General Preparation
Start cross country planning at least a day in advance of your
flight. You do NOT have time to do it all just before your
flight.
It will take you a few hours the first time. If you have not been
shown how to fill out a nav log, look at this navigation calculation page for more
details.
For each leg of your cross country flight, prepare your charts showing
a
set heading point, your track from the set heading point to the
destination,
10 nm marks along the track and 10 degree drift lines. Use the
VTA
chart for portions of your flight where you will be flying within the
VTA
area and use the VNC for the other parts of the flight.
Select appropriate altitudes of flight, and mark them on your
navigation
log. Measure the distances and track, and record the magnetic
variation.
Also mark the top of descent on your chart, three miles back for each
1000'
you must descend in a C150, four miles per thousand feet in a C172.
Complete weight and balance calculations for the flight. Robyn
weighs
140 lbs with her headset and that bag she always carries. Allow an
extra five
pounds in winter, for extra clothing.
Choose
and
mark on your chart appropriate points for groundspeed calculations, and
for
each one record on your nav log the distances between them and the
distance
remaining.
Look up the airports you are going to in the CFS, and note the runways,
the
frequencies, the aerodrome elevation, the circuit altitude and any
special
circuit procedures.
Some hours before your flight, obtain the upper winds. Use the airplane
performance
charts to select an appropriate rpm setting, and record the BHP, the
TAS
and the fuel consumption rate for the temperature at your altitude.
Look
up the time, fuel and distance required to climb to altitude.
Calculate the groundspeed, crab, magnetic heading, time and fuel burn.
Don't
forget to include climb, taxi, run up and reserve fuel in your total
fuel
requirements calculations. Allow AT LEAST an hour to make these final
calculations.
You have booked the airplane and instructor for your flight, not to
wait
for you to finish your planning.
Just before the flight, get the latest weather and NOTAMs, and check
them
over carefully to ensure that conditions are still appropriate for your
flight.
File a flight plan. Your instructor is the pilot in command for a
dual
flight. Robyn's licence number is in the password protected area, you'll
need
to know it in order to file your flight plan.
Routes
This calculator
is a good one to use to check that the distance is sufficient on your
commercial
long cross country.
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Index | Robyn's Flying Start Home
This page written 24 May 2003 by
Robyn
Stewart. Last revised 02 February 2005.
Copyright 2003-2004
Flying
Start Initiatives
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