Commercial x-country Q's

[justwanttofly]

Hi All,

I'm looking at doing my 300nm x-country, and just wanted to see if anyone had some advice as to how to go about planning it. The plane I'm taking is VOR and GPS equipt. (no ADF) .

Now for my questions:

1. Should I make a set heading point, track line to/from each dest. plus do ground speed checks and so on? The problem I'm running into with that is the terrain has minimal land marks I can use.
2. Do I track in and out bound on the VORs?
3. Fly GPS direct and use the nav aids and map to confirm? The GPS I'm using does not have a moving map. It only has heading to fly, ground speed, distance, and time.

I really want to maximize my time and learn as much as I can. If you could add to what I should do as well as answer my questions it would be more than appreciated.

Thank you,

Justwanttofly

[StudentPilot]

Well, since you have to do three legs anyways why not do one with VORs, one by dead reckoning, and one by pilotage. GPS is pretty basic and can be a back up in case you end up temporarily misplaced, the VOR stops working, or your map goes flying out the window.

[200hr Wonder]

Really? Really? You have a license and you are asking this? Just get there man.

[ywgflyboy]

Tip: Go an extra 50 miles just for safety... And not get called out on only going 298nm (thanks CFI).

[North Shore]

All of the above. Practice your skills and use all of the navaids available to you. Use the map, even if there are minimal landmarks - it might help you later on.

EVEN BIGGER TIP: DON"T just do 300 NM. Save if you have to, and take the plane for a week or so, and fly as far as you can across the country or down into the States. This is pretty much the only time in your commercial career that you'll have your own plane without someone else telling you when and where to fly. You'll learn far more about navigation, wx, trip planning etc... in a multi-day/leg xc than you will in a month of transport-mandated 300NM's. Even better, if you are close to getting your licence, take a stack of resumes, and use this as part of a road-trip job hunt..

Good Luck!

[ywgflyboy]

My biggest regret is not using the time to enjoy myself. I did too many pointless x-countries just to get the time. Looking back, I wish I had done it better and seen more of the country etc. You need the 40 (or 50?) x-country hours for your IFR rating anyway, so make the most of them.

[skypirate88]

+1 to North Shores comment...I regret not going on farther trips during my time building. I was given the opportunity to ferry a 172 from Toronto-Edmonton, and I'm pretty sure I learned more along that trip then with any other one...including my 300 mile.

[cessna 150]

Hi there I am also planning on getting my 300 NM done in the next few weeks (hopefully). Like others have suggested you should definitely go beyond 300 nautical miles because this may be your only chance EVER to have a plane all for yourself for a pretty long time. I personally was thinking about flying mainly from VOR to VOR because that will probably be the navaid that will be most used by me when I land my first job (whenever that might be). At the same time maybe do a set heading point to start out with so you can work on some ground speed checks for the flight test.

Good luck!

[fish4life]

Tip: Go an extra 50 miles just for safety... And not get called out on only going 298nm (thanks CFI).

everyone knows winnipeg regina doesn't count thats why u throw in moose jaw

[fish4life]

Hi there I am also planning on getting my 300 NM done in the next few weeks (hopefully). Like others have suggested you should definitely go beyond 300 nautical miles because this may be your only chance EVER to have a plane all for yourself for a pretty long time. I personally was thinking about flying mainly from VOR to VOR because that will probably be the navaid that will be most used by me when I land my first job (whenever that might be). At the same time maybe do a set heading point to start out with so you can work on some ground speed checks for the flight test.

Good luck!

most likely nav aid you will use for your first job is Direct To on a gps whether you are a VFR or IFR guy

[ywgflyboy]

Tip: Go an extra 50 miles just for safety... And not get called out on only going 298nm (thanks CFI).

everyone knows winnipeg regina doesn't count thats why u throw in moose jaw

everyone except the CFI who insisted it counted and he needed the plane back by 1500

[Ollie]

I took a tent with me and camped under my wing for 4 nights, it was awesome!

[Mihai]

I took a tent with me and camped under my wing for 4 nights, it was awesome!

DID IT RAIN?

