what they expected to hear. A professional taxi is planned, read back, flown with eyes outside, and stopped the moment you're not sure where you are.

2 · Assign before the lesson

Pre-work: the free Train pack, Taxiing. Plan the route, read back every runway instruction, control the airplane for the wind, and never cross a runway by mistake.

Anyone can open this link, no account needed. To see who trained it on your roster, use a free instructor account.

Pack: pilotprep.pro/train/cpl/taxiing · Full lesson: pilotprep.pro/prepare/cpl/taxiing

3 · Teach sequence

Key points to land

  • Before moving, review the airport diagram, Chart Supplement and NOTAMs, and find the hot spots on your route.(AC 91-73, Single Pilot Procedures During Taxi)
  • You need an explicit instruction to cross or enter any runway; read back every runway assignment and hold-short instruction.(AIM 4-3 (Airport Operations))
  • Red signs with white letters are mandatory. Hold short of a runway holding position marking (on the solid-line side) when told to hold short or without a clearance to enter or cross; when cleared, look both ways and along the final approach and continue without stopping at the line. Leaving a runway, keep going until the whole airplane is past the marking.(AIM 2-3 (Airport Marking Aids and Signs))
  • Brake check immediately after the airplane starts moving, then control speed mostly with power.(Commercial Pilot ACS (FAA-S-ACS-7B), CA.II.D.S5-S6)
  • Hold the controls for the wind in a nosewheel airplane: quartering headwind, yoke turned into the wind (upwind aileron up), elevator neutral; quartering tailwind, yoke turned away from the wind (upwind aileron down), elevator down. Full back elevator into a headwind is for a tailwheel airplane.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Ground Operations)
  • Expectation bias is a leading cause of incursions: write the clearance down and read it back; if it differs from what you planned, stop and re-brief.(Risk Management Handbook (FAA-H-8083-2A))
  • Heads up while moving; set up avionics and run checklists while stopped.(AC 91-73, Single Pilot Procedures During Taxi)

Before you move

  • Review the airport diagram, the Chart Supplement and the NOTAMs: closed taxiways, construction and hot spots.(AC 91-73, Single Pilot Procedures During Taxi)
  • Plan the route, brief the hot spots, and set up radios, transponder and avionics before you move.(AC 91-73, Single Pilot Procedures During Taxi)

Clearances and radio

  • At a towered airport, get a taxi clearance; each runway crossing or entry needs an explicit instruction, including inactive runways.(AIM 4-3 (Airport Operations); 14 CFR 91.129)
  • Read back runway assignments, hold-short instructions and crossing clearances.(AIM 4-3 (Airport Operations))
  • At a nontowered airport, announce your intentions on the CTAF and look both ways, including the final approach paths, before crossing or entering a runway.(AC 90-66, Non-Towered Airport Flight Operations)
  • Expectation and confirmation bias: you may hear the route you planned. Write it down, read it back, and ask if anything is unclear.(Risk Management Handbook (FAA-H-8083-2A))
  • A changed route or runway: stop if needed, re-plan with the diagram, and re-check takeoff performance before continuing.(AC 91-73, Single Pilot Procedures During Taxi)

Markings, signs, lights and wind

  • Six sign types: mandatory instruction (red, white letters); location (black, yellow letters, no arrows); direction (yellow, black letters, with arrows); destination (yellow, black letters, with an arrow); information (yellow, black letters); runway distance remaining (black, white numbers in thousands of feet).(AIM 2-3 (Airport Marking Aids and Signs))
  • Also: the ILS critical area holding sign and its ladder marking; enhanced taxiway centerlines (dashed yellow either side) warning of a hold line within 150 feet; and the nonmovement-area boundary (a solid and a dashed yellow line).(AIM 2-3 (Airport Marking Aids and Signs))
  • Runway holding position marking: two solid and two dashed yellow lines; stop on the solid side. Flashing yellow runway guard lights mark the same spot.(AIM 2-3 (Airport Marking Aids and Signs); AIM 2-1)
  • Taxiway edge lights are blue and centerline lights green. Use the windsock or wind tee for control positions.(AIM 2-1)
  • Aircraft lights per the AIM: beacon before start, taxi light when moving, all exterior lights when crossing or entering a runway.(AIM 4-3 (Airport Operations))

