What Percentage of Your Time is Cross Country?

Mooney Fan

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Mooney Fan
Been having to itemize my flight time lately and noticed that right at 50% of my time is X-ctry. Makes me think how my auto bill today was 50% parts and 50% labor lol
 
Close to 100%.

I should add that I live with my plane so cloud busting is easy to do, just don’t do it. If I had a sailplane or something with an open cockpit, things might be different.


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If I eliminate training (relatively new pilot), over 50%.


Tom
 
of 1502hrs I have 220. Mostly 51 NM flights on Jepp 1 and 3. 1 hour of climbs turns descents. Swap students do the same back.
 
In helicopters, anything outside of the traffic pattern is pretty much considered XC, so about 90% of my stuff qualifies.
 
In helicopters, anything outside of the traffic pattern is pretty much considered XC, so about 90% of my stuff qualifies.

Same for fixed wing unless that person is wanting to meet the aeronautical experience requirements for a private pilot certificate, a commercial pilot certificate, an instrument rating, or for the purpose of exercising recreational pilot privileges.

When I went to get the ATP certificate all the instructors were really surprised (envious) with my XC time. XC time adds up quickly in Alaska.
 
I'm at 72%. I had the 500 XC hours for the ATP before I even had half the total time (750).
 
How far must one fly to be considered a cross country? I used to think of 'cross country' as far enough from home that I could get lost. I often did too. Now with GPS getting lost is a thing of the past.
 
Certainly not as much as I’d like, but right about 1/3 or so. Most of my flights are local (ie., a 30-40 mile radius from home base) so I don’t get XC as often.
 
Roughly 2/3rd of my 1,000 hrs at last check... I take some long trips for work occasionally, so that adds up fast! My record is still 50hrs on one week, with 12.2 in one day!
 
How far must one fly to be considered a cross country? I used to think of 'cross country' as far enough from home that I could get lost. I often did too. Now with GPS getting lost is a thing of the past.
Minimum 50 mikes with landing at other than departure airport

  1. To meet the requirements (except rotorcraft and powered parachute category rating) for a privatecertificate, a commercial certificate, instrumentrating, or for the purposes of exercising recreational pilot privileges (except in a rotorcraft) under 61.101(c), cross-country time requires a point of landing that is more than 50 nm straight-line distance from the original point of departure. 14 CFR 61.1(b)(3)(ii)
 
How far must one fly to be considered a cross country? I used to think of 'cross country' as far enough from home that I could get lost. I often did too. Now with GPS getting lost is a thing of the past.
Far enough to get to the next nearest airport and land.

That's what makes answering this one different. Some might use the >50 nm standard the FAA uses for certificates and ratings. Others might use the "another airport you navigated to" standard the FAA uses more generally. Others might have their own definition reflecting neither.
 
Before I started flying professionally probably about 40%. Now, basically everything is a cross country with the exception to a few repos such as JFK-LGA and IAD-DCA.
 
All my personal flying is xc. Most of my instructional flying as CFI is local. That's one of the most significant drawbacks of accumulating time as CFI. You just go around the same patch over and over again. One can call it flight experience, but II don't believe it is. However, it is instructional experience because every student is different.
 
Pretty much all of my current flying is, other than recurrent training. Even then some of that is as I may land far enough away for it to count. If I'm out shooting approaches for practice I may to a T&G far enough away if I feel like. Typically I just

Overall it's ~78%. Cut out the first 50 hours and it's just under 81%.

I haven't done a purely local flight other than a check-out or training in a long time. Occasionally I'll make a short hop on an Angel Flight mission to pick up a patient or get home after dropping them off nearby. But that's part of a longer trip so all falls under XC time.
 
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