On Feb 25, 8:14 am, Roy Smith wrote:
Pointless? No. I do agree with you that's it's a little vague. I'd like
to see them define better what they mean by "cross country". There are
various definitions of cross country in the book for various purposes. I
think what makes sense here is "a full stop landing at an airport 50 miles
from your point of departure", although I suppose Alaska bush pilots might
object to having their destination limited to an airport.

The definition of cross-country time per FAR 61.1 (3) only requires
the flight to include a landing at a point other than the point of
departure. The 50 NM only apply for the purpose of obtaining
aeronautical experience for the obtention of a private, commercial and
ATP certificates.

(3) Cross-country time means-

(i) Except as provided in paragraphs (b)(3)(ii) through (b)(3)(vi) of
this section, time acquired during flight-

(A) Conducted by a person who holds a pilot certificate;

(B) Conducted in an aircraft;

(C) That includes a landing at a point other than the point of
departure; and

(D) That involves the use of dead reckoning, pilotage, electronic
navigation aids, radio aids, or other navigation systems to navigate
to the landing point.