John Harlow wrote:

I'd like to get input on opinions on the "best" VFR altitude for a route.

It seems to me it's largely based on distance, winds aloft and comfort
level. Do you have a "rule of thumb" trading off altitude (and therefore
safety margin) to avoid headwinds? Or, if winds aloft are to your
advantage, how high would someone go in a 172 class aircraft before returns
diminish?

A lot depends on whether I'm alone or not. It's also the case that the various
airspace restrictions around here do a lot more to determine my enroute altitude
than anything else until I get south of the DC mess.

If I'm alone and have strong headwinds, I'll stay down as low as 600' AGL to make
time. If my wife is in the plane, I will go as high as is necessary to eliminate
turbulence (if this is possible). I will go as high as 9,500' to make the best use
of a tailwind, but I do not like to fly much higher than that, since flying higher
makes me drowsy and leaves me with a headache. I have gone as high as 11,500 to
get over a class-B.

All my flying is done in the eastern half of the country without oxygen on board.
If I had to deal with mountains higher than the Appalachians, it would be a
different story.

George Patterson
Love, n.: A form of temporary insanity afflicting the young. It is curable
either by marriage or by removal of the afflicted from the circumstances
under which he incurred the condition. It is sometimes fatal, but more
often to the physician than to the patient.