You fly a Dakota, cross-country, at 500 feet?

I like to. But it's usually more like 1000. There are many more
towers now than there used to be, and the East coast is more dense
than the Mojave desert. (I used to fly up and down the desert like
that twenty years ago before there =were= cell phones - I probably
picked up an extra ten or twenty knots just from pitching down into
the rising heated air.)

I plan the flight very carefully, checking the sectional for towers
(knowing they aren't all there), for airports and frequencies,
terrain, parachute drop zones, and anything else that might be
significant that low. It's all written out in a log ahead of time,
plotted on the sectional, obstacles circled (they make good landmarks
actually), quadrant minimum altitudes logged, and I make sure I have
good visibility to do it in, and a high enough ceiling to climb if I
need to.

Planning a long flight like that can take as long as actually flying
it - there's a lot I can ignore at 8000 feet that is critical on the
deck. To do it without detailled planning like that, in low viz,
under scud, is suicide. But on a nice day with careful planning, it
is not only (relatively) safe, it is excellent XC practice. I have
the GPS on in case I need it, but turned to a text page so I don't
cheat. At that altitude you can't see the whole world below you, so
you'd better hold a good course, pick good landmarks, be on top of
your timing, and pay attention.

Try it. Practice it. It may save your butt one day.

Have you calculated your glide range from 500 feet?

The fan stops, yes, I have fewer options. Of course, it's much safer
to fly as a passenger in a jetliner. We fly little airplanes because
the joy of flight is worth the risk. There are tradeoffs all over
aviation.

Jose
--
Money: What you need when you run out of brains.
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