OPNAVINST 3710.7 and CNAF M-3710.7, explained

Two documents share the number 3710.7, and searchers mix them up. OPNAVINST 3710.7 is the Chief of Naval Operations instruction that establishes the Naval Air Training and Operating Procedures Standardization (NATOPS) program. CNAF M-3710.7, the NATOPS General Flight and Operating Instructions Manual issued by Commander, Naval Air Forces, carries the detailed rules: who may fly, how a flight is planned and approved, how much a crew may fly, how long it must rest, and what weather it may launch into. The current manual is dated February 7, 2025. This page explains the split between the two, lists the 14 chapters, and walks through the rules people search for most, with paragraph numbers from the 2025 edition.

What OPNAVINST 3710.7 establishes and what CNAF M-3710.7 carries

Paragraph 1.1 of CNAF M-3710.7 states the relationship in two sentences. OPNAVINST 3710.7 establishes the NATOPS program. The manual "contains detailed policies and procedures in support of OPNAVINST 3710.7" and issues the policy and procedural guidance of the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) that applies to all NATOPS users. Paragraph 1.1.1 extends the manual's scope to the operation of all naval aircraft and related activities, and paragraph 2.2.2 names Commander, Naval Air Forces (COMNAVAIRFOR) as the cognizant command for both the instruction and the manual.

The split is recent. Until 2016 the instruction and the manual were one document. OPNAVINST 3710.7U, signed November 23, 2009, is 387 pages long and has 13 chapters with the same titles as chapters 1 through 13 of the manual today; chapter 14, UAS Policies and Operations, was added later. The signature page is a conventional OPNAV instruction letter: it is from the Chief of Naval Operations, titled Naval Air Training and Operating Procedures Standardization General Flight and Operating Instructions, cancels OPNAVINST 3710.7T of March 1, 2004, and is signed by the Director, Air Warfare. The purpose paragraph says the instruction issues policy and procedural guidance applicable to a broad spectrum of users and complements the individual NATOPS manuals. Distribution was electronic only, through the Department of the Navy Issuances website.

The first CNAF edition followed. CNAF M-3710.7 of May 5, 2016 carries the Department of the Navy and Commander, Naval Air Forces on its cover, runs 434 pages, and lists the interim changes it incorporates as numbers 39 through 47, continuing the series that OPNAVINST 3710.7U had carried to number 38. Appendix C of the 2016 manual lists its parent as OPNAVINST 3710.7V, titled NATOPS General Flight and Operating Instructions. The 2025 manual's Appendix C lists the parent only as the OPNAVINST 3710.7 series. The pattern is the one the Navy uses elsewhere: a short CNO instruction keeps the program alive, and a type commander manual carries the content that changes often.

A Navy notice in the Federal Register, dated May 25, 2004, shows the instruction in its legal role. It cites OPNAVINST 3710.7, titled NATOPS General Flight and Operating Instructions, as authority for two Navy records systems, the NATOPS Flight Personnel Training/Qualification Jacket and the Aviator's Flight Log Book System.

Student aviators meet the manual, not the instruction. The Naval Aviation Schools Command trainee guide for flight rules and regulations teaches the relationship between Federal Aviation Regulations Part 91, CNAF M-3710.7 and the Aeronautical Information Manual, and lists identifying the manual's preflight planning requirements among its objectives.

The 14 chapters of CNAF M-3710.7

The 2025 manual's list of effective printed content gives every chapter and appendix the date February 7, 2025, which means the whole manual was reissued as a revision rather than changed page by page. The chapters are:

Fourteen appendices follow, lettered A through N, from the NATOPS Flight Personnel Training/Qualification Jacket (A) and Directives Listed as References (C) through the Naval Aviation Survival Training Program requirements (E), the List of Forms and Reports (L), the Standardized ACM Training Rules Briefing Guide (M) and BUQ Levels (N) for unmanned aircraft qualification.

