Taxiing

'Climb into a headwind, dive away from a tailwind.' Quartering headwind: aileron into the wind (up-aileron on the windward side), elevator neutral. Quartering tailwind: aileron away from the wind (dive away), elevator down. The goal is to keep the wind from lifting a wing or the tail (AFH ch 2).

A brake check — immediately, while there's still room to stop with something else (mixture, or steering clear) if the brakes fail. Then taxi at a walking-pace speed near obstacles, controlling speed with throttle first and brakes second; riding the brakes overheats them and masks a developing failure.

Never cross a runway without an explicit crossing clearance — everything else supports that:

• Plan before moving: airport diagram out, taxi route drawn, Hot Spots identified (marked on the diagram and in the Chart Supplement)
• Copy the clearance: write it down, read it back with my callsign
• Cross only when cleared: ATC must issue a crossing clearance for each runway; 'taxi to' a runway never authorizes crossing or entering the assigned runway
• Stay oriented: sterile flight deck, heads-up, and if I'm ever unsure of position, stop off the runway and ask
• Request progressive taxi if unfamiliar (AC 91-73, AIM 4-3)

Four yellow lines across the taxiway: two solid, two dashed.

• Solid side toward you: hold — you need a clearance (towered) or a self-clear (nontowered) to proceed.
• Dashed side toward you: you're exiting the runway; cross without stopping and clear the marking entirely.

The runway isn't 'cleared' until the whole airplane is past the hold short lines. Also know the ILS critical area marking (the ladder) and the red-and-white runway signs versus yellow-on-black location signs (AIM 2-3).

No clearances — I self-announce on CTAF with the airport name at both ends of the call ('Chino traffic, Warrior 123AB, taxiing from the ramp to runway two-six, Chino'), listen to build a picture of who's where, and visually clear every runway in both directions before crossing, even if the radio is quiet. NORDO aircraft exist. Expectation bias is the trap: hearing what I expect instead of what was actually said, or assuming the runway in use.

Stop the mental autopilot. If needed, physically stop the airplane clear of taxiway intersections, then:

• Pull up the diagram
• Rebrief the new route and any new hot spots
• Reload takeoff data if the runway changed (numbers, intersection distance, wind)

A runway change is a classic setup for both incursions and wrong-runway departures — the old plan has to be consciously discarded.

Slower, more deliberate, and diagram-in-hand. Use the taxiway lighting/marking system: blue edge lights, green centerline lights at some airports, and know that geographic position markings (pink spots) exist for low-vis routes.

Aircraft lights per AIM 4-3-23:

• Nav lights on from sunset
• Beacon whenever the engine runs
• Taxi/landing light while moving (courtesy: don't blind others while holding)
• Strobes off around other aircraft on the ground

It's easy to get lost at a big airport at night — if unsure, stop and ask ground.