Cross-Country Planning

Choose a route you can explain

A useful route connects more than two airports. Start with current charts, the Chart Supplement, weather reports and forecasts, and NOTAMs. Compare a direct route with one that offers recognizable checkpoints, suitable airports, better terrain clearance, and simpler airspace. A shorter line is not always the better flight.

Pilotage means matching landmarks to the chart. Dead reckoning predicts position from direction, speed, and elapsed time. Use both to cross-check electronic navigation. Select distinct checkpoints such as a lake shape or a highway intersection; a small town among many similar towns may be hard to identify. Break the route into manageable legs and record each leg’s distance and course.

Mark departure, climb, cruise, descent, and destination. Identify airports you could divert to, including runway suitability and fuel availability. Review airport diagrams, traffic pattern information, frequencies, and arrival options before departure. A plan must still work if your preferred runway, route, or fuel stop becomes unavailable.

PHAK Chapter 16: pilotage, dead reckoning, and flight planning

Course, heading, and the compass

Course is the intended direction of your path over the ground. Heading is where the nose points. Track is the path actually made over the ground. A crosswind can require a heading into the wind to maintain the desired course.

1. Measure true course (TC) from true north on the chart.
2. Apply a signed wind correction angle (WCA) to get true heading (TH). In this lesson, right correction is positive; left is negative.
3. Convert true to magnetic using charted variation: subtract east variation, add west variation. This gives magnetic heading (MH).
4. Use this airplane’s compass correction card to determine compass heading (CH). Deviation is compass error from magnetic influences in the airplane; it varies with airplane and heading. Follow the card’s “for / steer” instructions.

For magnetic course (MC), apply variation directly to true course, without wind correction. MC is the value used for the VFR cruising-altitude direction rule.

Illustration: TC 090°, WCA −8°, and variation 10° E give TH 082°, MH 072°, and MC 080°. Apply the actual compass card to MH to find CH; do not assume zero deviation. These are teaching values, not a route or airplane prescription.

PHAK Chapter 16: direction, variation, deviation, and wind triangle

Wind correction and groundspeed

True airspeed (TAS) is speed through the airmass; groundspeed (GS) is speed across the ground. Use the AFM/POH and appropriate performance inputs to plan TAS. Do not substitute indicated airspeed without the needed corrections.

Wind is reported by the direction it comes from. A wind from the left requires a left correction; a headwind reduces groundspeed. With a crosswind, solve the wind triangle rather than simply subtracting the entire wind speed from TAS. Keep wind and course in the same true or magnetic reference: winds-aloft forecasts are referenced to true north, but not every wind source uses the same convention.

Use the existing E6B Flight Computer in Learn mode for the wind triangle. Enter true course 090°, TAS 100 kt, wind from 360° true at 20 kt. Expect about 11.5° left correction, heading 078.5° true, and 98 kt groundspeed. The nose points into the wind, while the planned track stays east.

Forecast wind is a starting estimate. At a positively identified checkpoint, compare actual time and track with the log, then revise heading, groundspeed, ETA, and fuel. Fly and scan outside first; make changes when workload permits.

PHAK Chapter 16: effect of wind and wind triangle

Time, distance, and usable fuel

Keep units consistent: knots = nautical miles per hour. Time in hours = distance in NM ÷ groundspeed in kt. Time in minutes = distance ÷ groundspeed × 60. Distance = groundspeed × hours. Fuel used in U.S. gallons = fuel flow in gallons per hour (GPH) × hours.

Worked cruise leg: 60 NM at 90 kt takes 40 minutes (⅔ hour). At an illustrative 8 GPH, that leg uses about 5.3 gallons. At 75 kt it takes 48 minutes and uses 6.4 gallons at the same assumed flow. Less groundspeed can consume more fuel even when the engine setting is unchanged. Try both cases in the E6B time and fuel tools.

For the complete flight, account for start/taxi, climb, cruise, descent, and expected delays using the actual airplane’s data. Do not apply one cruise rate to every phase or count unusable fuel. Check the planned quantity against verified usable fuel aboard, weight and balance, and performance.

Under §91.151(a), before beginning a VFR airplane flight, allow for wind and forecast weather: enough fuel to reach the first intended landing and then, at normal cruising speed, at least 30 minutes by day or 45 minutes at night. These are minimums; choose additional margin for uncertainty and diversions. At the illustrative 8 GPH, those reserves equal 4 or 6 gallons, in addition to trip fuel. Set a conservative refueling/diversion trigger before departure.

Plan climb and descent separately. For a simplified constant-rate descent of 3,000 ft at 500 ft/min, time is 6 minutes; at 90 kt GS, distance is 9 NM. This arithmetic excludes level-offs and deceleration. Use aircraft procedures, terrain, weather, and arrival needs to choose the real descent point. See also fuel requirements.

PHAK Chapter 16: time, distance, speed, and flight planning · 14 CFR §91.151(a)

Read the clock: ETE, ETA, and UTC

ETE is estimated time en route, a duration. ETA is estimated time of arrival, a clock time. ATA is actual time of arrival at a checkpoint or destination. Record actual takeoff time when workload permits, add each leg’s ETE to obtain ETAs, and update the remaining estimates as the flight progresses.

A 40-minute leg beginning at 1430 UTC has an ETA of 1510 UTC. UTC, often called Zulu (Z), is a common time reference that does not change for daylight saving time. Verify the local offset for the date and location. If local time is UTC−5, 1430 local is 1930Z. At that same offset, 2330 local is 0430Z the next day. Keep the UTC date as well as the hour when reading forecasts and filing plans.

