L-O-N-G IFR XC

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poadeleted20

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Just set a new record today -- logged a 5.1 doing the 61.65(d)(2)(ii) long IFR XC. And that over a 260nm course! I'd forgotten what it was like to spend all day in a Cessna 150. Had a lot of fun, including an approach to 200 above mins on arrival back at the training location. My trainee was really pumped -- tired, but pumped. I was just tired.
 
You are hereby awarded the Order of the Iron Butt. I have never been in a 150, but I have looked into them, I hope your student had the class to buy you lunch!!!
 
Ron Levy said:
Just set a new record today -- logged a 5.1 doing the 61.65(d)(2)(ii) long IFR XC. And that over a 260nm course! I'd forgotten what it was like to spend all day in a Cessna 150. Had a lot of fun, including an approach to 200 above mins on arrival back at the training location. My trainee was really pumped -- tired, but pumped. I was just tired.
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5.1 in a 150 is indeed a long day.
 
I spent a year one day, flying kmrf-kosh in a 150: 1100nm. I'm still not right.
 
Threefingeredjack said:
You are hereby awarded the Order of the Iron Butt. I have never been in a 150, but I have looked into them, I hope your student had the class to buy you lunch!!!
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11,000 miles in 11 days on a motorcycle or 5 hours in a single cessna 150 flight, sounds about even.
 
You know guys, I'm contemplating a flight AEG-GUP-PGA-1L9-ELY-TMT in a 150. There's a fly-in in Austin (NV) on August 25th. Estimated time en route 7 hours. Is this a problem? Note that Ron and his student had to work those 5 hours and I expect just putting along the countryside, refueling at leisure and snacking....
 
zaitcev said:
You know guys, I'm contemplating a flight AEG-GUP-PGA-1L9-ELY-TMT in a 150. There's a fly-in in Austin (NV) on August 25th. Estimated time en route 7 hours. Is this a problem? Note that Ron and his student had to work those 5 hours and I expect just putting along the countryside, refueling at leisure and snacking....
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Do It.

relax have a fun time, make 2 hour legs.
 
zaitcev said:
You know guys, I'm contemplating a flight AEG-GUP-PGA-1L9-ELY-TMT in a 150. There's a fly-in in Austin (NV) on August 25th. Estimated time en route 7 hours. Is this a problem? Note that Ron and his student had to work those 5 hours and I expect just putting along the countryside, refueling at leisure and snacking....
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On that route, in August, give yourself at least two days, carry lots of water, and limit flying to early/late in the day.
 
The really unusual part is that on this flight, with the typical Bonanza or the like, we have to work to make it an all-day training event. With the 150, we had to work to make it only a one-day event.
 
I fly a Cessna 140, usually by myself. I've spent five hours in it in one day, although not in one sitting, and I don't find it tiring. For me, not much is tiring when I'm having fun.
 
Ron Levy said:
Just set a new record today -- logged a 5.1 doing the 61.65(d)(2)(ii) long IFR XC. And that over a 260nm course! I'd forgotten what it was like to spend all day in a Cessna 150. Had a lot of fun, including an approach to 200 above mins on arrival back at the training location. My trainee was really pumped -- tired, but pumped. I was just tired.
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Now in the Grumman how would that flight have been? :D
 
MBDiagMan said:
I fly a Cessna 140, usually by myself. I've spent five hours in it in one day, although not in one sitting, and I don't find it tiring. For me, not much is tiring when I'm having fun.
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Same here, just replace 140 with 150. My plane is actually pretty comfy, so it's not so bad.
 
Glad the trainee was pumped. I imagine he was thrilled to get to fly in actual and to see that it all works. I can understand that you'd just be pooped.

I've flown my 152 to Phoenix, Tucson, Kansas, Atlanta, DFW... The longest legs I've flown non stop in it were 5:45 mins. I have an aux tank so when I'm alone in the plane I can carry 39 gals fuel.... 6.5 hrs range. The Atlanta trip was the longest, 2400NM in 24 hrs. But I split it between 3 days there and 3 days back
I figure climbing to 9500feet to stay cool and just staying there is better than landing and climbing again! It does tend to make you a bit tired by the end of the flight.... I put a pillow behind my back which helps.
But, now that I have the decathlon I have to stop in 3.5 hrs but I've gone further :)
 
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AMD[H]unter;908600 said:
Same here, just replace 140 with 150. My plane is actually pretty comfy, so it's not so bad.
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Yes, for me my plane is quite comfortable. By accident I fit in it really well. WHEN I'M BY MYSELF! With a passenger larger than my wife, it would probably be noticable at the five hour mark.
 
Mine was 3.8hrs.. 152

I took the checkride in the plane and my examiner had us skip flying a hold because it was taking so long.
 
I did my initial training in a 152. When I went for my checkride, the guys at the FBO saw me getting out of the plane and said "How do you get in that thing!?" I said "I don't get in it, I put it on." I'm 6'7" with long legs and long arms. It's a fun plane to fly, but not much room for stretching. A 5hr day in a 150/2 would definitely qualify for Iron Butt award in my book!
 
Sadly, I've never flown (in) a 152. Couldn't get the W&B numbers to work for a checkout with enough fuel to leave the pattern.
 
Jaybird180 said:
Sadly, I've never flown (in) a 152. Couldn't get the W&B numbers to work for a checkout with enough fuel to leave the pattern.
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My check-out CFI was 140 lbs, and we off-loaded down to 13 gallons (in a 150, which carries somewhat less). Try to find a petite woman CFI if you're interested.

