Long Cross Country for Commercial Question

MBDiagMan

MBDiagMan

Final Approach
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The way I read 61.129 (4) (I) is; ....with landings at a minimum of three points, one of which is a straight line distance of at least 250 nautical miles from the original departure point.

To me, this sounds like you could make a few stops before landing at the point that is at least 250 nautical miles away from the starting airport. My instructor says that, no, the 250 nautical miles must be in one sitting.

Who is correct?
 
Sounds like he’s answering a different question. You asked about stops BEFORE the 250nm leg, he’s answering about stops AFTER the return trip from the furthest spot.
 
MBDiagMan said:
The way I read 61.129 (4) (I) is; ....with landings at a minimum of three points, one of which is a straight line distance of at least 250 nautical miles from the original departure point.

To me, this sounds like you could make a few stops before landing at the point that is at least 250 nautical miles away from the starting airport. My instructor says that, no, the 250 nautical miles must be in one sitting.

Who is correct?
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I see nothing in the language of the reg to indicate a 250 mile leg is required. Just that you need to land at an airport that is at least 250 nm from the airport you where you began the trip. However there may be an official letter of interpretation that I'm not aware of. It wasn't an issue when I did mine because I flew from NJ to FL.
 
Interesting... So in 2013, I flew from Oshkosh to Colorado solo in a Cessna 172. Took a couple days due to weather, etc. No single leg was more than ~210 miles, but one day was 360nm and one day was 433nm. All straight-line - did not return to any starting point.
Have I done my long Commercial XC?
 
G-Man said:
Interesting... So in 2013, I flew from Oshkosh to Colorado solo in a Cessna 172. Took a couple days due to weather, etc. No single leg was more than ~210 miles, but one day was 360nm and one day was 433nm. All straight-line - did not return to any starting point.
Have I done my long Commercial XC?
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Given the regs and the way you want to log it, I think you did meet the requirement.
 
Some planes can’t even do 250 non stop, if it meant for you to be required to do a nonstop portion that long.. it would have said so.
 
G-Man said:
Interesting... So in 2013, I flew from Oshkosh to Colorado solo in a Cessna 172. Took a couple days due to weather, etc. No single leg was more than ~210 miles, but one day was 360nm and one day was 433nm. All straight-line - did not return to any starting point.
Have I done my long Commercial XC?
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In 2015 I did a similar trip and came home again about 6 days later. I believe that both of our trips satisfied the requirement. I am anxious to hear from someone who can confirm it.
 
You are correct. As long as one airport is 250nm straight line from your departure you are good. You can stop every 10 miles and zig zag if you wanted as long as you eventually span 250nm from point A. I mean it just says a "straightline distance of 250nm", not " one 250nm leg". Plus if you fly a 150 and are a big dude you'd likely never make 250nm because of less fuel you would need to carry. Your CFI needs to think about this.
 
The above posters are correct. The spirit of the requirement is to get you away from your home area and experience new weather, ATC, terrain etc. I have several flights that would count for my long XC, all of them being one ways of several hundred miles.
 
simtech said:
You are correct. As long as one airport is 250nm straight line from your departure you are good. You can stop every 10 miles and zig zag if you wanted as long as you eventually span 250nm from point A. I mean it just says a "straightline distance of 250nm", not " one 250nm leg". Plus if you fly a 150 and are a big dude you'd likely never make 250nm because of less fuel you would need to carry. Your CFI needs to think about this.
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People read all kinds of things into this requirement that isn't there. The instructor is wrong.
 
Ask you instructor to teach you exactly why the reg does not specify a 250nm non-stop leg if that is in fact what it required. And do not accept 'because I said so' or 'trust me I just know' as an answer.
 
and ask him how anyone completes that requirement in a 150 with a headwind. Or a cub, champ, etc.
 
Just note that the regs don't require your flight to be 250nm long, they require a landing that is 250nm straight-line distance from your starting point. It's easy to do three 100nm legs and never be 250 nm from where you started . . . .
 
And while the required total distance is 300 nm, if you do an out and back your trip will be at least 500 nm. Many will pick an airport just a tad over 250 miles away and fly there and back with an additional stop in between in either direction to get the extra landing point. The only way you can just do 300 nm is to not return to your departure field. This is most likely seldom done.
 
And yes ---- your instructor is wrong. The regulation is very easy to read and interpret.
 
SkyDog58 said:
Most regs are yet so many folks struggle with them. :dunno:
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It's usually a case of either regaphobia or regulitis.

Regaphobia. A self-fulfilling fear of reading regulations based on a belief they are incomprehensible. The sufferer simply avoids even trying.

Regulitis. Disease which causes people of average or better intelligence to lose basic reading comprehension skills when looking at regulations.
 
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