PHAK Chapter 16: time zones and navigation log

Choose an altitude that leaves options

Evaluate terrain and obstacles along the whole route, the climb and descent paths, airplane climb capability at the expected weight and density altitude, winds aloft, cloud clearance, oxygen needs, and potential landing areas. More height may improve glide options but can introduce stronger winds, weather, or physiological limits. A chart’s terrain information is not a guarantee that your airplane can outclimb rising ground.

For VFR level cruising flight more than 3,000 ft above the surface, below 18,000 ft MSL, §91.159 normally calls for odd thousands plus 500 ft MSL on MC 000°–179°, and even thousands plus 500 ft on MC 180°–359°. The rule has exceptions for turning, holding patterns of two minutes or less, and ATC authorization. It uses magnetic course, not heading.

Thus MC 175° normally calls for an odd-thousand-plus-500 altitude even if wind requires MH 185°. The trigger is height above the surface; the selected cruising altitude is MSL. Terrain clearance, minimum safe altitudes, airspace, and VFR weather requirements still apply. If terrain and cloud bases leave no safe legal altitude, change route or postpone. Review VFR cruising altitudes for the rule in detail.

14 CFR §91.159 · PHAK Chapter 16: flight planning

Check the route, not just the destination

Trace each leg through the airspace, including climb and descent. Identify controlled-airspace entry requirements, equipment needs, special use airspace, TFRs, and applicable special procedures. Check current activity and restrictions; a chart alone does not show every temporary change. Build a route you can fly if a desired clearance or service is unavailable.

Brief weather for departure, en route, destination, and diversion airports at the expected times. Compare ceilings, visibility, clouds, winds, terrain, turbulence, thunderstorms, and icing risk with both legal VFR requirements and your personal limits. A good destination report does not make a deteriorating route safe. Establish points to turn back, divert, or land before options narrow.

§91.103 requires familiarity with all available information. For a flight away from an airport’s vicinity, this includes weather reports and forecasts, fuel, alternatives, and known ATC delays; runway lengths and appropriate takeoff/landing performance information also matter. Use the Weather lessons and VFR Regulations lessons to review the detailed requirements.

14 CFR §91.103 · AIM 5-1: preflight preparation and NOTAMs

Use an EFB you can cross-check

An electronic flight bag can help plot a route and calculate a log, but check the aircraft profile, units, true/magnetic references, performance assumptions, and wind inputs yourself. Confirm chart and database effective dates for the flight, download coverage for the route and diversions, and verify that it opens offline.

Plan for battery depletion, overheating, unreadable glare, GPS or data loss, and app failure. Carry an appropriate usable backup, such as current paper charts or an independent electronic source. Secure the device without obstructing controls or view. Practice its normal and failure workflows on the ground.

A moving-map position does not verify obstacle clearance or grant airspace entry. Weather displays may be delayed or unavailable; inspect timestamps and service limitations. Cross-check with outside landmarks, the log, and available navigation equipment while maintaining an outside scan.

FAA AC 91-78A: EFB use and limitations · PHAK Chapter 16: navigation cross-checks

File, activate, update, close

A navigation log is your working plan; a VFR flight plan gives Flight Service information for search and rescue. Filing is generally recommended for ordinary domestic VFR rather than universally required; special operations can impose requirements. It is not an ATC clearance, and flight following does not replace it.

Prepare aircraft identification/type and equipment, departure point and time, route, speed and altitude, destination and ETE, fuel endurance, people aboard, contact details, and emergency/survival information as applicable to the filing form. Use the current international flight-plan format and your provider’s instructions.

1. File with Flight Service or an appropriate flight-plan service before departure.
2. Activate with the actual departure information through an available Flight Service/provider method. A filed plan alone does not start the intended search-and-rescue coverage; confirm activation.
3. Update Flight Service when the route, destination, or ETA changes.
4. Close promptly on arrival with Flight Service or the provider’s supported method, and verify closure. A tower landing clearance does not automatically close a VFR flight plan.

Know how you will activate and close before leaving; do not depend on cell coverage at the destination.

AIM 5-1-5 and 5-1-14: VFR flight plans and closure

A practical preflight workflow

1. Check feasibility: pilot fitness, proficiency, weather trend, aircraft readiness, daylight, and personal limits. Leave room to cancel.
2. Choose route and alternatives: use current charts, airport information, NOTAMs, airspace, terrain, and suitable diversion airports.
3. Check the airplane: loading, usable fuel, runway performance, climb capability, cruise TAS and fuel flow from its AFM/POH.
4. Build the log: fixes, leg/remaining distances, TC/MC, altitude, winds, TAS, WCA, TH/MH/CH, GS, ETE, and estimated fuel. Include climb/descent rather than treating the entire trip as cruise.
5. Check totals and margins: verify units, sum time and fuel, add reserve and contingency, calculate ETA with UTC date, and identify diversion triggers.
6. Prepare execution: airport diagrams, frequencies, arrival plan, current EFB downloads and backup, passenger briefing, and flight-plan activation/closure method.
7. Refresh and monitor: update weather/NOTAMs before departure; record actual times, compare progress and fuel at checkpoints, and revise or divert early.

Do not fill out the log merely to complete boxes. Be able to explain each number’s source and what change would make the flight unacceptable.

PHAK Chapter 16: flight planning · 14 CFR §91.103

FLIGHT SCENARIO

What would change your plan?

Continue studying

Connect this lesson with related concepts:

• Applying weather to a VFR route
• VFR fuel requirements and reserves
• Choosing a VFR cruising altitude

Test your understanding with 66 related ACS questions.