The record of changes at the front of the manual shows how often it moves. Revisions were issued on May 15, 2022, September 1, 2023, and February 7, 2025, with changes on January 15, 2021 and January 15, 2023, each tied to an Airworthiness Issue Resolution System (AIRS) number. The August 15, 2018 entry, for example, lists updates to crew rest requirements on pages 8-13 and 8-14.

Who owns each chapter and who signs

Figure 1-1 of the manual divides administrative responsibility. COMNAVAIRFOR (N455) owns chapters 1, 3 through 7, and 9 through 14, plus appendices A through D and F through N. The Naval Air Systems Command (COMNAVAIRSYSCOM) Airworthiness and CYBERSAFE Office (ACO) owns chapter 2, the NATOPS program chapter. COMNAVAIRFOR (N451) owns chapter 8 and appendix E. Paragraph 1.1.4 says questions about policy content go to the command listed for that chapter, and waivers go through paragraph 2.2.3.

Paragraph 2.2.2 sets out the roles. COMNAVAIRFOR acts as cognizant command for OPNAVINST 3710.7 and the manual and designates the NATOPS Program Administrator (N455), who oversees the program, formulates and issues NATOPS policy, designates NATOPS cognizant commands, and serves as program manager for CNAF M-3710.7 itself, including the routing of all permissions and waivers the manual requires. COMNAVAIRSYSCOM is the promulgation authority for NATOPS manuals, designates the NATOPS Products Administrator, and has cognizance over all aircraft equipment limitations and technical data in NATOPS publications. The Products Administrator (ACO) executes CNO policy at NATOPS reviews and monitors urgent, priority, and routine change recommendations.

The cover of the 2025 manual carries the Department of the Navy and the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations; the 2016 cover carried Commander, Naval Air Forces. The 2009 instruction was signed for the CNO by the Director, Air Warfare. For a reader checking a citation, the manual is the CNAF document and the instruction is the CNO document, and both are in force.

Navy crew rest rules in chapter 8

The crew rest rules people search for are in paragraph 8.3.2.1.1, Crew Rest for Flight Crew and Flight Support Personnel. Crew rest is defined as the non-duty time before a duty day, watch, or flight period begins. It includes free time for meals, transportation and rest, and it "shall include an opportunity for eight hours of uninterrupted sleep" in every 24-hour period. Crew rest does not begin until official duties end, and it is required before reporting for duty, assuming the watch, or starting preflight preparations.

The duty limit sits in the same paragraph. Flight support personnel and flight crew shall not be scheduled for continuous watch, duty, alert, or flight duty requiring them to be awake in excess of 18 hours. If operational necessity forces the 18-hour rule to be exceeded, 15 hours of continuous off-duty time shall be provided before the member is scheduled for any duties. Crew rest can be shortened below 12 hours to hold a 24-hour work and rest schedule, but a shortened period must still include the 8-hour sleep opportunity. The manual does not define the phrase crew day; the 18-hour rule is the limit that phrase usually refers to.

A note explains the numbers. After 16 hours awake, performance efficiency begins to drop; after 18 hours it declines to 75 percent of effectiveness or less. Paragraph 8.3.2.1.2 adds the circadian rules: crossing more than three time zones disrupts the body clock, and accommodation can be estimated at 1 day for every time zone beyond 3.

Flight time limits for pilots and aircrew

Paragraph 8.3.2.2 says precise flight time limits are impractical given the variety of operations, so it gives commanding officers guidelines. Daily flight time should not normally exceed three flights or 6.5 hours for flight personnel of single-piloted aircraft, or 12 hours for flight personnel of other aircraft, not counting preflight and postflight ground time. Weekly flight time should not normally exceed 30 hours for single-piloted aircraft and should not exceed 50 hours for other aircraft, and when practicable no one should be assigned flight duties on more than 6 consecutive days. Accumulated flight time should not exceed the hours in Figure 8-11, Maximum Recommended Flight Time, which sets maxima over 30, 90, and 365 days by aircraft type; a note under the figure says the multi-piloted maxima apply even when the copilot is not NATOPS qualified.

