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Private pilot · ACS PA.II.D

Taxiing

Taxiing looks easy, but it's where many incidents begin: wrong turns, runway incursions, distraction.

Why this one matters

Runway incursions, an airplane where it shouldn't be on a runway, are a serious risk at every airport, and they happen on the ground at walking speed. Knowing the signs, reading back clearances, and keeping your eyes outside is how you never become one.

Can’t miss

  • •Before you move, review the airport diagram, the taxi route, the hot spots and the NOTAMs.(AC 91-73, Single Pilot Procedures During Taxi)
  • •You need explicit instructions to cross or enter any runway; read back every hold-short instruction.(AIM 4-3 (Airport Operations))
  • •Red signs with white letters are mandatory: stop there unless cleared. The hold-short line's solid lines are on your side when you must stop.(AIM 2-3 (Airport Marking Aids and Signs))
  • •Do a brake check right after the airplane starts moving.(Private Pilot ACS (FAA-S-ACS-6C), PA.II.D.S5)
  • •Control positions for wind in a tricycle-gear airplane: quartering headwind, aileron up on the upwind side with the elevator neutral; quartering tailwind, aileron down on the upwind side with the elevator down. ("Climb into a headwind", elevator back, is the tailwheel position; don't pull the yoke back in a 172 or PA-28.)(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Ground Operations)
  • •Taxi at a speed you can stop in, mostly with power, not brakes.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Ground Operations)
  • •Heads up, eyes out: set up radios and avionics before you taxi, and stop if you're unsure where you are.(AC 91-73, Single Pilot Procedures During Taxi)

What you should know

Before you taxi K1 · K6

  • Review the airport diagram, the Chart Supplement and the NOTAMs: closed taxiways, construction, hot spots.(AC 91-73, Single Pilot Procedures During Taxi)
  • Plan the route, find the hot spots (places where incursions are more likely), and write down the clearance.(AC 91-73, Single Pilot Procedures During Taxi)
  • Set up radios, transponder and GPS before you move.(AC 91-73, Single Pilot Procedures During Taxi)

Clearances and radio K2 · K6 · R2 · R3

  • At towered airports you need a clearance to taxi; you must have explicit instructions to cross or enter each runway, including inactive ones.(AIM 4-3 (Airport Operations); 14 CFR 91.129)
  • Read back runway assignments, hold-short instructions and runway crossing clearances.(AIM 4-3 (Airport Operations))
  • At non-towered airports, announce your intentions on the CTAF and look both ways (including final) before crossing or entering a runway.(AC 90-66)
  • Expectation bias: you may hear the clearance you expected. Write it down and read it back; ask if anything is unclear.(Risk Management Handbook (FAA-H-8083-2A))
  • A runway or route change: stop, re-plan with the diagram, and re-brief before moving.(AC 91-73, Single Pilot Procedures During Taxi)

Markings, signs and lights K3

  • Mandatory instruction signs: red with white letters (runway holding positions, ILS critical areas, no entry). Stop unless cleared.(AIM 2-3 (Airport Marking Aids and Signs))
  • The six sign types, each recognizable by color: mandatory instruction (red, white letters); location (black, yellow letters and border: where you are); direction (yellow, black letters with arrows); destination (yellow, black letters, pointing to places like runways or the ramp); information (yellow, black letters, such as noise or frequency notes); and runway distance remaining (black, white numbers, in thousands of feet).(AIM 2-3-7 to 2-3-12)
  • Runway holding position marking: two solid and two dashed yellow lines across the taxiway. From the solid side, when told to hold short or not cleared beyond, stop before any part of the airplane crosses the solid lines; with an explicit clearance to cross or enter, continue without stopping. From the dashed side (leaving a runway) cross it without stopping, and taxi completely past it, tail included, before you stop.(AIM 2-3 (Airport Marking Aids and Signs); AIM 4-3-18, 4-3-20)
  • Other markings: a continuous yellow taxiway centerline; double solid yellow taxiway edge lines (the pavement beyond isn't for taxiing); the ILS critical area holding position (a yellow ladder); and a yellow or white X, meaning closed: don't use that surface.(AIM 2-3-4 to 2-3-6)
  • Taxiway edge lights are blue; centerline lights are green. Flashing yellow runway guard lights mark a runway holding position.(AIM 2-1)

