Useful tips for cross-country flight (tell me yours)
Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2017 9:29 pm
I planned a recent 18.5-km out-and-back flight up a valley to a geographical feature (Twin Bridges) that I had wanted to see for a long time.
I started off with a full tank (4.5 liters). I know that I can cruise for up to 2 hours (at 6,900 rpm) on one tank. To give myself a safety margin, I assume a maximum powered flight time of 1.5 hours.
Google Earth showed that Twin Bridges was about 19 km from the airfield (Kaikohe Airfield, built by the Americans in the 1940s). The wind was forecast to be flowing up the valley, so I expected a tailwind out and a headwind back. My rule of safety is to be able to fly at a ground speed of more than 20 km/h into a headwind.
I figure that if I have to grind along at 20 km/h to get back, and I have 1.5 hours of fuel, I had better not let myself get more than 20 km downwind from my base airfield if I want to get back. To accurately read my distance, I always program my point of origin coordinates into my vario. At any time, I can tell how far I have to fly. I can also avoid over-reaching myself.
Here's the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuRct-Whj_Y
I had a ground speed of around 62 km/k going out, and around 28-30 km/h coming back. Twin Bridges was exactly 18.5 km from the airfield, so I knew I could fly back.
If any of you have similar tricks and approaches to managing your cross-country flights, feel free to share them.
I started off with a full tank (4.5 liters). I know that I can cruise for up to 2 hours (at 6,900 rpm) on one tank. To give myself a safety margin, I assume a maximum powered flight time of 1.5 hours.
Google Earth showed that Twin Bridges was about 19 km from the airfield (Kaikohe Airfield, built by the Americans in the 1940s). The wind was forecast to be flowing up the valley, so I expected a tailwind out and a headwind back. My rule of safety is to be able to fly at a ground speed of more than 20 km/h into a headwind.
I figure that if I have to grind along at 20 km/h to get back, and I have 1.5 hours of fuel, I had better not let myself get more than 20 km downwind from my base airfield if I want to get back. To accurately read my distance, I always program my point of origin coordinates into my vario. At any time, I can tell how far I have to fly. I can also avoid over-reaching myself.
Here's the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuRct-Whj_Y
I had a ground speed of around 62 km/k going out, and around 28-30 km/h coming back. Twin Bridges was exactly 18.5 km from the airfield, so I knew I could fly back.
If any of you have similar tricks and approaches to managing your cross-country flights, feel free to share them.