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(Long) Cross Country Dreams

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Arty Trost

Joined: 25 May 2006
Posts: 205
Location: Sandy, Oregon

Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 8:38 pm Post subject: (Long) Cross Country Dreams

Hi Cristal -



You've already gotten lots of great suggestions about making a cross-country flight. I have done a lot of long cross countries (not long compared to John Hauck and some of the others, but compared to most light sport/ultralight pilots.>  I have a Rotax 503; like you, no oil injection - I mix my own oil/gas.I also have a very basic GPS - no airports or moving maps.  Just an arrow pointing the way,yet does show track, bearing, altitude, ETA, speed over the ground.



Anyway - you've gotten a number of suggestions regarding sites for flight planning.  As Larry Cottell can tell you, (we flew on a long cross-country last year,) I prefer to do my flight planning by looking at sectionals and road/topo maps.  Why?  Because the on-line flight planners give you point-to-point info, and I fly IFR.  Not always - but often.  Why?  Well, with a 2-cycle, I don't have the absolute confidence in it that a 4-cycle, or certificated engine pilot might have.  I also think about what might happen if I go down - I want 1) to be able to get my plane out, if it's not able to be flown out of the crash site; 2) for emergency vehicles to be able to get to me, if necessary.  That means not being too far from a road. That doesn't mean I never fly away from a road - it just means that for purposes of flight planning I  plan with following roads in mind, and then deviate when the terrain is conducive.  



With 10 gallons, and burning 5 gpm (I know, you wrote 4-5, but when fully loaded with camping gear it might be more,) you should be able to plan 100-115 mile legs, and that's being safely conservative - unless you run into major headwinds, of course. If you can't find an airport with gas or a courtesy car, I've had good success with flying around the perimeter of a small town, slowly, and then landing nearby.  So far, 100% of the time, someone will drive over to see what this strange looking bird is.  Then I ask for a ride to town for food or gas.  So far, I've never been turned down.  Twice, in Nevada, far from even a small town, I've landed as close as possible to a ranch home and asked to buy gas.  Those ranches out in the middle of nowhere usually have a 500 gal tank, since they can't be running into town to fill up. My guess, though, is that once you start doing your planning, you'll see how many airports there are along your route.



A gadget that I find indispensable for flight planning is a Scalex MapWheel.  It's a nifty little instrument, battery-powered, that you run over a map or sectional and it measures distance in miles, kilometres or nautical miles. I can "trace" every little wiggle on the map and know exactly how many miles I'll be flying.My GPS will show me point to point distance, but the Scalex shows you actual distance if you're not going point to point. 



I absolutely agree with the several other Kolbers who said to start with shorter cross-countries and work your way up to your - VERY DO-ABLE - 600 mile dream flight. There's a tired-ness factor that hasn't been mentioned yet.  There's additional stress when you've flying over new terrain far from home, and if you're fighting a headwind or any type of turbulence, that can also be weary-ing. Here in northwestern Oregon, we have a ready-made "first long cross-country" flight that we recommend.  It's flying from the Portland area to the EAA airshow at Arlington, Washington.  It's 250 miles (one way), over quite varied terrain. 



You haven't said yet whether you'll be flying with someone/s else or not. I highly recommend that you do, as you get acclimated to flying cross-country.  It's great to be able to discuss things both before and after each leg, as well as in the air. 



Also - are you able to do trouble shooting and field repairs yourself? This is something else to consider if you're flying a long ways from home and by yourself. Many of the guys on this list are great mechanics, and that can be crucial if you have a forced landing an bend a gear leg or incur some other type of damage.  Last fall I was with 2 other light sport pilots.  We landed on top of a mesa and I had a rock go through my prop, breaking a blade, and also flattened a tire (and crumpled the hub) in the process. I would have been in real trouble if I'd been by myself.  They flew to an airport about 30 miles away and were able to bring back a new prop blade, tire and hub.  (I was extra-ordinarily lucky that all of that stuff was available locally.)  For me, it's also a matter of strength - or not enough of it.  I'm 4'11" tall and weigh 105 lbs.  I can't lift up a gear leg or a wing by myself. 



Keep doing what you're doing - asking for information.  Sift through it and decide what makes sense for you and the way you fly. Best of luck - you'll LOVE cross-country flying.  But warning - it's addictive!



Arty Trost

Maxair Drifter

Sandy, Oregon

 

www.LessonsFromTheEdge.com



"Life's a daring adventure or nothing"

                      Helen Keller



"I refuse to tip toe through life just to arrive safely at death."

--- On Tue, 8/26/08, cristalclear13 <cristalclearwaters(at)juno.com> wrote:



 	  Quote: 	
		   From: cristalclear13 <cristalclearwaters(at)juno.com>

 Subject: Cross Country Dreams

 To: kolb-list(at)matronics.com

 Date: Tuesday, August 26, 2008, 10:12 AM

 

 "cristalclear13"

 <cristalclearwaters(at)juno.com>

 

 My cross country dream for my Mark II:

 Waycross, GA to Carmi, IL

 

 Instrumentsequipment on my Mark II:

 EGT CHT ASI ALT Tach ELT - cannot fly at night or into B or

 C airspace

 handheld NAV/COM radio

 very basic etrex garmin gps (not aviation and no built-in

 map)

 

 Fuel:

 10 gallon tank -have to mix my oil

 burn 4-5 gph

 cruise at 65-70 IAS

 

 What do you think?  Only a dream?  Or a possibility?