Wind and lights K4 · K5

  • Use the windsock or wind tee to judge the wind while taxiing.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Ground Operations)
  • Quartering headwind: aileron up on the upwind side, elevator neutral (tricycle gear). Quartering tailwind: aileron down on the upwind side, elevator down.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Ground Operations)
  • Aircraft lights per the AIM: beacon or anticollision lights on whenever an engine is running; position and anticollision lights on before taxi (position lights are required on the surface from sunset to sunrise); taxi light on when moving, off when stopped or yielding; no strobes on the ground where they would blind other pilots or ground crew.(AIM 4-3-23; 14 CFR 91.209)
  • On runways: all exterior lights when crossing or taxiing on a runway. Entering the departure runway to take off or line up and wait, all lights except the landing lights; turn the landing lights on when cleared for takeoff or as you start the takeoff roll.(AIM 4-3-23; AC 91-73)

Staying safe on the ground K6 · R1 · R4

  • Runway incursion: any incorrect presence of an aircraft, vehicle or person on a runway. Prevent it by knowing where you are and following clearances exactly.(AC 91-73, Single Pilot Procedures During Taxi)
  • At night: use the airplane's and the airport's lighting correctly, and taxi slowly.(AIM 4-3 (Airport Operations))
  • In low visibility: follow the assigned route on the diagram (and any low-visibility taxi route), follow the green centerline lights, ask for progressive taxi early, and stop and tell ATC if you're unsure of your position. Never cross an illuminated red stop bar, even with a clearance; if it doesn't go off, stop and call ATC.(AIM 2-1-10, 4-3-18; AC 91-73)
  • Before every runway entry or crossing, towered or not: stop at the hold line, look both ways and up the final approach, read the sign and runway number, and check that your heading roughly matches it. If it doesn't, or the clearance is for a different runway, stop and ask ATC (at a nontowered airport, don't go).(AC 91-73; AIM 4-3-18)
  • If you're unsure where you are, stop and ask. Never guess across a runway.(AC 91-73, Single Pilot Procedures During Taxi)
  • Avoid heads-down tasks (checklists, avionics) while moving. The taxi task includes completing the POH checklists: do them stopped, or where the checklist says.(AC 91-73, Single Pilot Procedures During Taxi; Private Pilot ACS (FAA-S-ACS-6C), PA.II.D.S4)

On the flight

ACS standards

  • Read back clearances; use the airport diagram; position controls for the wind; brake check immediately after moving.(Private Pilot ACS (FAA-S-ACS-6C), PA.II.D.S1-S5)
  • Positive control of direction and speed without excessive braking; comply with markings, signals and clearances; position correctly at hold lines; complete the checklists.(Private Pilot ACS (FAA-S-ACS-6C), PA.II.D.S4, S6-S8)

What your instructor is watching for

Your instructor watches your speed and use of brakes, wind-correct control positions, eyes outside, the diagram in use, readbacks, and correct positioning at every hold line (stopped short when holding, a verification look before every runway).

Scenarios

Decide what you would do first, then see the worked answer.

Ground says: "N123AB, runway 27, taxi via Alpha, hold short of runway 33."

What must you read back? See the worked answer

The runway assignment and the hold-short instruction: "Runway 27, taxi via Alpha, hold short runway 33, N123AB."

AIM 4-3 (Airport Operations)

The wind is from your left rear quarter as you taxi.

How do you position the controls? See the worked answer

A quartering tailwind from the left: left aileron down (yoke turned right) and elevator down (yoke forward).

Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Ground Operations

Ground changes your departure runway while you're taxiing.

What do you do? See the worked answer

Stop if needed, look at the diagram, plan the new route, read it back, and re-brief the takeoff performance for the new runway before continuing.

AC 91-73, Single Pilot Procedures During Taxi

Common mistakes

  • Taxiing too fast and riding the brakes.

    It reduces control and overheats the brakes.

    Instead: Control speed with power and use the brakes lightly: a brisk walking pace in congested areas, near buildings and other aircraft, and in turns; on a long clear taxiway, a speed that lets you stop within the clear area ahead.

  • Head-down tasks while moving.

    Most incursions happen when the pilot is distracted.

    Instead: Stop before setting up avionics or running checklists.

  • Not reading back hold-short instructions.

    They are required readbacks and a key safety check.

    Instead: Read back the runway and the hold-short every time.

Now train it

Say it out loud, hear it asked, and take the quick check in this lesson’s practice pack. It tracks your shaky spots.

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Sources

  • Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C): Ground Operations
  • Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge (FAA-H-8083-25C)
  • Private Pilot ACS (FAA-S-ACS-6C): 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

Study aid, not FAA guidance. Regulations change; check the current text at eCFR and the ACS. Checked against current sources 2026-11-12.