Flight Training - March 2011 - 17

Dear Rod, How can a student pilot quickly get on course for a cross-country flight when flying out of a nontowered and a towered airport? Taking off and flying the runway heading invariably means that you are going to have to make a turn at some point and fly to intercept the course line that you need to be on. The problem is how to best accomplish this, and how do you know that you have in fact intercepted the exact course line that you want to get on (and stay on)? —Ken Greetings Ken: When departing a nontowered airport, consider beginning the first leg of your planned route from a definable ground reference located a few miles away from the airport. You can easily navigate to this reference visually, and then begin the plotted first leg of your journey precisely on course. The navigation police won’t cite you for beginning your flight at some point other than the departure airport, either. You can plan the first leg of your route to begin abeam the landing threshold on the downwind leg. You’ll simply make a climbing downwind departure and, when you’re abeam the landing threshold and at least 500 feet above traffic pattern altitude, you can turn in any direction desired to begin your route. You can depart the airport in any direction, climb to at least 500 feet above pattern altitude, then cross over the center of the runway complex to begin the first leg of your flight. Regarding departing a tower-controlled airport, the same procedures apply. The only difference is that you must coordinate your desires with air traffic control. If your initial cross-country heading is much different from the runway heading, ask the controller for a downwind departure, followed by permission to fly the required heading needed to begin your trip. How do you know if you’re directly on the initial course of your cross-country flight? Without electronic navigation aids (you’re using dead reckoning and not GPS for a first cross-country flight, right?), the best way to tell is to temporarily turn to the compass course you plotted for that

mirrors, you might have to turn or yaw the leg. You’ll know you’re established on the airplane to make your best guess at where desired course if the tail of your airplane the tail actually points. points directly at the departure airport (then turn back to the calculated compass Rod Machado is a flight instructor, author, educator, heading when done). It might be difficult and speaker. Machado has been a pilot since 1970 to see directly behind you. Since most airand CFI since 1973. planes don’t have side-mounted rearview coll a0124 1/18/11 2:03 PM Page 1 FT1103A- student 1/2:AOPA FPB -

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Flight Training - March 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Flight Training - March 2011