Pre-Flight

Why you need a comprehensive pre-flight   - Wheel fell off airplane

EnRoute _ATC

NAV Aid

As a Private Pilot, you probably know what most antennas on your airplane are. If you’re working toward your Instrument or Commercial rating, you better know what they all are, and whether they are discrete or redundant.

ENGINE

1. Fuel level
2. Oil Level

3. Alternate Belt

4. Air Flow Filter

FLIGHT 
1. Flight Controls - Flap, Alerion, Elevator, Rudder 
2. Pitot Static System
3. Stall Warning Horn

NAVIGATION/COMMUNICATION 

1. VOR  Antenna NAV on Tail 
2. ELT Antenna

3. COM1 COM2  Antenna - Communication on top of cabin

4. GPS Antenna

5. OAT Outside Air Temperature - 

6. Marker Beacon Antenna

"Weight and balance list" GPS antenna "bubble" centered on top of cabin 43.5" aft datum (firewall) ADF antenna "soap" centered on bottom of cabin, 39.3" aft datum Transponder antenna (shark fin) left side on bottom of cabin, 85.3 aft datum COM1, COM2 antennas on top of cabin, 61.2 aft datum VOR1, VOR2 antennas 253.4 aft datum Marker Beacon Antenna (looks like a wedge) on bottom, 130.7 aft datum ELT antenna on top of tail, 122.0" aft datum

Marker Beacon - Blade-like (below, top); some Cessnas use the protruding tube from a flat plate (below, bottom). They’re always mounted on the bottom of the fuselage. GPS antenna - Mounted on top of the fuselage to minimize signal blocking from the airframe. Like all antennas, they should not be painted over, and should be kept clean.

ELT antenna - Almost always on top of fuselage; sometimes buried in tail or may look like a small com antenna.

ADF Antenna - ADF’s are few and far between these days. In the old days, if I had a choice between two airplanes to rent and one had ADF, I would pick that one, as ADF allowed you to listen to the ballgame during your flight on the AM radio band. Modern airplanes with ADF will most likely have a loop antenna mounted on the belly of the plane (left).