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When I receive a plane to be flown, these are the two things that I do before anything else. First of all I deal with the unpleasant part of flight preparation, which is bureaucracy. You have to check that all papers, permits and licenses are in order - both of the airplane itself, the mission in mind and the crew -; if it is applicable, you have to check the papers of the passengers and cargo as well. You will also have to prepare the flight plan at this stage and check your fuel, weight and balance and other calculations. The full list of requisites may vary depending on applicable regulations and the characteristics of each plane and flight, but generally these are the things that you will have to check each time. Needless to say, the paperwork is decisive, because you cannot fly with papers that are not in order. Even if you are alone in the middle of nowhere and you don't plan on landing at a regular airport on arrival you should look at these things because you may be forced to land at a real airstrip where the guys are the ARO-AIS might want to see your papers. Besides, if the papers are not in order and you find yourself at a controlled airfield you will not be authorised to fly, so even loading fuel and performing the walk around (visual inspection) would become pointless. Once you have gone thorough all this hateful business of aircraft paperwork there is something else to do: clean the plane. I do that every time for various reasons, before anything else not to confuse the cleaning process with - say - the visual inspection. In fact, going twice over the whole structure will help you become even a safer aviator. Cleaning the airplane is not only important due to aesthetic and hygienic considerations; if you are going to take a couple of passengers who are just a little bit concerned about flying, having a tidy plane will help them feel safer and they will enjoy the ride a little bit more. Moreover: A clean airplane is a plane cared for that will last longer, your costs will be lower and your investment will be safer. Plus, a clean airplane flies better, because it will suffer less aerodynamic resistance. There are many ways to clean a plane and many different products; you can use them or none at all depending on what you have at hand and what you have in mind. If your plane needs a deep, exhaustive cleaning, you may want to use some of those products, but some water, fuel and kerosene might do as well. Firstly take out all the dust, mud, snow, etc. out of the surface with a cloth or fabric that leaves no residue. If there is snow or ice all over the plane, make sure that you remove all of it before flying. Windows and windshields should be cleaned with special products in order to avoid scratching it; if you don't clean them properly you will leave marks, they will become opaque and in the end the bill for replacing them will be horrible. On the other hand, never use anything on the propeller except for a cloth moist with water or avgas; any other kind of product might accelerate cracking. In order to take out stains of any kind, oil drops, etc. the best thing is kerosene, Use a damp cloth with kerosene instead of detergent that dry the aircraft's skin out. You could use regular shampoo as well. Cleaning an airplane in this way takes about fifteen minutes; it is not a complicated task that doesn't require anything except for a bucket, some cloth and a ladder if your plane has a high or parasol wing. Of course, make sure that you read your operations annual before doing anything on your airplane. And once you finish both the paperwork and the cleaning, you may proceed with the walk-around inspection and other pre-flight procedures.
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