Preventing incursions, day and night

  • A runway incursion is any incorrect presence of an aircraft, vehicle or person on a runway. Know where you are at all times.(AC 91-73, Single Pilot Procedures During Taxi)
  • At night or in low visibility, taxi slowly, follow the centerline lights and signs, and ask for progressive taxi if unsure. Below 1,200 feet RVR, airports with a SMGCS plan use designated low-visibility taxi routes and charts, green lead-on lights, clearance bars, geographic position markings for position reports, and stop bars: never cross an illuminated stop bar.(AIM 4-3 (Airport Operations); AC 120-57)
  • If you're unsure of your position, stop and ask; never guess across a hold line.(AC 91-73, Single Pilot Procedures During Taxi)
  • Keep passengers quiet during taxi (sterile cockpit) and avoid heads-down tasks while moving.(AC 91-73, Single Pilot Procedures During Taxi)

Watch for in the airplane: Your instructor watches for a briefed route and hot spots, complete readbacks, wind-correct control positions, eyes outside, a full stop at every hold line, and asking when unsure.

4 · Ask your student

In order: recall, then understanding, then applying it. Move up only when the answer shows it.

  1. Recall · What must you read back during taxi?

    A strong answer: Runway assignments, hold-short instructions, and runway crossing or entry clearances.

  2. Understand · Why does expectation bias cause runway incursions?

    A strong answer: Pilots hear the clearance they expected, often the usual route, and act on it. Writing it down and reading it back exposes the difference before it matters.

  3. Apply · Taxiing at night at a large unfamiliar airport, you reach an intersection and aren't sure which way to turn. What do you do?

    A strong answer: Stop, check the diagram and signs, and ask ground for progressive taxi rather than guessing.

Scenarios to talk through

  • Ground says: "Runway 27, taxi via Alpha, cross runway 33, hold short of Bravo." What do you read back?

    Sound decision: The runway, the route, the crossing and the hold-short: "Runway 27 via Alpha, cross 33, hold short Bravo," with your call sign.

  • You expected runway 9, but ground assigns runway 27 via an unfamiliar route. What do you do?

    Sound decision: Write it down, read it back, stop if needed to re-plan with the diagram and hot spots, and re-check takeoff performance for runway 27.

  • Approaching a hold line, you see a row of red lights in the pavement across the taxiway, with red lights on posts at each side. What do you do?

    Sound decision: Stop: that is an illuminated stop bar, and you never cross one even with a clearance; ATC switches it off and turns on the green lead-on lights. (Runway Entrance Lights are different: a line of red lights along the centerline from the hold line to the runway; when lit, don't enter or cross.) Tell the tower.

5 · Common student errors

  • Taxiing too fast and riding the brakes.

    Why it matters: Less control and overheated brakes.

    How to correct it: Brisk walking pace, controlled with power; brakes lightly.

  • Programming avionics while moving.

    Why it matters: Most incursions happen during heads-down tasks.

    How to correct it: Stop first.

  • Partial readbacks.

    Why it matters: The controller can't catch a misunderstanding you didn't say back.

    How to correct it: Read back the runway, crossings and hold-shorts in full.

6 · Completion standard

  • Read back clearances; use the airport diagram; position controls for the wind; complete checklists; brake check immediately after moving.
  • Maintain positive control without excessive braking; comply with markings, signals and clearances; position the airplane properly at hold lines.
  • Your student answers each "Ask your student" question in their own words, up to the Apply level, without prompting.
  • They talk through the scenarios and reach a safe, legal decision, explaining why.
  • They complete the pack’s quick check and can say what they flagged.

Area trained? Close out with a practice oral focused on CA.II.D: pilotprep.pro/exam?exam=CPL&focus=CA.II.D

7 · References

  • Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Ground Operations; Transition to Complex Airplanes
  • Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge (FAA-H-8083-25C)
  • Risk Management Handbook (FAA-H-8083-2A)
  • Commercial Pilot ACS (FAA-S-ACS-7B), Area II
  • Your airplane's POH/AFM, normal procedures and checklists
  • AIM, 2-1, 2-3, 4-3
  • AC 91-73, Single Pilot Procedures During Taxi
  • AC 90-66, Non-Towered Airport Flight Operations
  • 14 CFR 91.129
  • Airman Certification Standards, task CA.II.D

PilotPrep instructor lesson plan, from the Taxiing lesson (checked against current FAA sources 2026-11-13). A study and teaching aid, not FAA guidance; teach to your own judgment and the current ACS.