When operational tempo requires exceeding these guidelines, flight personnel shall be closely monitored and specifically cleared by the commanding officer with the advice of a flight surgeon or aerospace medicine physician assistant. A note adds that night, night vision device and nap-of-the-earth flying are more fatiguing than day visual flight and should be weighed when modifying "normal crew rest/crew day guidelines."

The 12-hour alcohol rule

The alcohol rule is item c of paragraph 8.3.2.5, Drugs. Consumption of any type of alcohol is prohibited within 12 hours of any mission brief or flight planning. The paragraph then undercuts anyone who reads the rule as a safe harbor: adherence to the letter of the rule does not guarantee a crewmember will be free of alcohol effects after 12 hours, and alcohol can affect the vestibular system for as long as 48 hours even with a blood alcohol content of zero. Special caution is urged at night, over water, and in instrument conditions. In addition to the 12-hour abstention, flight crews shall ensure they are free of hangover effects before flight, and detectable blood alcohol or a symptomatic hangover shall be cause for grounding flight personnel and restricting aviation ground personnel. The same paragraph prohibits over-the-counter drugs for flight personnel unless a flight surgeon or aerospace medicine physician assistant approves them.

Oxygen requirements and cabin altitude

Paragraph 8.2.4 opens with the physiology: noticeable deficits begin above 10,000 feet without supplemental oxygen or pressurization. The rule follows. Except as paragraphs 8.2.4.1 and 8.2.4.2 provide, all occupants aboard naval aircraft shall use supplemental oxygen on flights in which the cabin altitude exceeds 10,000 feet. A note says a member who cannot get a proper oxygen mask fit, for example because of facial hair, shall be found Not Physically Qualified for flight duties.

Paragraph 8.2.4.1 covers unpressurized aircraft. Where an oxygen system is installed, the pilot at the controls and aircrew use supplemental oxygen continuously above 10,000 feet; when oxygen is not available to other occupants, flight between 10,000 and 13,000 feet may not exceed 3 hours and flight above 13,000 feet is prohibited. In aircraft without oxygen systems, such as helicopters, the commanding officer, officer in charge, or mission commander must determine that flight above 10,000 feet is mission essential, time above 10,000 feet may not exceed 1 hour, and altitude may not exceed 13,000 feet. Paragraph 8.2.4.2 covers pressurized aircraft and 8.2.4.3 covers mask use in ejection seat aircraft.

Flight planning, the DD-1801, and the DD-175-1

Chapter 4 governs flight authorization and planning. Paragraph 4.5 requires a flight plan appropriate to the intended operation for all flights of naval aircraft, with the exceptions the paragraph lists. Paragraph 4.5.3 lists the authorized forms. The DD-1801 DoD International Flight Plan, completed per the FLIP General Planning document, may be used for other than local flights from airfields with a military operations department, and an abbreviated DD-1801 inside the local flying area. Authorized third-party applications may file a flight plan, and a daily flight schedule may serve as the flight plan for stereo-route flights and for local flights that meet the paragraph's conditions. The FAA 7233-4 may be used at U.S. airfields without a military operations department, and flights departing outside the United States use the form local authorities specify. Completed flight plans are retained for 6 months.

Searchers who type "DD-175" are usually looking for one of two things. Appendix L of the manual still lists the DD 175 Military Flight Plan, dated May 1986, as electronic media only, while the body text names the DD-1801 as the form in use. The DD-175-1 is the flight weather briefing: paragraph 4.5.5 allows separate DD-175-1s for each leg of a stopover flight, and a note in paragraph 4.8.3.1 says a DD-175-1 brief is valid only up to 3.0 hours past briefing or delivery time, or ETD plus one-half hour.