[WileyCoyote]

I'll throw in another vote for more time. I took three days and wandered around BC/AB with my dad and had a blast. Personally I think the 300nm is sorta weak, can do it in a few hours. More territory you cross, its more likely you'll have to deal with some real world scenarios! Most importantly, have fun!!

[fish4life]

Going down through the US is an awesome experience, they treat you much different at FBO's down there and you will have a ton of fun doing it. Just make sure you talk to someone that has gone down recently to help you out with planning and all the procedures that are different when flying down.

[SuperchargedRS]

If you go south dont forget about eAPIS.

I vote you just use a VFR sectional and fly direct, cross check your landmarks with the VOR, cross check that with the GPS.

[Luscombe]

Did mine from Halifax to Vancouver in a Luscombe 8A. Just me and the wife, and a stack of VNC's... sounds like that old Lobo song "me and you and a dog named boo". I had a blast doing it and learned lots.

Another neat thing about it was when I went into TC to fill out my paperwork for the CPL. The Inspector took one look at my logbook and stated that he thought that just might meet the minimum criteria without even pulling out a ruler.

It's too bad most flying clubs won't let their airplanes go for that long a time, the experience was invaluable and a whole lot of fun.

[zed]

I would agree, for your commercial x-country make it a real adventure. If you lack confidence, then it just means you will spend more time planning it right.

I did mine from Northern Quebec to Winnipeg, in December/January (plane was available-go figure, time off, seemed like quite a challenge, surprise my mother who didn't know I had been doing flight training for the previous year). Planned and accepted a few weather days as the norm for the season. That was in Kapuskasing, where I spent it with some Bearskin flight crews who were also iced/weathered in by an unusual double cell over James Bay. Spent a night under tent on an airfield at -35 in Geraldton, seeing that what I packed for survival gear would have worked. Discovered that the one hotel in Sioux Lookout closed 23 December for the week. Experienced crappy weather including marginal VFR, was challenged with real decisions. Made tons of real life judgment calls because of weather, icing, light, fuel, etc, including an end of day divert when I couldn't reach Dryden. Met a bunch of great people along the way, and learned a WHOLE lot about real flying.

Flying in your backyard is one thing, flying 1000nm+ away is something completely different. I might change a lot of things about how I did in my training, but that X-country would have always been included. It is one of the few memories I still have of my PPL-CPL training.

So my suggestion, go West, East or North. (But unless you've had survival training, stick to non-winter periods) Go to visit family or friends, or just to see something you've seen on television or heard from people. What ever cranks you up. But make the most of it. And you have NO reason not to make it work, if you are still working up to 200hrs. If your club can't let you have the plane for a week, find somewhere where you can rent one. Even if you have to travel somewhere else before you start your adventure, then do it.

[justwanttofly]

Hi All,

Thanks for the great advice. I'm currently in the middle of my x-country and so far I have learned a great deal. I departed from Edmonton on a Friday, and arrived on Saturday in Whitehorse. I'm flying a c172 and battled headwinds the whole way up, grounding out at 70kts the majority of the time. Flying the mountains between Watson Lake and Whitehorse seeing the rugged terrain and various weather systems gave me a new appreciation for what bush pilots today, and back in the day did. The majority of the trip up was spent flying under the clouds map reading, and since I was under the clouds flying in the mountains dodging weather systems GPS direct was not an option.

I'm here with the Century of Flight Club, and have met a number of pilots in the industry as well as people from all walks of life who share the same passion for flying. I've been on some fly-out day trips, and taken lots pictures including highest mountain in Canada, airports, lakes, clouds, and other aircraft. Cruising above the clouds at 10500' and seeing the mountains in the distance tower 1000s of feet above you still covered in snow is surreal.

The Yukon is very beautiful and if you ever get a chance to fly up here I say do it. I will be leaving here Sunday will be back in Edmonton Monday afternoon sometime. If anyone would like to see some of the pictures or hear about my experience in greater detail I welcome you to PM me your email address.

Regards,

Justwanttofly

[zed]

Be safe. Clear skys and enjoy your adventure. You'll remember for the rest of your career.