50 NM Cross Country?

Garavar

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Garavar
For Instrument rating I flew to an airport that is 45 NM away but I flew past the airport 20 miles then turned back to land straight in on intended runway.

Does that count as Cross country or no since the airport of intended landed was only 45 miles away?
 
Nope. Read the regs.

Regs say straight line but that's where my ambiguity comes. Since to get to intended runway it takes me over 45 miles.

But I guess on the 3 NOs it's a No.
 
You measure straight line distance between both airports, and it doesn’t matter if you fly a longer route.

“That includes a point of landing that was at least a straight-line distance of more than 50 nautical miles from the original point of departure;”
 
Regs say straight line but that's where my ambiguity comes. Since to get to intended runway it takes me over 45 miles.

But I guess on the 3 NOs it's a No.
Read the regs, specifically the definition of cross country in 61.1 again:

(B) That includes a point of landing that was at least a straight-line distance of more than 50 nautical miles from the original point of departure;
 
Anytime you take off from one airport & land at another it XC time but...it can't be counted as XC towards a certificate if it's not over 50nm.
 
Anytime you take off from one airport & land at another it XC time but...it can't be counted as XC towards a certificate if it's not over 50nm.

Minor nitpick. ATP certificate requires 50 NM distance, but a landing is not required.
 
Note interesting conversation with flight instructor . I asked if I could fly to an airport 25 miles west of my base airport to fly to an airport 40 miles east of my base airport to qualify for a cross country 50 mile flight . He said , "Are you kidding me ? I'm not going to sign off for a cross country flight that never leaves sight of hiway 2 ."
Me , "ok just thought I would ask". ;)
 
Note interesting conversation with flight instructor . I asked if I could fly to an airport 25 miles west of my base airport to fly to an airport 40 miles east of my base airport to qualify for a cross country 50 mile flight . He said , "Are you kidding me ? I'm not going to sign off for a cross country flight that never leaves sight of hiway 2 ."
Me , "ok just thought I would ask". ;)

GREAT response by the CFI. Often, regardless of the actual wording of the rules, one has to stand up for the intent of the rules.
 
I asked if I could fly to an airport 25 miles west of my base airport to fly to an airport 40 miles east of my base airport to qualify for a cross country 50 mile flight .
I did this. It included a full stop taxi back at the first airport although I never shut the engine down. CFI said that was just repositioning the aircraft and that was legit.
 
Minor nitpick. ATP certificate requires 50 NM distance, but a landing is not required.

For operations like sub chasers that will fly for around 10 hours and thousands of miles then land back at the same airport.
 
Here in central Kentucky we are blessed with numerous airports that are 50-70 miles away. Our state lacks a lot of things, but we are rich in airports!
 
Note interesting conversation with flight instructor . I asked if I could fly to an airport 25 miles west of my base airport to fly to an airport 40 miles east of my base airport to qualify for a cross country 50 mile flight . He said , "Are you kidding me ? I'm not going to sign off for a cross country flight that never leaves sight of hiway 2 ."
Me , "ok just thought I would ask". ;)
good-answer-family-feud.gif
 
Sounds like it counts as bad navigating if you overshot your intended landing by 20 miles.

:po_O lol. It was intentional my man, the approach to avoid extended flying over water.
 
For Instrument rating I flew to an airport that is 45 NM away but I flew past the airport 20 miles then turned back to land straight in on intended runway.

Does that count as Cross country or no since the airport of intended landed was only 45 miles away?

Cross country flights are truly one of the fun things to do in GA. Just take a day and do a real one. Oh, and roll the dice and go a couple hundred miles.
 
Yeah, I never quite figured out why people seem to hate flying so much that they strive for bare minimum.

My thoughts exactly. Let’s find an airport 51 miles away to do a x country. Where as find one 125 miles away, you meet the miles requirement. And you are still logged the time as x country. One flight instead of two.
 
Yeah, I never quite figured out why people seem to hate flying so much that they strive for bare minimum.

Time. When I want to build XC hours, but I only have a few hours to do it then I fly a 51 mile XC.
 
Money isn't really a reason - you pay just as much for three 50 mile XCs as you do for 1 150 mile one.
 
Probably. I pay a wet rate, so the difference comes from climbing, descending, and pattern.

And approx .2-.3 at an towered airport, unless you are taking shortcuts. Not much less at non-towered....
 
What if you took off from your home airport and flew around the world and landed at your home airport. Would that count as a XC?
 
What if you took off from your home airport and flew around the world and landed at your home airport. Would that count as a XC?
Ask Dick Rutan. ;)
Cross-country time means -

(i) Except as provided in paragraphs (ii) through (vi) of this definition, time acquired during flight -

(A) Conducted by a person who holds a pilot certificate;

(B) Conducted in an aircraft;

(C) That includes a landing at a point other than the point of departure; and

(D) That involves the use of dead reckoning, pilotage, electronic navigation aids, radio aids, or other navigation systems to navigate to the landing point.

