10nm water crossing tomorrow. Any advice?

You don't need to climb to 7500' before crossing the shore, you just need to be above your glide gradient, most any plane will out climb it's glide gradient to 7500'.
 
You're planning 7,500 feet and you will be out of gliding range of land on a 10nM water crossing? Does this aircraft have the glide ratio of a rock?
 
itsjames2011 said:
The flight was a success and there were no rafts/lifejackets required.

I was not particularly worried about the crossing however as a general rule, I always seek the advice of experienced pilots before I embark on something new.

James
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Pictures/video??
 
10nm meh.

Just bring a life jacket or stay above gliding distance, ether way for a short hop like that, if your engine craps out in the middle of a short 10nm crossing, that's just god saying its your time :dunno:
 
itsjames2011 said:
The flight was a success and there were no rafts/lifejackets required.

I was not particularly worried about the crossing however as a general rule, I always seek the advice of experienced pilots before I embark on something new.

James
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Good for you, James. Everyone here ragging on you for worrying about this should stop and remember their first time. Seeking the advice of more experienced pilots is a wise move... sorry about all the s*** you got...

-Skip
 
itsjames2011 said:
The flight was a success and there were no rafts/lifejackets required.

I was not particularly worried about the crossing however as a general rule, I always seek the advice of experienced pilots before I embark on something new.

James
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Glad the flight went well. KBID is a nice place for a cup of coffee.

The only piece of real advice I got when flying over water was, if you do have a problem, and can't make it to land, look for the biggest boat you can find and put it down near that boat. Chances are they will come to your rescue long before the coast guard.
 
itsjames2011 said:
The flight was a success and there were no rafts/lifejackets required.

I was not particularly worried about the crossing however as a general rule, I always seek the advice of experienced pilots before I embark on something new.

James
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Way to go! :)

We live on an island. Our final approach for a long straight in to Rwy 12 is over open water, roughly 6 nautical miles. The first few times it felt funny -- now, I don't even notice it.

We often approach the island by following the road to the ferry landing. This greatly reduces the time over water.

As other have said, the plane doesn't care what's under you. :wink2:
 
Kind of a tough crowd here. Glad flight went well. I agree, smart to seek advice for new adventures (even if you get razzed by those with lots of hours).
 
96gs917 said:
Glad the flight went well. KBID is a nice place for a cup of coffee.

The only piece of real advice I got when flying over water was, if you do have a problem, and can't make it to land, look for the biggest boat you can find and put it down near that boat. Chances are they will come to your rescue long before the coast guard.
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Best advice I've read on this thread. I fly from Long Island and routinely cross the Long Island Sound to points North( between 12 and 18nm depending on where you cross.) I always look for the nearest boat when I'm over the middle of the sound just in case something does go wrong.
 
I know guys from IJD and HFD who climb to 2000' and stay there all the way - why climb and waste all that fuel when you can have speed instead . . ..

There is so much shipping that I would not worry in the least - so you intend to be at 7500 - do you intend to remain there until the island and then descend over it? Otherwise if you are in a descent you will have an ever decreasing cone of glide zone - verify good running before feet wet and then simply land @ BID.
 
Hope you enjoyed your flight and the island.
 
itsjames2011 said:
The flight was a success and there were no rafts/lifejackets required.

I was not particularly worried about the crossing however as a general rule, I always seek the advice of experienced pilots before I embark on something new.

James
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Glad it was a success and I assume you enjoyed the flight no matter how much c**p you heard here. :)
Now go fly some more!!
 
James331 said:
10nm meh.



Just bring a life jacket or stay above gliding distance, ether way for a short hop like that, if your engine craps out in the middle of a short 10nm crossing, that's just god saying its your time :dunno:
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Life jacket is so they can find the body. Not going to do much for survival this time of year.
 
Dave Theisen said:
Life jacket is so they can find the body. Not going to do much for survival this time of year.
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Into the Long Island Sound? You bet, it will save your life any time of year. Commercial maritime traffic flow is continuous, and only the worst of weather shuts down fishermen and recreational boaters there, you can even find sailors going out in the worst, taking the opportunity to shake down their rig.

I doubt you're in the water more than 15-20 minutes before someone is picking you up. If you fly frequently over water, a SART is a pretty good investment as it gives every mariner 12 dots to follow to you painted on his radar.
 
Figure the 10nm of auto-rough will be over in about 5 minutes.
You'll live.
 
itsjames2011 said:
The flight was a success and there were no rafts/lifejackets required.

