I'm one week from a check-ride. My logbook is filled in nicely and each requirement entry is tagged to make it easier for the examiner to find quickly.
I ran through the list of requirements (FAR 61.109) and checked each one off as completed a month ago. All was looking good. I booked the check-ride and began the application process at iacra.faa.gov
Uh-oh.. Disaster! I discovered to my horror last night, that I am 0.3 hours short of the cross country requirement. When I had read my log book the first time, I had mistakenly seen 5 take-offs and 5 landings, and thought I read 5.5 hours.
Like there isn't enough to think about this week, I'm now planning a cross country and crossing my fingers that all this gorgeous weather we have been having, will hold out another week. Delaying my checkride is not ideal for me, since I procrastinated a couple of months before booking it to start with. And then there's the "other" cost. The one that affects my bank account. Let's see....
Minimum flight is 50 miles each way, but of course there is no airport at the 50 mile marker. I'm probably looking at 120 miles, round trip. Contrary to the POH, which tells me C65440 will cruise at 106, experience tells me I should expect to cruise at about 95.
Total time will be around 1.7 hours by the time I taxi, run-up, take off, climb, fly land and repeat.
1.7 hours x $80/hour aircraft rental = $136
18 mins required, $136 spent.
That's $7.50/min.
Photo courtesy of Steven Depolo
Lesson from the trenches for all you student pilots out there:
Yes, there is a lot of planning involved in a cross country. You have a head full of figures, charts, notes. You are using all those little computers, calculators and rulers that have weighed your flight bag down for months now. It's a lot, I get it... trust me!
But consider this... You could find yourself just short of time like me - because I doubt I'm the first. Imagine just 10 mins or 5 mins short!
You are doing the math and checking the weather, but take it a step further. If your calculations tell you that the flight will be 2 hours and you know you need 2 hours or more to fulfill requirements ... Recalculate! Go further, fly slower, fly a less than direct route or prepare to do another cross country later!
This advice is worth $7.50/min and you are getting it for free! Just sayin'.
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