What do you learn on X-Country?

[EdFred]

I fly a Bellanca Viking, barely fit in. On big bumps in the air, I hit my head.
But at that size, only few planes will fit....

Comanche, man. My buddy is 6-7/8 and fits no problem

 

[TimRF79]

Comanche, man. My buddy is 6-7/8 and fits no problem

Thought about it, but they run a bit more pricey (and I couldn't find one when I wanted to buy (surely after I bought a Commanche 400 came up for sale at the airfield I got my PPL))

 

[Tarheelpilot]

That’s cool. Does your plane (or the plane you fly regularly) not have an AP?

Maybe for newer pilots there’s still so much mental workload since everything is not second nature yet, it’s nice to not have to worry as much about maintaining heading / altitude and have more attention towards looking for traffic, learning landmarks, communicating, monitoring engine & instruments. I notice that when my attention veers over to something else momentarily my heading/altitude can drift a little.

Yeah that’s exactly why I don’t like having all the crap in a plane for new pilots. The only way those skills are learned is from having to actually do them, repeatedly over a long period of time. Having that autopilot just means a new pilot never builds the ability to actually fly the airplane while managing other tasks.

 

[EdFred]

Thought about it, but they run a bit more pricey (and I couldn't find one when I wanted to buy (surely after I bought a Commanche 400 came up for sale at the airfield I got my PPL))

I wouldn't buy a 400. Probably a blast to fly, but cooling issues, and that whole 20gph.

 

[zaitcev]

Comanche, man. My buddy is 6-7/8 and fits no problem

Probably depends on the specific plane. I tried Comanche once and it was absolutely impossible to fit in. No headroom whatsoever. It looks big, but the fuselage is squished top to bottom. I'm 6'5". Maybe that guy has the seat modified.

 

[EdFred]

Probably depends on the specific plane. I tried Comanche once and it was absolutely impossible to fit in. No headroom whatsoever. It looks big, but the fuselage is squished top to bottom. I'm 6'5". Maybe that guy has the seat modified.

Weird, because I fit fine at 6'3 in mine (1958) and my buddy sits right next to me at 6'7/8 and didn't hit his head. In mine the seats are barely raised at all. Maybe you got in a later model with adjustable seats that weren't adjusted downwards.

 

[TimRF79]

Weird, because I fit fine at 6'3 in mine (1958) and my buddy sits right next to me at 6'7/8 and didn't hit his head. In mine the seats are barely raised at all. Maybe you got in a later model with adjustable seats that weren't adjusted downwards.

Keep in mind everyone is built different, some have more torso, some more legs...
Some like to sit more laid back, some more straight...
I heard tall people fit well in Mooneys, I could not move the yoke in a mooney as my legs where in the way...

 

[MIFlyer]

Yes, but my CFI always had his students do the XC dual before he signed off on doing it solo. So, I had been there before. And, I didn't fly the route down I-5. A bit out of the way for a more direct route (I-5 runs a little east).

Good idea. I can't remember if I had a CFI with me the first time or if it was after i as PPL, but the first couple of trips I was looking for it. now I know where it is coming from the north so I can come right over the hill and over midfield to cross and teardrop into downwind over the river. I did my long CC to ALW and back because I had to build solo hours to qualify for the checkride. we hadn't been there but I had to build a very detailed plan and talk him through it before I went.

 

[Zeldman]

Oh I wasn't saying they are all that way or that in influences my airplane purchases. The planes I've had just haven't had them and I don't really feel the need for one

Ok, that makes more sense. I have over 4000 hours in a C-206/7 all but about 5 hours in Alaska. There were several times the weather was less than marginal VFR, white out conditions and at times carrying unforecasted ice. Nothing like flying in white out conditions, finally make it back to the home airport, load up and go right back out to make it a long and tiring day....letting Ol' George take over for the straight and level parts would have been a nice option.....

 

[Ben2k9]

I fly a Bellanca Viking, barely fit in. On big bumps in the air, I hit my head.
But at that size, only few planes will fit....

Bought a flight design CTLS. Very roomy in all directions. But only a 2 seater.

 

[iamtheari]

I was thinking about this thread last night. I think that I learn something on every cross-country.

I flew a short (20nm) cross-country in the Cub a couple weeks back and learned how to get it started when the primer doesn’t work and you don’t have any tools. I flew a longer (480nm) cross-country in the Arrow yesterday and learned that it would have been much easier to figure out the density altitude at my destination airport with an E6B than it was with everything else I had in the plane. Incidentally, I also learned that, while the AWOS at my home airport automatically tells you the actual density altitude if it’s above a certain threshold, the ATIS at KBJC just said “temperature 32 celsius, check density altitude” so I had to figure it out for myself. Oh, and then when I landed I learned that the Arrow will float just fine in ground effect at 8340’ density altitude when it’s light and I’m a little fast on final because I still haven’t learned how to spot every airport when it’s called out to me for a visual approach.

Even on my very first cross-country, the dual one as a student pilot, I learned important things like how to use the courtesy car and local connections to find a place to sleep when your home is on the other side of a squall line from where you just flew for the heck of it.

There are some specific things that you plan to learn on cross-country lessons, but the much bigger volume is the book of things you didn’t plan to learn but had to in order to get through the flight and make it home in one piece, on all the cross-country trips you take later on as a pilot.

 

[Geneticistx]

Confidence.

this

 

[danhagan]

So what are you doing on your flights that make you exhausted after 2 hours of hand flying?

You said it in your post using trim, staying fuel balanced, etc. The guys that fly and keep adjusting non-stop to minor 1-3* changes in heading probably get tired.

 

[EdFred]

You said it in your post using trim, staying fuel balanced, etc. The guys that fly and keep adjusting non-stop to minor 1-3* changes in heading probably get tired.

None of that is exhausting. Now a century ride is exhausting.

 

[Kritchlow]

For those of you who constantly call troll, I think you missed one.

 

[WannFly]

In my first XC after ppl I learnt that if you try to chase a cold front to your destination airport, you will not win

 

[EdFred]

In my first XC after ppl I learnt that if you try to chase a cold front to your destination airport, you will not win

Same with a warm front! Wind shift indeed!!

Except mine was my long solo XC as a student.