Paragraph 4.8.4 ties the plan to the weather. A flight plan is filed on the actual weather at departure, the existing and forecast weather for the whole route, and destination and alternate forecasts from 1 hour before to 1 hour after the estimated time of arrival. Under paragraph 4.8.4.2, IFR flight plans shall be filed and flown whenever practicable to reduce midair collision potential, and the forecast must meet Figure 4-1, IFR Filing Criteria. The figure works in three bands: destination forecast below published minimums requires an alternate with 3,000 feet and 3 statute miles or better; destination forecast between published minimums and 3,000 and 3 requires an alternate at published minimums plus 300 feet and 1 mile for a non-precision approach or plus 200 feet and one half mile for a precision approach; destination forecast of 3,000 and 3 or better requires no alternate. Single-piloted aircraft have absolute minimums of 200 feet and one half mile, or 200 feet and one quarter mile for single-piloted helicopters and tiltrotors. Paragraph 4.8.4.3 requires the alternate to have a published approach that can be flown without two-way radio communication whenever the destination lacks one or the alternate's own forecast is below 3,000 and 3.

Weather minimums for VFR flight

Chapter 5, Flight Rules, holds the visual flight rules. Paragraph 5.2.4 says the cloud clearance and visibility minimums in Figure 5-3, Basic VFR Flight Minimums, shall prevail throughout a VFR flight in airspace where Federal Aviation Regulations Part 91 applies. Ceiling and visibility within Class B, C, D, or E surface areas must be at least 1,000 feet and 3 statute miles, or the higher figures a field publishes in the DoD Flight Information Publication remarks. Destination weather shall be at least a 1,000-foot ceiling and 3 statute miles and forecast to remain so from 1 hour before to 1 hour after the estimated time of arrival.

Two exceptions follow. Special VFR under FAR 91.157 is permitted, except where a field does not authorize it for fixed-wing aircraft, with a ceiling of at least 500 feet, visibility of at least 1 statute mile, clear of clouds, and, except for CNATRA helicopter operations, an instrument-certified pilot and aircraft. Aviation commanding officers may authorize helicopter and tiltrotor special VFR below 500 feet and 1 mile for operational necessity, an authority the paragraph says shall not be delegated. Outside controlled airspace, helicopters may operate below 1,200 feet above ground level, clear of clouds, in less than 1 mile visibility at a speed that allows the pilot to see and avoid traffic. Paragraph 5.2.5 tells a pilot who loses VFR conditions en route to alter route, hold VFR until an IFR clearance is obtained, or land at a suitable alternate.

The NATOPS evaluation in chapter 2

Chapter 2 is the program chapter that NAVAIR owns, and section 2.7 holds the evaluation rules. Paragraph 2.7.1 defines two evaluations: each aircrewmember is evaluated annually, normally by the unit's own NATOPS instructors, and units are evaluated on an 18-month cycle by an evaluator from the model manager unit. Paragraph 2.7.2.2 requires every fleet replacement squadron to complete a NATOPS evaluation of its students before they finish the course, and sets the renewal window at 60 days before a qualification expires. Under paragraph 2.7.2.4, the written exams are graded on a 4.00 scale on the NATOPS Evaluation Report, OPNAV 3710/7, with 3.5 to pass the open book and 3.3 to pass the closed book. How the evaluation works in a squadron, the grades, and the people who give it are covered in What is NATOPS?. Evaluation reaches facilities too: a March 2020 story from Naval Air Station Pensacola describes air traffic controllers being periodically evaluated under the program on the competencies for each of 12 control positions.

How changes are made

Paragraph 1.1.2 says anyone may submit a recommended change to the manual or to any NATOPS publication. The preferred route is the AIRS program on the NATOPS page of the Airworthiness website. When AIRS is not available, urgent and priority changes go by naval message, and routine changes to the manual go to Commander, Naval Air Forces (N455) at NAS North Island on Form OPNAV 3710/6, NATOPS/Tactical Change Recommendations. Paragraph 1.1.5 says distribution is electronic only, with copies on the Department of the Navy Issuances website, the Airworthiness website, and the NATEC website.

