cross country troubles

[Jim Hardin]

I am training in a cherokee warrior. low wing makes it harder to see out the sides.

In that case, pick checkpoints that will show up in your best field of view, 9:00 O-clock to 12:00 O-clock

...high altitude = safe altitude, i dont want to get distracted and run into a cell tower lol. however i feel if i descend to the listed altitude on the sectional i wont have to worry about towers or obstructions.

The part I bolded disturbs me a bit...

I assume you are referring to the Maximum Elevation Figures on the charts:

note how these relate to the Chart Legend

So far so good but what you need to respect is that these are derived from a calculation that may not give you and I the Safety that we would like!

From AOPA's explanation of chart symbols (LINK):


(I hope these come out OK, first time I have attached images here)

I have used MEF's in the past but always add another 100 to 200 feet onto them.

[FlyingRon]

Yeah you won't hit the tower, but you're not going to necessarily clear it by much or even by a LEGAL 91.119 altitude.

[WLIU]

The original poster appears to be flying in the western NY, Buffalo area. The airports tend to be inconspicuous. That said, my observation is that most of the airports are near a town, or in that area, near a lake. So I will suggest that to visually locate the airport, look for the town or lake first, then look in the direction and distance from the town or lake that the sectional chart shows the airport to be.

It is often easier to overfly the airport well above pattern altitude so as to positively locate the airport and look at the wind sock. Some of the western NY and northwest PA airports have ASOS/AWOS, but some do not. Once you have don a 360 turn over the airport you can descend away from the airport and come back for a normal pattern entry. Overflying the airport works real well when it is down in a valley or on the side of a hill where the lower you are, the closer you have to be to see that airport. One of the central MA airports is close enough to a hill that you can lose sight of it on downwind. So when looking for the airport, altitude can be your friend.

As for the low wing drivers, some S-turns as you thin that you are approaching your destination, or even a checkpoint, will move the wing and the nose to let you see what is beneath you. It turns out that if you fly right over your checkpoint, that makes it hardest to actually see. A little, but not a lot, of error is actually helpful here.

And I will note that everyone gets lost. Everyone. Lost is a mental state more than a physical one. The skill you have to learn is getting unlost. The farther you go from home the more likely you are to become surrounded by "lostness" for short periods of time. And I will note that there have been instances of airplanes packed full of cool high tech gizmos that have been landed at wrong airports by lost pilots.

And if all else fails, the sun always sets in the west after rising in the east. Even more reliably than your compass points to where it thinks north is. Sounds funny but it has helped more than one pilot get reoriented.

Best of luck,

Wes
N78PS

[Mike M]

Yes, everyone gets lost. When one is unsure of position and out of fuel (lift, for the sailplane folks), one is lost. As long as you have fuel/lift, you're just exploring.

[WLIU]

I will offer a tip from years of ferrying little, under-equipped, light aircraft around unfamiliar territory. You always fly with more confidence with a full tank of gas. If the weather seems iffy, or I expect that finding my destination will be more challenging than usual (for whatever reason), I make sure that I launch with a fuel tank of gas. And if enroute I forsee more than usual challenge for the next leg of a multi-leg flight, I stop and fill the tank again. I will also note that I developed the habit of following major highways or navigating from airport to airport when in unfamiliar territory. I have found that doing so only adds a few miles to my flight, simplifies navigation, and provides a landing place if trouble arises. And my joke is that I have been stuck for various reasons EVERYWHERE.

As a student pilot, you get to learn what the earth looks like in different conditions of wind and weather, how to manage both your "get-there-itis" and "lostness", and how the aviation world works away from your home airport. It is an experience that student pilots have worked through since Wilbur and Orville. Its part of the challenge of the journey.

I tell new pilots that they should hunt down a copy of Richard Bach's "A Gift of Wings" to get an idea of what they are getting into.

Best of luck,

Wes
N78PS

[Mike M]

... if enroute I forsee more than usual challenge for the next leg of a multi-leg flight, I stop and fill the tank again. I will also note that I developed the habit of following major highways or navigating from airport to airport when in unfamiliar territory... I have been stuck for various reasons EVERYWHERE.

ever land and asked for a fuel receipt because receipts have the business address on them and you were too proud to ask where you were? oh, not me, of course not, i'd never admit to doing that, but one of my buddies..................

[FlyingRon]

Fly low and read the town name off the water tower.

[jjhoneck]

Fly low and read the town name off the water tower.

D

Back in "the day" (pre-GPS, pre-weather on board) Mary and I were on a cross-country flight to downstate Illinois, and ran into a wall of weather. We kept flying South, along the line of clouds, hoping to find a way through.

A hundred miles South, we found our hole, and proceeded Eastbound -- but where were we? Visibility was hazy, and everything in downstate Illinois looks the same.

Sectionals were worthless -- there were no prominent features on the ground to compare with. Eventually, we did exactly what Ron suggested, and flew low enough to read the water tower. Bingo, situational awareness restored!

Good times...

[Bob Meder]

We've all gotten lost. Google my name at AOPA and you'll find an article in Flight Training where I described Wisconsin Dairy country as looking like, well, Wisconsin Dairy Country.

But the most lost I've ever gotten was on my solo long cross country, a long time ago. I was flying from Waukegan to Dubuque on the first leg. I flew over a river at exactly the time I had planned for passing the Mississippi. Thinking to myself "Oh, come on, I'm not that good", I flew up and down the river looking for a landmark. Then I spotted a dam, and, guess what? I was over the Mississippi...

It can work the other way. One time, on a clear day with Arizona-like visibilities, I was on an IFR flight plan from St. Louis to Waukegan. ATC had routed me around O'Hare. Over Arlington Heights, the controller turned me to a heading of 060 and told me fly direct to Waukegan when able.

"Roger, Waukegan's in sight."

ATC: "Uh, Cessna 123, you realize that you're 30 miles away, don't you?"

Me: "Right. 123 learned to fly at Waukegan, and unless you've moved two power plants, an amusement park, and the lake since I moved to St. Louis, I have the airport in sight."

ATC: "123, that's cheating! Do you want to cancel IFR?"

Me: "In the middle of the Bravo? Um, no."

ATC [laughing]: "Roger - cleared for the visual - call the tower at the tollway."

[Mike M]

Fly low and read the town name off the water tower.

Water towers don't always have town names anymore. Remember the circle on the hardware/grocery/car dealer with the arrow pointing to the airport and the distance in the center of the circle?