 

 --------

 Cristal Waters

 Mark II Twinstar

 

 

 

 

 Read this topic online here:

 

 http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p 0697#200697

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cristalclear13

Joined: 19 Sep 2007
Posts: 363
Location: Southeast Georgia

Posted: Thu Aug 28, 2008 4:36 am Post subject: Re: (Long) Cross Country Dreams

 	  Arty Trost wrote: 	
		  Hi Cristal -



You've already gotten lots of great suggestions about making a cross-country flight. I have done a lot of long cross countries (not long compared to John Hauck and some of the others, but compared to most light sport/ultralight pilots.>  I have a Rotax 503; like you, no oil injection - I mix my own oil/gas.I also have a very basic GPS - no airports or moving maps.  Just an arrow pointing the way,yet does show track, bearing, altitude, ETA, speed over the ground.



Anyway - you've gotten a number of suggestions regarding sites for flight planning.  As Larry Cottell can tell you, (we flew on a long cross-country last year,) I prefer to do my flight planning by looking at sectionals and road/topo maps.  Why?  Because the on-line flight planners give you point-to-point info, and I fly IFR.  Not always - but often.  Why?  Well, with a 2-cycle, I don't have the absolute confidence in it that a 4-cycle, or certificated engine pilot might have.  I also think about what might happen if I go down - I want 1) to be able to get my plane out, if it's not able to be flown out of the crash site; 2) for emergency vehicles to be able to get to me, if necessary.  That means not being too far from a road. That doesn't mean I never fly away from a road - it just means that for purposes of flight planning I  plan with following roads in mind, and then deviate when the terrain is conducive.  



With 10 gallons, and burning 5 gpm (I know, you wrote 4-5, but when fully loaded with camping gear it might be more,) you should be able to plan 100-115 mile legs, and that's being safely conservative - unless you run into major headwinds, of course. If you can't find an airport with gas or a courtesy car, I've had good success with flying around the perimeter of a small town, slowly, and then landing nearby.  So far, 100% of the time, someone will drive over to see what this strange looking bird is.  Then I ask for a ride to town for food or gas.  So far, I've never been turned down.  Twice, in Nevada, far from even a small town, I've landed as close as possible to a ranch home and asked to buy gas.  Those ranches out in the middle of nowhere usually have a 500 gal tank, since they can't be running into town to fill up. My guess, though, is that once you start doing your planning, you'll see how many airports there are along your route.



A gadget that I find indispensable for flight planning is a Scalex MapWheel.  It's a nifty little instrument, battery-powered, that you run over a map or sectional and it measures distance in miles, kilometres or nautical miles. I can "trace" every little wiggle on the map and know exactly how many miles I'll be flying.My GPS will show me point to point distance, but the Scalex shows you actual distance if you're not going point to point. 



I absolutely agree with the several other Kolbers who said to start with shorter cross-countries and work your way up to your - VERY DO-ABLE - 600 mile dream flight. There's a tired-ness factor that hasn't been mentioned yet.  There's additional stress when you've flying over new terrain far from home, and if you're fighting a headwind or any type of turbulence, that can also be weary-ing. Here in northwestern Oregon, we have a ready-made "first long cross-country" flight that we recommend.  It's flying from the Portland area to the EAA airshow at Arlington, Washington.  It's 250 miles (one way), over quite varied terrain. 



You haven't said yet whether you'll be flying with someone/s else or not. I highly recommend that you do, as you get acclimated to flying cross-country.  It's great to be able to discuss things both before and after each leg, as well as in the air. 



Also - are you able to do trouble shooting and field repairs yourself? This is something else to consider if you're flying a long ways from home and by yourself. Many of the guys on this list are great mechanics, and that can be crucial if you have a forced landing an bend a gear leg or incur some other type of damage.  Last fall I was with 2 other light sport pilots.  We landed on top of a mesa and I had a rock go through my prop, breaking a blade, and also flattened a tire (and crumpled the hub) in the process. I would have been in real trouble if I'd been by myself.  They flew to an airport about 30 miles away and were able to bring back a new prop blade, tire and hub.  (I was extra-ordinarily lucky that all of that stuff was available locally.)  For me, it's also a matter of strength - or not enough of it.  I'm 4'11" tall and weigh 105 lbs.  I can't lift up a gear leg or a wing by myself. 



Keep doing what you're doing - asking for information.  Sift through it and decide what makes sense for you and the way you fly. Best of luck - you'll LOVE cross-country flying.  But warning - it's addictive!



Arty Trost

Maxair Drifter

Sandy, Oregon

 

	




I'm so glad to hear from you Arty and such wonderful advice.  I really appreciate it!  Thanks!

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_________________
Cristal Waters
Kolb Mark II Twinstar Rotax 503 DCSI Sept 2007 - sold Sept 2012
Private Pilot Aug 2008
ELSA Repairman for N193Y April 2008
Rotax 2 stroke maintenance April 2009

russ(at)rkiphoto.com
Guest

Posted: Thu Aug 28, 2008 5:32 am Post subject: (Long) Cross Country Dreams

WW

You say 'I fly IFR' -- do you mean I Follow Roads?  Sounbds like it.

do not archive

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Arty Trost

Joined: 25 May 2006
Posts: 205
Location: Sandy, Oregon

Posted: Thu Aug 28, 2008 6:43 am Post subject: (Long) Cross Country Dreams

Yes - that's how I meant it.  I thought my next sentence made it clear - sorry that it wasn't as clear as I thought.



Arty

--- On Thu, 8/28/08, Russ RKI Photo <russ(at)rkiphoto.com> wrote:

 	  Quote: 	
		   You say 'I fly IFR' -- do you mean I Follow Roads? 

 Sounbds like it.


	


 	  Quote:

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