By the way, I may be wrong, but knowing what I know now, I think that I could check myself out in a 150. You too, probably, moreso because you own a Cessna. Unfortunately, no FBO would let you do it. But during the WWII, pilots checked themselves out in P-47, and that's a retract with 2500 hp.
 
zaitcev said:
By the way, I may be wrong, but knowing what I know now, I think that I could check myself out in a 150. You too, probably, moreso because you own a Cessna. Unfortunately, no FBO would let you do it. But during the WWII, pilots checked themselves out in P-47, and that's a retract with 2500 hp.
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...and more of them died in training accidents than in combat. That's why we don't do that stuff any more at that level, and why the insurers won't have any part of it at our level.
 
zaitcev said:
But during the WWII, pilots checked themselves out in P-47, and that's a retract with 2500 hp.
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Imagine how exciting and terrifying that must have been!! :)




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 
Ron Levy said:
...and more of them died in training accidents than in combat.
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I really doubt that, My Dad taught those kids. he never said they had a high accident rate, they were graduates of a very intensive training program.

Yes they bent a few, but " more died in training than in combat" not hardly.
 
I once logged 7.3 in a 150 in one day. I basically had to be carried out of the airplane when I landed at my destination. My long IFR X-C during IR training was 4.something, but that was in a luxurious 172 :D.
 
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Ron Levy said:
You can doubt it all you want, but the stats are on record. During WWII, accidents killed more of our pilots than the enemy.
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But was it all training related? I think that was not far off during Vietnam for Army helicopter pilots. But... you do things in wartime that you don't otherwise do. I have a lot of IMC time "VFR" in a helicopter. There was no ATC in Laos or North Vietnam in a low level helicopter (USAF). Scud running was Ops normal. ILS to minimums then "VFR" to alert pad 10 miles away. Once passed some Army Hueys that were below us. Flew an HH-3E at ~26k pounds Normal gross 18.5, 22 "emergency," into a remote strip in Laos. My last rescue was a crew we were covering and their intended survivor. The helicopter just couldn't hover at the altitude/weight. We had re-topped our engines above book, and trashed both of them, but got everyone home. Had to declare a fuel emergency and landed on fumes. I haven't done any of that since. So "accidents" may have had "unusual" causes. Not sure I accept the comparison.
 
Ron Levy said:
...and more of them died in training accidents than in combat. That's why we don't do that stuff any more at that level, and why the insurers won't have any part of it at our level.
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Don't take this as argumentative, because it's not, and I don't want a ****ing match, but do you have a reference for that?
 
We spent about 9 hours in the 310 yesterday with 26 dogs.

And then we had cages to clean.
 
Your long IFR XC was an hour longer than my total time in a 150. And I spread it over 3 flights when I was a student. You have my admiration and sympathy. There's no room in one of those things.
 
zaitcev said:
You know guys, I'm contemplating a flight AEG-GUP-PGA-1L9-ELY-TMT in a 150. There's a fly-in in Austin (NV) on August 25th. Estimated time en route 7 hours. Is this a problem? Note that Ron and his student had to work those 5 hours and I expect just putting along the countryside, refueling at leisure and snacking....
Click to expand...


I regularly make a 370nm trip in a 152. If I don't have a headwind, I climb to 8000 feet and lean it back to 55% power and enjoy the fuel economy and smooth ride. The plane is pretty quiet at that power setting and the vibration is lower. Which means less fatigue. It only does about 87-90kts but the saved fuel and reduced fatigue make up for it.

This is not practical in a wet rental, but for a long trip like that you may be able to ask the FBO for a dry rental rate.
 
Ron Levy said:
Just set a new record today -- logged a 5.1 doing the 61.65(d)(2)(ii) long IFR XC. And that over a 260nm course! I'd forgotten what it was like to spend all day in a Cessna 150. Had a lot of fun, including an approach to 200 above mins on arrival back at the training location. My trainee was really pumped -- tired, but pumped. I was just tired.
Click to expand...

Sounds pretty identical to my IR 250...5. something total, and got 4.0 of actual in a Warrior. Great flight.
 
Ron Levy said:
You can doubt it all you want, but the stats are on record. During WWII, accidents killed more of our pilots than the enemy.
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A post I made last November seemed to support a number near 15%, not over 50%. Here is my post which contains links to sources I used:

http://www.pilotsofamerica.com/forum/showpost.php?p=802971&postcount=51

Still, 15% is a lot!

What surprised me was that training accidents in planes like the B-17 killed, on average, over 6 people per accident (1757 fatalities in 284 accidents.) Meaning a lot of those bomber training flights must have had a full complement of crew aboard when they crashed.
 
AMD[H]unter;909296 said:
Don't take this as argumentative, because it's not, and I don't want a ****ing match, but do you have a reference for that?
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No, but the Air Force does. We got briefed on that regularly over the years.
 
Ghery said:
Your long IFR XC was an hour longer than my total time in a 150. And I spread it over 3 flights when I was a student. You have my admiration and sympathy. There's no room in one of those things.
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Well, we did stop for gas and food -- no way to fly a 5.1 in a 150 nonstop with IFR reserves, and it was real instrument weather yesterday. But at my age, 5.1 in a 150 is still 5.1 in a 150 even if it's split in two pieces.
 
I went roughly 220nm each way in a 150 but that was an XC for a vacation. I think it was about 5-6 hours on the Hobbs but I went REALLY SLOW on the way back since I was in turbulence and heard slowing down helps. The thing I love the most is how long everything takes meaning I get to log a whole bunch of hours XC time.
 
Thanks for posting that, Ron. 5.1 hours in a C-150 is a good while, especially flying in IMC. I usually don't fly our C-150 in IMC because I figure the ATC guys would tire of dealing with me before I got across their sector! What nav/comm radios did the guy have in his 150?
 
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