CAPR 70-1: Civil Air Patrol Flight Management, Currency, and WMIRS

CAPR 70-1 is the Civil Air Patrol’s master flight management regulation, and it governs everything you do around a CAP corporate aircraft: who may fly it, how current you have to be, what weather and fuel margins apply, how the flight gets released, and how the mission gets closed out. The current version dates to March 31, 2020, with several interim change letters folded in since. Most of its rules are stricter than what the FAA requires, and a paperwork lapse or currency gap will ground you as quickly as a failed check ride.

Who Can Fly a CAP Aircraft

Before you touch the controls of a corporate aircraft, you need a current FAA pilot certificate and a valid medical under 14 CFR Part 67. Those are the federal baseline. On top of that, CAP requires its own Pilot Flight Evaluation, recorded on CAP Form 5. The Form 5 covers the FAA Airman Certification Standards tasks for VFR flight and adds CAP-specific items: WMIRS use, risk assessment, sterile cockpit compliance, electronic flight bag operation, and crew resource management.¹

One point that catches new CAP pilots: the Form 5 is not an FAA flight review. Unless you arrange it in advance with your check pilot, it does not satisfy the FAA’s flight review or instrument proficiency check requirement.² You keep the FAA side of your currency on a separate track.

Past the base CAP Pilot rating, the regulation defines several specialty roles, each with its own minimums:

Transport Mission Pilot moves personnel, supplies, and equipment to mission sites, and functions as a stepping stone toward Mission Pilot.³
Mission Pilot flies search-and-rescue and other operational sorties, and requires a biannual Form 91 evaluation on top of the annual Form 5.⁴
Orientation Pilot flies cadets. Carrying CAP cadets takes at least 200 hours of fixed-wing PIC time; carrying ROTC/JROTC cadets takes 300. The pilot must be a senior member at least 21 years old, or hold a valid FAA CFI certificate.⁵
Tow Pilot requires 500 hours PIC with 250 in single-engine airplanes, current tow pilot status under 14 CFR 61.69, and completion of the Soaring Safety Foundation/CAP Tow Pilot Course.⁵
Instructor Pilot and Check Pilot train and evaluate other CAP pilots. Check Pilots have to complete the National Check Pilot Standardization Course within the past four years.⁴

Lose any of these qualifications and you are suspended from that activity until the deficiency is fixed.

Currency: Several Clocks, All Ticking

Holding a designation is only half the job. CAPR 70-1 stacks independent currency clocks, and WMIRS will lock you out of sortie entry the moment any of them expires.

Annual Form 5 with a CAP Check Pilot, every 12 calendar months.⁶
Three takeoffs and landings in the past 90 days to carry passengers, plus three full-stop night landings to carry passengers after dark.⁴
FAA flight review every 24 calendar months, separate from the Form 5.⁴
FAA medical certificate, with class and duration set by age and type of flying.
CAPR 70-1 online knowledge test, plus a ground handling review and a powered flight test.⁴
Orientation Pilot quiz every four years, or as updated by National Headquarters.⁵

Keep a personal tracker. The dates never line up neatly, and any one of them will ground you on its own.

Operating Limits That Go Beyond the FAA

CAP flies volunteer pilots into unfamiliar airports on time-sensitive missions, often at low altitude. The operational rules add margin to reflect that.

Fuel Reserves

Every powered flight must be planned to land with at least one hour of fuel remaining at normal cruise speed. The only carve-out is glider towing within five nautical miles of the departure airport.⁵ The FAA requires only 30 minutes of reserve for daytime VFR and 45 minutes at night.

Weather Minimums

VFR flight requires at least three statute miles of flight visibility unless the pilot in command is a qualified and current instrument pilot, or has been specifically authorized by CAP/DO after risk mitigation.⁵ The FAA allows VFR in as little as one mile in some uncontrolled airspace.

Night Flight

Sustained night flight below 2,000 feet AGL, or within 2,000 feet laterally of any obstacle, is prohibited. Exceptions cover takeoff and landing and ATC procedures such as an IFR approach.⁷ Night orientation flights are limited to familiarization and are used only at the discretion of Wing Commanders or higher.

Sterile Cockpit

Sterile cockpit procedures apply during taxi, takeoff, climb, descent, landing, and any operation in high-density traffic or heavy ATC periods. Non-essential conversation stops. The pilot briefs everyone aboard before departure, and any safety-of-flight concern (conflicting traffic, mechanical issues) is to be raised to the pilot at once.⁵

Prohibited Maneuvers and Wind Limits

Aerobatics, formation flying, and simulated emergencies in instrument conditions or at night are prohibited unless specifically authorized. Glider operations have their own wind ceilings: no flight with sustained winds or gusts above 20 knots, and no crosswinds above 12 knots. Student solo glider flights need winds under 10 knots with crosswinds below 5.⁵ Violations can bring administrative action, permanent grounding, or personal liability for repair costs.