I was not particularly worried about the crossing however as a general rule, I always seek the advice of experienced pilots before I embark on something new.

James
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:thumbsup: Glad you had a good time and equally glad you took a conservative approach when selecting the altitude for your crossing...regardless of what the peanut gallery here thinks.

N5922S said:
Are you flying an Acme brick? Even a Cessna should be able to glide over 10 nm from 7500' with NO tailwind. My DA20 will glide 2+ nm/ 1000' , but it's a little slicker than most. :yes:
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I don't know what he was flying but my 182 is only good for about a mile per 1,000' AGL. 7,500' was likely the proper choice. 5,500' would likely get him back to land even in a worst case scenario but possibly with too little altitude to afford weighing one's options once there.

comanchepilot said:
I know guys from IJD and HFD who climb to 2000' and stay there all the way - why climb and waste all that fuel when you can have speed instead . . ..
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Just because these guys take unnecessary risks doesn't mean the OP should.

comanchepilot said:
so you intend to be at 7500 - do you intend to remain there until the island and then descend over it? Otherwise if you are in a descent you will have an ever decreasing cone of glide zone
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I really hope that statement was made before you finished your first cup of coffee. Sure the "cone of glide zone" decreases but who cares once the destination airport is inside of it? Just start the descent a bit later than normal to allow you to make the airport with 1500' to 2000' of altitude remaining.

Bottom line, I see nothing flawed with the OP's logic or strategy. It's not like 7500' is in the stratosphere.

He done good! :thumbsup:
 
There is absolutely nothing to worry about UNLESS the engine loses power. Then you'll have several huge life threatening concerns. But I wouldn't worry about that, after all, what are the chances?
 
mtuomi said:
...I recently did a few 300+ nm crossings, 5 people, single, with no survival equipment. Come on, engine stopping mid-cruise is just about the same as hitting the lottery, twice. It just doesn't happen. And if it does, well, like henning said, it just is the time to go sometime. Your chance of surviving the crash landing, and being able to deploy the raft, and actually getting on it, and so on, are just as bad.

Trust your engine, fly, and be happy. Skip the paranoia.
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My personal opinion is that this shows utter and complete disregard for his passengers' safety and well-being and borders on negligence of the highest order. But then what do I know? After all, I'm just someone who posts anonymously on internet websites.
 
Thank you, I did not know about those.

Henning said:
If you fly frequently over water, a SART is a pretty good investment as it gives every mariner 12 dots to follow to you painted on his radar.
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mtuomi said:
I love when people dress up in full survival gear and load their rafts to cross a very small patch of water.

I recently did a few 300+ nm crossings, 5 people, single, with no survival equipment.
Come on, engine stopping mid-cruise is just about the same as hitting the lottery, twice. It just doesn't happen. And if it does, well, like henning said, it just is the time to go sometime. Your chance of surviving the crash landing, and being able to deploy the raft, and actually getting on it, and so on, are just as bad.

Trust your engine, fly, and be happy. Skip the paranoia.
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That's reckless.

The guys who do this stuff for a living have a survival suit (depending on temp) raft, EPIRB, life jackets and HF radio so they can stay in touch for the whole trip.
 
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Dead Stick said:
There is absolutely nothing to worry about UNLESS the engine loses power. Then you'll have several huge life threatening concerns. But I wouldn't worry about that, after all, what are the chances?
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The chances are realistically very slim, but the costs of climbing to stay on top of the glide gradient are even slimmer, so the logical choice is to stay above the gradient.
 
Dead Stick said:
My personal opinion is that this shows utter and complete disregard for his passengers' safety and well-being and borders on negligence of the highest order. But then what do I know? After all, I'm just someone who posts anonymously on internet websites.
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And I absolutely love your signature line.
 
Not completely over water, but the owner of the shop that also owns the flight school by me had to pick up an airplane (a Mooney) in Northern Canada. A good portion of the flight was over basically uninhabited wilderness that was cold, dotted with lakes and small bays that needed to be crossed, etc. He asked the FBO how should he file his IFR flight plan. The response he got was don't bother nobody will be able to hear or see you for about 45 minutes on your scheduled route.
 
dell30rb said:
That's reckless.

The guys who do this stuff for a living have a survival suit (depending on temp) raft, EPIRB, life jackets and HF radio so they can stay in touch for the whole trip.
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If this was in the winter, near Greenland, yes.

In our case, it would've meant a nice refreshing swim for maybe 10-20 minutes in the Mediterranean.
 
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