The issue I see with the way you calculated the % of time that the
weather is IMC, is that on a cross country flight you need a constant
path of VMC weather from departure to destination in order to make the
flight. I would be really interested to find out what the results
would change to, if your friend did a search on the number of days
that every ASOS station from IOW to Cincinnati or Detroit was showing
VFR. That would give a much better read on the percent of days that it
is possible to do a cross country under VFR.

True enough, Eric -- although it wouldn't take into account the
ability to fly around pockets of IFR conditions.

This happens on almost every long (and I mean trans-continental) cross
country flight I've done -- sooner or later, you're going to run into
cruddy weather over *there*, which means that I fly over *here*.

While this may be seen as inconvenient by some, we have built it into
our expectations of a "flying vacation" -- and relish it. And on
those rare occasions when the weather goes REALLY bad, you park the
plane and make the best of it.

We saw Nashville that way for three days, because of freezing rain --
and had one of our most memorable vacations, ever. It turned out to
be a fantastic time.

The key is to always be flexible. When it comes to flying VFR cross-
country, we have to be more flexible than our IFR-capable brethren --
but not by too much.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"