(ii) For the purpose of meeting the aeronautical experience requirements (except for a rotorcraft category rating), for a private pilot certificate (except for a powered parachute category rating), a commercial pilot certificate, or an instrument rating, or for the purpose of exercising recreational pilot privileges (except in a rotorcraft) under § 61.101 (c), time acquired during a flight -

(A) Conducted in an appropriate aircraft;

(B) That includes a point of landing that was at least a straight-line distance of more than 50 nautical miles from the original point of departure; and

(C) That involves the use of dead reckoning, pilotage, electronic navigation aids, radio aids, or other navigation systems to navigate to the landing point.

(iii) For the purpose of meeting the aeronautical experience requirements for a sport pilot certificate (except for powered parachute privileges), time acquired during a flight conducted in an appropriate aircraft that -

(A) Includes a point of landing at least a straight line distance of more than 25 nautical miles from the original point of departure; and

(B) Involves, as applicable, the use of dead reckoning; pilotage; electronic navigation aids; radio aids; or other navigation systems to navigate to the landing point.

(iv) For the purpose of meeting the aeronautical experience requirements for a sport pilot certificate with powered parachute privileges or a private pilot certificate with a powered parachute category rating, time acquired during a flight conducted in an appropriate aircraft that -

(A) Includes a point of landing at least a straight line distance of more than 15 nautical miles from the original point of departure; and

(B) Involves, as applicable, the use of dead reckoning; pilotage; electronic navigation aids; radio aids; or other navigation systems to navigate to the landing point.

(v) For the purpose of meeting the aeronautical experience requirements for any pilot certificate with a rotorcraft category rating or an instrument-helicopter rating, or for the purpose of exercising recreational pilot privileges, in a rotorcraft, under § 61.101(c), time acquired during a flight -

(A) Conducted in an appropriate aircraft;

(B) That includes a point of landing that was at least a straight-line distance of more than 25 nautical miles from the original point of departure; and

(C) That involves the use of dead reckoning, pilotage, electronic navigation aids, radio aids, or other navigation systems to navigate to the landing point.

(vi) For the purpose of meeting the aeronautical experience requirements for an airline transport pilot certificate (except with a rotorcraft category rating), time acquired during a flight -

(A) Conducted in an appropriate aircraft;

(B) That is at least a straight-line distance of more than 50 nautical miles from the original point of departure; and

(C) That involves the use of dead reckoning, pilotage, electronic navigation aids, radio aids, or other navigation systems.

(vii) For a military pilot who qualifies for a commercial pilot certificate (except with a rotorcraft category rating) under § 61.73 of this part, time acquired during a flight -

(A) Conducted in an appropriate aircraft;

(B) That is at least a straight-line distance of more than 50 nautical miles from the original point of departure; and

(C) That involves the use of dead reckoning, pilotage, electronic navigation aids, radio aids, or other navigation systems.
 
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What if you took off from your home airport and flew around the world and landed at your home airport. Would that count as a XC?

During the Vietnam war, B-52s flew from Guam to North Vietnam, dropped their bombs, and flew back to Guam. I can just imagine the copilot saying, "Please, can I make the turn today?" About 12 hours, I seem to recall.

B-2 bombers flew from Missouri to Yugoslavia and back. Loved ones got a phone call when they entered the combat zone and when they exited. Thirty hours in the air.

We didn't bother logging cross country time when I was in the Air Force. I had three trips between Kansas and Europe, and lots and lots between Taiwan and Vietnam as well as the Philippines and Thailand, not to mention Diego Garcia.
 
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Regs say straight line but that's where my ambiguity comes. Since to get to intended runway it takes me over 45 miles.

But I guess on the 3 NOs it's a No.

You are confusing the requirements or allowances for the long instrument cross country with the 50 hours of PIC cross country. the long cross country does say straight line distance along Airways or some similar verbiage.
 
What if my airport moved a straight line distance of more than 50 miles (and then hid in a fog bank…) while I was gone flying? For six months that happened a lot.

I understand this is different than when my parents moved while I was in college and I didn’t get a forwarding address… ackward.
 
Note interesting conversation with flight instructor . I asked if I could fly to an airport 25 miles west of my base airport to fly to an airport 40 miles east of my base airport to qualify for a cross country 50 mile flight . He said , "Are you kidding me ? I'm not going to sign off for a cross country flight that never leaves sight of hiway 2 ."
Me , "ok just thought I would ask". ;)
Smart man.
 
What if my airport moved a straight line distance of more than 50 miles (and then hid in a fog bank…) while I was gone flying? For six months that happened a lot.

I understand this is different than when my parents moved while I was in college and I didn’t get a forwarding address… ackward.


It depends.

If your airport was in international waters then the flight can’t count as cross country since you weren’t in a country.
 
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