So. You Want To Go Someplace In A Little Airplane

[Colonel]

... and that Someplace is 1000 or 2000 miles away, across North America.

First of all, kudos. This oughta be a CPL requirement. Another time ....

I'm not a big weather geek. I only give a shit about what affects my airplane.
In a little airplane, choose a day and a route that avoids radar returns, if you
can, because where there are no radar returns, there is no nasty moisture in
the air to fuck you up:



https://www.wunderground.com/maps/radar/current/usa

Click on "Play Animation" because the wx is going to move during your trip.

Now, you can dice with Cb's and fronts and precip, but gosh, it's a whole lot easier if you don't.
Ask Scott Crossfield about this. Famous pilot, 'way more brains and skill than I, died in a little Cessna
playing with Cb's at night.

Pro Tip #1: fly away from bad wx, if at all possible. Flying towards bad wx is dicey. Bring lots of fuel
and DO NOT COMMIT to a destination - be prepared to divert. Stay flexible. Ignore pax and people on
the ground that will try to pressure you to make a bad decision and a fatal crash.

Pro Tip #2: During summer, fly through a cold front, not along it.

Pro Tip #3: During winter, a warm front will kill you.


Now. What are the winds?



https://www.windy.com/?700h,36.895,-76.201,8

That's the wind at Norfolk, VA (at 10,000 feet) where I used to make my
first fuel stop and clear customs on the way down to Key West. The wind
can be a BIG percentage of your cruise speed, and may require re-planning
your fuel stop, and may create unpleasant turbulence. I personally don't give
a fuck about turbulence - just crank the come-along on the lap belt tighter -
but your pax may barf. I velcro gallon ziplock freezer bags to the side of
the airplane for that. On the inside of the airplane, not the outside, ok?

If you're going into the hills, strong wind may not be survivable. Ask
Steve Fossett and Sparky Imeson, who are the experts at flying little
airplanes in the hills. Oh yeah, they're both dead. Please respect the
combination of hills and wind, because both those guys know more
about it than you do, and they both died in little airplanes in the hills.

The last thing I want to mention is dewpoint spread. At the end of
a long day of flying, you need to keep an eye on it, at your destination -
you can expect 1000 feet of cloud height for every 3C of dewpoint
spread. Let's look at a nearby airport right now that I get raspberries
from:



https://www.aviationweather.gov/metar/d ... s=2&taf=on

The other thing about dewpoint spread is that in the morning in a
little airplane, VFR, it can drive you nuts. You have to wait and burn
daylight in the summer in the morning, before you can depart. That's
one of the few times that IFR is actually useful in a little airplane - take
off and climb up through the overcast to the bright sunlight on top,
which might only be 500 feet above. Bring your sunglasses, and
remember, you had 1/2sm vis on the runway before takeoff unless
you're part 91.

Also, bring an ANR headset. After 10 hours in a little airplane, you will
appreciate the lack of a headache. Reduced fatigue is good at your
destination, which you probably won't be familiar with, after sunset.
This is extremely dangerous. Arrive at your final destination (for that
day) before sunset. If you arrive after sunset, you must very carefully
figure out what your safe altitudes are, near the airport. If you want
to survive, learn that night VFR is an awful lot like IFR. Same procedures
apply unless it's your home turf and you know where every tower and
hill is.

http://www.rcaf-arc.forces.gc.ca/en/art ... 2/ig9v1k0t

[Slick Goodlin]

The other thing about dewpoint spread is that in the morning in a
little airplane, VFR, it can drive you nuts. You have to wait and burn
daylight in the summer in the morning, before you can depart.

I hate that part. Last little airplane cross country had the first stop a half a tank of fuel away and the second a whole tank away and zero other runways available. No TAFs for either at my planned departure time but METARs from limited auto stations showing a temp/dew point spread of zero and no capability to report ceiling or vis. Lame. Had to push departure back three hours before I had a good idea of what lay ahead. At some point sunset at the other end starts to become a concern but no point having to land on a highway or something earlier in the day because I was too cheap to pull the pin and get a hotel half way.

[Colonel]

a temp/dew point spread of zero

That's a good way to get killed. As the sun goes down it cools off, the temp
drops ... and if you have a source of moisture - melting snow, nearby lake -
that can INCREASE the dewpoint and there goes the spread.

Overnight, if the sky is clear the earth cools and the coldest temp is often
right around dawn. Often the dewpoint spread is zero, and it can either
be clear or 0/0, depending. What can happen is one good takeoff when
it's clear and no dewpoint spread, and the airport goes 0/0 for the morning.
Ever seen that happen?

Very few little airplanes have 0/0 landing capability. Best to avoid having
to try to do that, although it is very good practice and works amazingly well.
Needles in the donut, ignore the GS when it goes nuts and set up a glassy
water/black landing config. In the old days, taxiing with 0/0 was difficult
but GPS sure helps now.

I find it best to land before sunset. Give myself an easy problem to solve,
and remember the wx can go from VFR to below IFR really quickly.

[Slick Goodlin]

Sounds like you and I plan our little plane trips the same way. I’m apparently just worse at writing since I had to go back and include in my last post that I didn’t just blast off into the unknown.

[Nark]

Speak of the devil! I knew a guy who recently sold a Cessna 182 and delivered it (ferried) from Wisconsin to Central California.

The first day, he was delayed by 2 hours because the hangar door broke ( it was only -20C…) Made it to the second fuel stop (planned on a third). 300 miles shy of day 1’s goal.
Gotta learn how to read them tea leaves. Sometimes outside forces are talking to you.

Know your capabilities, often the plane’s capabilities outweigh yours.

Don’t know the area? Fly VFR during the day. Going to land after sunset? Fly IFR.

[Colonel]

Don’t know the area? Fly VFR during the day. Going to land after sunset? Fly IFR.

This ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ will keep you alive.

And remember the recent Learjet crash at Sandy Eggo - they were fucking BASED there,
cancelled IFR and crashed at night circling VFR, despite knowing the area VERY well.

VFR at night is very, very dangerous. Fly VFR during the day, and you will live much longer.

often the plane’s capabilities outweigh yours

True enough, but remember Scott Crossfield. Best pilot in the world, according to him, and
he died in a little Cessna at night dodging Cb's in the southeast.

Anyways, I hope the kids reading this (that don't have ATPs and decades of flying experience,
which everyone posting here so far does) pick up a few bits of knowledge from this thread.

It's nice when someone emails you, years later, and tells you that what you taught them, kept
them alive during a challenging situation recently. Their skills and decision-making made the
difference.

Remember:

1) Wx
2) hills
3) wind
4) night

will each try to kill you. Don't let them do it. And only take on ONE of them at time, ok? Maybe
you're smarter and a better stick than Scott Crossfield, but I somehow doubt it.

[Squaretail]

It's nice when someone emails you, years later, and tells you that what you taught them, kept
them alive during a challenging situation recently. Their skills and decision-making made the
difference.

I can count on one hand how many times that's happened, with fingers left over.

Lots of good info above. The only thing I would add is that the weather changes. Always remember that they can only reasonably predict weather with any accuracy at most 8 hours out. So that's the flying window you got to count on to get anywhere in a little airplane. Plan accordingly. Its easier to keep abreast of it with all the constant data feed one can get. So stay updated. You stop for fuel, check it again. Its literally at your fingertips these days, and if it isn't spend a bit of money you cheap luddite.