Paragraph 2.3.4 defines the three forms an update can take. An interim change is initiated by an urgent or priority recommendation and issued by rapid means, normally a message with replacement pages. A change is limited to the pages containing revised information. A revision is a complete new edition that incorporates all previous interim changes and changes. Section 2.5 sorts recommendations into routine, which wait for the next NATOPS review, and interim, which paragraph 2.5.4 splits into urgent and priority, with paragraph 2.5.4.2 covering interim change recommendations to CNAF M-3710.7 itself. Section 2.6 governs the reviews at which routine changes are decided. The record of changes shows the result: between 2017 and 2025 the manual took a mix of dated changes and full revisions, and the February 7, 2025 edition reset every page to one date.

What to check

• Which document is being cited: the CNO instruction that establishes the program, or CNAF M-3710.7, which holds the rule itself?
• Which edition? The current manual is dated February 7, 2025 and supersedes September 1, 2023; a crew rest figure quoted from a 2016 or 2009 copy may have moved or changed.
• Is a quoted "crew day" limit the 18-hour rule of paragraph 8.3.2.1.1, and does the citation include the 15-hour recovery requirement that goes with it?
• Is a flight time figure from paragraph 8.3.2.2 presented as a guideline, which is what the manual calls it, or as a hard limit?
• Does a weather claim distinguish the VFR minimums of paragraph 5.2.4 from the IFR filing criteria of Figure 4-1 and the alternate rules of paragraph 4.8.4.3?
• Has the change in question been released as an interim change, a change, or a revision, by the NATOPS Products Administrator for a NATOPS manual or by COMNAVAIRFOR for CNAF M-3710.7 itself, and does it appear in the record of changes?

Azcuna's ELLMENT, the E-2D Large Language Model Entity, was proposed to NAVAIR PMA-231 under Navy SBIR Phase I topic DON26BZ01-NV010. The prototype, built at private expense on publicly available doctrine, answers with a page-level citation and refuses when the documents do not support an answer. The proposal has been submitted.

Questions people ask

What is OPNAVINST 3710.7?

OPNAVINST 3710.7 is the Chief of Naval Operations instruction that establishes the Naval Air Training and Operating Procedures Standardization (NATOPS) program. Paragraph 1.1 of CNAF M-3710.7 says the instruction establishes the program and that the manual contains the detailed policies and procedures in support of it. Through revision U, signed November 23, 2009, the instruction was itself the full general flight and operating manual. Since May 5, 2016 the detailed rules sit in CNAF M-3710.7.

What is CNAF M-3710.7?

CNAF M-3710.7 is the NATOPS General Flight and Operating Instructions Manual issued by Commander, Naval Air Forces. The current edition is dated February 7, 2025 and supersedes the edition of September 1, 2023. Paragraph 1.1.1 says it applies to the operation of all naval aircraft and related activities. It has 14 chapters, from Introduction through UAS Policies and Operations, and appendices A through N. Distribution is electronic only, through the DONI, Airworthiness and NATEC websites.

What is the Navy crew rest rule?

CNAF M-3710.7 paragraph 8.3.2.1.1 defines crew rest as the non-duty time before a duty day, watch, or flight period begins. It shall include an opportunity for 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep in every 24-hour period. Flight crew and flight support personnel shall not be scheduled for continuous watch, duty, alert, or flight duty in excess of 18 hours, and if the 18-hour rule must be exceeded, 15 hours of continuous off-duty time shall be provided before the member is scheduled for any duties.

What is the Navy crew day limit under 3710.7?

The manual does not use the phrase crew day as a defined term. The limit searchers mean is the 18-hour rule in paragraph 8.3.2.1.1 of CNAF M-3710.7: no scheduled continuous watch, duty, alert, or flight duty requiring the member to be awake in excess of 18 hours. A note in the same paragraph says performance efficiency begins to drop after 16 hours awake and falls to 75 percent of effectiveness or less after 18 hours.

How many hours can a Navy pilot fly in a day?

