> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.pcflyers.org/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Glossary

> The words used around the club and across this site, in plain English.

<Info>
  **Who this is for:** Everyone, but especially new members. Nothing here assumes you have flown
  with a club before.
</Info>

## Club and website terms

**Schedulemaster (SM)**
The club's operations system, at [my.schedulemaster.com](https://my.schedulemaster.com). It holds
your account, the aircraft schedule, your flight records, and your balance — and it is where your
username and password live. See [How it works](/start/how-it-works).

**The website / the portal**
[www.pcflyers.org](https://www.pcflyers.org) — where you upload documents, redeem a gift
certificate, enter the photo contest, and where the club's administration tools live.

**Active member**
A member whose club membership is current in Schedulemaster. Active membership is what unlocks the
member tools on the website.

**Retired member**
A former member. Retired members can still sign in and read public pages, but the member tools are
closed to them. Retiring can be requested by the member, or recorded by the club.

**Board of Directors**
The club's elected directors. On the website, directors get read-only access to the photo contest
administration area, plus their own ballot when the judging opens.

**Cover sheet**
The printed sheet that goes out with an aircraft, carrying the oil type, parking location, and any
current instructions for that aircraft.

**Gift certificate**
Club credit bought through the website and redeemed against a member's Schedulemaster account.
Each certificate carries its own certificate number, which is what you enter to redeem it.

## Aviation terms

**CFI**
Certificated Flight Instructor — an instructor rated to give flight training. Around the club,
"your CFI" means the instructor you fly with.

**CFII**
An instructor additionally rated to give instrument training.

**BFR / flight review**
The flight review every pilot must complete with an instructor to keep flying legally — commonly
still called a BFR, from the older name "biennial flight review". The club tracks yours and shows
it on your profile.

**Club review / checkout**
The check flight the club requires before you fly a particular aircraft or type. Distinct from a
flight review: a checkout is the club's requirement, a flight review is the regulator's.

**Currency**
Whether your required items — flight review, medical, club review, safety training — are still in
date. Your member profile shows each one with the days remaining.

**Medical**
Your FAA medical certificate. The club records its expiry alongside your other currency items.

**N-number**
An aircraft's registration, the identifier painted on the tail — `N123XY`, for example. Every
aircraft on this site is referred to by its N-number.

**Squawk**
A fault or defect reported against an aircraft. "Squawking" something means reporting it so it can
be fixed or noted.

**Wet rate**
An hourly rate with fuel included. A dry rate does not include fuel. Club aircraft are normally
quoted wet.

**Tach time / Hobbs time**
Two ways of measuring how long an aircraft has run. Hobbs time runs with the engine; tach time
runs at a rate tied to engine speed. Which one you are billed on depends on the aircraft.

## Airport and badging

**KCRQ**
McClellan–Palomar Airport in Carlsbad, California — the club's home field. KCRQ is its identifier.

**AIM badge**
The airport identification badge issued by the County of San Diego that allows airside access at
KCRQ. Members who need one apply through the club, which prepares the county's application form
for them.

**Badge termination**
When a badge-holding member's club membership ends, the club is required to notify the county so
the badge can be closed out. The club does this on a regular schedule — no action is needed from
the departing member beyond returning the badge itself.

**Airside**
The secured part of the airport past the gate — ramps, taxiways, runways. Getting there on foot or
by vehicle is what a badge is for.

## Related

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="How it works" icon="diagram-project" href="/start/how-it-works">
    Schedulemaster and the website — what each one owns.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Getting help" icon="circle-question" href="/start/getting-help">
    Who to ask when a term here does not answer the real question.
  </Card>
</Columns>