INTRODUCTION

Since I have a couple of months leave-of-absence from work, the best way to spend it was to get a good bit of flying experience in our Cessna 140, "Lusty Betty". I decided to divide my Big Trip into two parts - west and east, and to basically go wherever the weather was good.

Planning a trip like this isn't really any harder than planning a 100 mile cross country - you just need more charts. Some helpful things to have are a JNCA-5 - this is a map of the whole US showing terrain. This helps you get the big picture of where the biggest mountains are and a rough idea of the headings. Then the WACs for the area you're flying in - if you find yourself short of a sectional, the WAC becomes very useful, and it's practical to buy WACs for the entire country without breaking the bank. Then of course the sectionals for the specific areas you expect to fly in, and A/FDs.

As student pilots, most of us had to plan cross countries to excruitatingly fine details, with checkpoints every 10 miles or so, calculate WCAs and factor in the compass correction card. Whilst this is necessary to learn the elements in navigation, it's not necessary to plan cross countries in this minute detail. For a start, it'd take you three days to plan a trip from Texas to the west coast this way. My method involves drawing lines, getting the magnetic headings, and on the day of the flight just estimating what the winds aloft will do to me. Never underestimate the value of doing mental estimations. Since winds aloft forecasts are not that accurate, it's just as good to estimate your drift as you reach your "on course" point (usually a prominent landmark near your departure point). I make note of large and obvious features every 40 to 50 miles or so, instead of 10 mile checkpoints. Dead reckoning will get you there if the visibility isn't perfect. I also write on the chart as I fly - when I see a useful landmark out of the window, I mark it on the chart and write the time. Time is one of the most important things to keep track of in cross country flying - VFR or IFR. It's as important as heading. I don't think enough instructors emphasise time strongly enough. If you know how long you've flown since the last checkpoint, and what heading you've been on, you'll never be lost. Lose track of either time or your course and you'll then be lost!

At the time of departure, I had over 900 hours. It's not necessary to have this kind of experience to make a long cross country journey like this. In fact, my trip could be accomplished safely by a brand new private pilot. In my opinion, it'd be good if brand new private pilots weren't discouraged from making long trips (I see a lot of fear and mystique in the newsgroups about long cross countries). It's also a great learning experience. If the new private pilot makes a trip like this, they've had to exercise their judgement, fend off get-there-itis, and importantly - they've proved to themselves that it can be done, and not only that, it's fun and it builds confidence! I wish the CFI rating - instead of needing an instrument rating, needed a cross country of at least 2000nm. In my opinion, we'd have much better cross country instruction that way - and most private pilots ultimately want to go somewhere with their private ticket. It might also scotch some of the Old Wives' Tales that we all keep hearing about how useless the private certificate is and how you can't go anywhere with it. With proper planning, and flexibility, it's very possible to make long trips (as I proved). Also, if instructors have to make long cross countries and maybe end up flying in mountainous terrain, dangerous myths like "never lean the mixture at wide-open throttle" might be crushed once and for all. I wonder how many newbie mountain flyers that myth has killed? It was a factor in the Jessica Dubroff crash, at least - when the sea-level instructor took off from a high airport with a full-rich mixture, and not getting anywhere near the power he should have been getting.

Well, I've ranted and philosophised long enough...to go to the first leg of the trip, click below. Clicking on any of the photos will bring a full-size version of the image. Enjoy!