What's your favorite VFR cruising altitude, and why?

I like to be somewhere between power lines and cell phone tower heights unless I have 12" N Numbers....then something a little more conservative is in order
 
All else being equal (which it never is), my plane loves 10500 to 12500 and the MPG is unbelievable. I keep an eye on the pulse oximeter.
 
Boring holes in the sky, just messin' around, I'm usually between 500'-1,500' AGL (3,500 - 4,500 MSL in my area). On a X/C, usually fly from 6,500 - 8,500 MSL.
 
Cub 200 agl
172 1500-3000 usually. If it's rough climb till smooth.
Pitts above 3000
 
I'm usually flying around under BOS so it is usually below one of the shelfs. 3,500' if I can go direct through class B south or 4,500 north. In the helo, it was usually 1,700 to avoid those heads down pilots flying low vfr.
 
If I want to see the sights, 1000' AGL. If I have a tailwind, go up and catch it, higher the better if Im trying to make time. I don't like to fly above 10k without O2. YMMV.
 
Winds aloft to tweak but over 70 minutes of flight I will almost always go above 10, again depending on winds.
 
eman1200 said:
I got laughed at by a far better pilot than me for climbing to 5500' on a 40 minute flight (yeah you know who you are! :) ). Like cpt_kirk said, I'm not a huge fan of 3500 plus it was much smoother and cooler up there, plus I just like gettin high.
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Laughed at for what?
 
I like high, especially in hot weather. 7500-11500.
 
I can't always pick directions and altitudes that I fly when I'm out on photo runs, but when I'm out for my own flights it's usually terrain considerations and gliding distances and the winds aloft. Some places I'm a lot more comfortable flying lower than others.
 
I generally hang out at 8,500 to / 7,500 from my destination on an hour and a half cross country. Keeps you above lots of the other dudes who don't believe in the even/odd +500 VFR traffic.
 
So, I don't do many "long" xc. But generally I aim for 3200 feet. If I'm going farther I'll climb higher, following the VFR cruising altitudes.

I aim for 3200 - 3400 on local flights because I'm betting that most people will go for 'even' altitudes like 3000 or 3500. Just one more attempt at avoiding a midair. Paid off 2-3 times this year.

With the winds today I was lucky to hold any altitude!
 
In the summer, whatever gives me a nice comfortable temperature.

It was 106 F today in Desert Aire. At 6500, a nice 53 F.
 
My Mooney likes 7-10K best although I've gone as high as 16.5k. I like 7-10K as well.....lots of glide distance and I don't have to mess with O2 and I get the best cruise speed here as well if wind is not a factor.
 
apparently mine is 5,669 MSL ...

yeah, 0' AGL - field elevation of BJC, as my work has sucked the life out of me and I haven't flown in over a year now. :(
 
Depends on block to block time:

<= 1hr: 3-4k
1-2hrs: 5-7k
> 2hrs: 8-10k
 
silver-eagle said:
That is 5,500 feet ABOVE class A and is VFR, assuming you can get there.
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So how does that work then if you want to go up that high (and can). Do you file VFR, climb to 17999 get a pop up IFR to 59999 and then continue VFR? Or just file an IFR with a VFR on top clearance?

My typical VFR depends on where I'm going. Around the area I won't go more than 3,500 for odds and 4,500 for evens. If I'm going more than 100 nm, I'm at 8,500 or 9,500.

And I live in FL where it's mostly flat. It's the radio towers that will kill you though :).
 
Just buzzing around or a short hop for a burger, I like 2500ft (1600 AGL here). If I'm going somewhere more than an hour or so, 4500-9500 depending on conditions. My very light airplane gets kicked around pretty easily, so my choice of altitude when traveling is usually driven by the search for smoother air.
 
Caramon13 said:
So how does that work then if you want to go up that high (and can). Do you file VFR, climb to 17999 get a pop up IFR to 59999 and then continue VFR? Or just file an IFR with a VFR on top clearance?

My typical VFR depends on where I'm going. Around the area I won't go more than 3,500 for odds and 4,500 for evens. If I'm going more than 100 nm, I'm at 8,500 or 9,500.

And I live in FL where it's mostly flat. It's the radio towers that will kill you though :).
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Since you live in Florida, you have the easy path to 60000ft. Fly out over the ocean until the border of Class a. Spiral up to 60k ft. Fly back over the main land. Voila!
 
SkyHog said:
Since you live in Florida, you have the easy path to 60000ft. Fly out over the ocean until the border of Class a. Spiral up to 60k ft. Fly back over the main land. Voila!
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Nice...now..just need a plane that can get me that high up and a reason to go there heh...
 
I'm usually scoot'n around, locally, at 3500 or less because of CLT class B, but get up over 4500 for much of anything else
 
As high as I can go VFR most days, unless I'm just farting around the patch. Sometimes I do long flights at 1000 AGL just for the sights, mostly in the Winter. Too hot in the summertime.
 
I typically fly from Bakersfield up to either Stockton or Petaluma a few times per month. I'm usually 4500 or 6500 going up so I can get out of the heat and pull back on the fuel.

Coming back, I almost always go 7500 or 9500 to catch a tailwind. A 10-12kt tailwind is very welcome cruising at 100kts.....

All my trips south over the grapevine are at 75-95 down and 85 back for terrain clearance and to miss the bumps.


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