CNAF M-3710.7 paragraph 8.3.2.2 gives guidelines rather than hard limits. Daily flight time should not normally exceed three flights or 6.5 hours for flight personnel of single-piloted aircraft, or 12 hours for flight personnel of other aircraft, excluding preflight and postflight ground time. Weekly flight time should not normally exceed 30 hours for single-piloted aircraft and should not exceed 50 hours for other aircraft, and flight personnel should not fly on more than 6 consecutive days when practicable.

What is the Navy 12-hour alcohol rule for flying?

CNAF M-3710.7 paragraph 8.3.2.5 says consumption of any type of alcohol is prohibited within 12 hours of any mission brief or flight planning. The manual adds that keeping the letter of the rule does not guarantee a crewmember is free of alcohol effects, that alcohol can affect the vestibular system for as long as 48 hours, and that detectable blood alcohol or a symptomatic hangover shall be cause for grounding flight personnel.

When is supplemental oxygen required in Navy aircraft?

CNAF M-3710.7 paragraph 8.2.4 says all occupants of naval aircraft shall use supplemental oxygen on flights in which cabin altitude exceeds 10,000 feet, except as paragraphs 8.2.4.1 and 8.2.4.2 allow. In unpressurized aircraft with oxygen, the pilot at the controls uses oxygen continuously above 10,000 feet. Where oxygen systems are not available, such as in helicopters, time above 10,000 feet is limited to 1 hour, altitude to 13,000 feet, and the flight must be mission essential.

What are the Navy VFR weather minimums?

CNAF M-3710.7 paragraph 5.2.4 requires the cloud clearance and visibility minimums in Figure 5-3 throughout a VFR flight, at least a 1,000-foot ceiling and 3 statute miles within Class B, C, D, or E surface areas, and destination weather of at least 1,000 feet and 3 statute miles forecast to hold from 1 hour before to 1 hour after the estimated time of arrival. Special VFR is allowed with a 500-foot ceiling and 1 statute mile under the conditions the paragraph lists.

What form is a Navy flight plan filed on?

CNAF M-3710.7 paragraph 4.5.3 lists the authorized methods: the DD-1801 DoD International Flight Plan, completed per the FLIP General Planning document, an authorized third-party filing application, a daily flight schedule for stereo routes and local flights, the FAA 7233-4 at U.S. fields without a military operations department, or the local form abroad. Completed flight plans are kept for 6 months. Appendix L still lists the DD 175 Military Flight Plan, and the DD-175-1 is the flight weather briefing form referenced in paragraph 4.8.3.

Who signs CNAF M-3710.7 and how is it changed?

The 2025 edition's cover carries the Department of the Navy and the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, and the manual is issued by Commander, Naval Air Forces, whose N455 office is the NATOPS Program Administrator under paragraph 2.2.2. Changes are submitted through the Airworthiness Issue Resolution System, with a naval message or Form OPNAV 3710/6 as the fallback. Paragraph 2.3.4 defines three update types: interim change, change, and revision.

Sources

1. 1CNAF M-3710.7, NATOPS General Flight and Operating Instructions Manual (February 7, 2025) · Commander, Naval Air Forces, hosted by Navy Medicine (Naval Aerospace Medical Institute)
2. 2OPNAVINST 3710.7U, NATOPS General Flight and Operating Instructions (November 23, 2009) · Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, hosted by Headquarters Marine Corps Aviation
3. 3CNAF M-3710.7, NATOPS General Flight and Operating Instructions Manual (May 5, 2016) · Commander, Naval Air Forces, hosted by Headquarters Marine Corps Aviation
4. 4Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records · Department of the Navy, Federal Register (May 25, 2004)
5. 5Preflight Course (API) Module/Unit 7: Flight Rules and Regulations, Trainee Guide · Naval Aviation Schools Command, hosted by Chief of Naval Air Training (CNATRA)
6. 6Air Traffic Control Sailors Successfully Complete NATOPS Evaluations · Naval Air Station Pensacola, via DVIDS

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