Orientation Flights and Passengers

Cadet orientation flights get extra caution. They normally have to be flown in CAP corporate aircraft, and cadets are no longer eligible after their 18th birthday.⁵

After an engine change, major overhaul, or cylinder or magneto work, the airplane cannot be used for cadet orientation flights during the first 10 tachometer hours. The Orientation Pilot flies from the left front seat, and simulated emergencies are not permitted on orientation flights.⁵

Passenger rules extend beyond cadets. Only CAP members, CAP employees, ROTC/JROTC cadets during orientation programs, and certain other authorized individuals may ride in a corporate aircraft. Non-CAP passengers need advance approval submitted at least five days before the flight with detailed justification. Non-military, non-federal, non-CAP passengers must sign a release on CAPF 70-9, uploaded to the mission files in WMIRS within 72 hours.⁵ A cadet PIC may never carry another cadet as a passenger, with a narrow exception for cadet CFIs who hold the relevant qualifications.

Risk Assessment and the Five M’s

Every CAP flight begins with a risk assessment, and it functions as a real gate. The framework is the Five M’s: Member, Medium, Machine, Mission, and Management.⁸ Older materials label these as “Man” and “Media”; current CAP guidance uses “Member” and “Medium.”

Member: Are the people involved physically capable, adequately trained, and rested enough for the task?
Medium: What are the weather, terrain, and environmental factors?
Machine: Is the aircraft well maintained and suited to the mission, and is the crew trained on its systems?
Mission: Is the plan realistic, or does it try to cram too much into too little time?
Management: Is someone clearly in charge, and are the rules being followed?

The assessment produces a numerical score in WMIRS. Higher scores need higher release authority, escalating from a standard Flight Release Officer up through Senior FROs, Wing Commanders, and ultimately CAP/DO via the National Operations Center.⁵ If the score is too high, the flight is canceled or modified. Anyone on the crew is expected to raise safety concerns regardless of rank.

WMIRS, Flight Release, and Mission Closeout

Every flight goes through the Web Mission Information Reporting System. WMIRS stores the mission data, validates pilot qualifications in real time, and creates the auditable record used for insurance.⁹

You complete a CAP Form 104 for each sortie, ideally through the brief and debrief sections in WMIRS. The form captures the aircraft tail number, the CAP IDs of everyone aboard, and the intended route.¹⁰ If your currency has lapsed, the system will refuse to let you enter sortie data. Incomplete or inaccurate entries can jeopardize insurance coverage on the flight.

Entering the data is not the release. You still need a verbal or electronic release from a designated Flight Release Officer no more than 24 hours before takeoff. The FRO verifies your qualifications, confirms the mission symbol is right, and follows the flight to a safe arrival. An FRO cannot release a flight they are riding on as pilot, crew, or passenger.⁵

After landing, log back into WMIRS to enter final Hobbs and tachometer readings.¹¹ Any discrepancies noted in flight go into the Aircraft Discrepancy Log through the WMIRS maintenance module so maintenance sees them before the next flight.¹² Post-flight data has to be entered within 72 hours of flight completion. Closing the mission updates the aircraft’s maintenance tracking status.

Using an Electronic Flight Bag

You can substitute a tablet or EFB for paper charts and publications, but only in line with FAA Advisory Circular 91-78. Before using an EFB on a CAP sortie, complete system familiarization (ideally with a CFI or safety pilot) and satisfy yourself that your proficiency is adequate for the flight.¹³

Preflight the device: verify data currency, confirm downloads are complete, turn off cellular and Wi-Fi, and check that battery power will cover the planned flight plus expected deviations. CAP strongly recommends carrying basic paper charts as a backup. The PIC has to approve any EFB use before a crew member brings one on a sortie, and check pilots now evaluate EFB proficiency on annual and abbreviated check rides.¹³

Reimbursement on Air Force-Assigned Missions

Reimbursement is not a 70-1 rule, but it’s the natural next question, so the boundary is worth noting: costs are only reimbursable when the mission is Air Force-assigned, and even then only through a structured claims process. Allowable aircraft expenses include fuel, lubricants, and oxygen service, plus, for actual missions, essential hangar fees and aircraft preheat or de-ice charges.¹⁴

Automotive fuel is reimbursable only for regular or diesel; premium and higher-octane grades are not. Personal cell phone use is reimbursable only when the mission pushes you over your plan’s minutes, backed by highlighted phone bill copies. Overnight lodging needs advance approval through the National Operations Center before the mission.¹⁴

Receipts have to match your claim; lodging receipts need the property address. A receipt dated more than one day after the sortie needs a written explanation. Reimbursement forms generated in WMIRS are due within 30 days of mission close, and fuel receipts for funded flying should reach your wing or region within 15 days.

1
Civil Air Patrol. CAP Pilot Flight Evaluation – Airplane
2
Civil Air Patrol. CAP Form 5 Flight Check Guide
3
Civil Air Patrol National Headquarters. Transportation Mission Pilot
4
Civil Air Patrol. Civil Air Patrol Stan/Eval Newsletter – August 2025
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Civil Air Patrol. CAPR 70-1 CAP Flight Management
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Civil Air Patrol. Taking Your First Form 5
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Civil Air Patrol. CAPR 70-1 CAP Flight Management
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Civil Air Patrol. The 5 M’s – A Guide to Risk Assessments
9
Civil Air Patrol. Mission Sortie Reporting Requirements
10
Civil Air Patrol. Instructions for Completion of CAP Form 104
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Civil Air Patrol. Aircraft Information File Table of Contents
12
Civil Air Patrol National Headquarters. Aircraft Discrepancy Log
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Civil Air Patrol. Electronic Flight Bag – CAP Utilization Guidance
14
Civil Air Patrol. CAPR 173-3 Payment For CAP Support