WAC vs Sectional

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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Jose wrote:
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.)

And where did that rising heated air come from? If you were flying in a
straight line, then you likely aren't netting any gain from thermals as
you also are flying through the corresponding downdrafts.

Matt

"Matt Whiting" wrote in message
...
And where did that rising heated air come from? If you were flying in a
straight line, then you likely aren't netting any gain from thermals as
you also are flying through the corresponding downdrafts.

In fact, he was missing his opportunity. As has been discussed here before,
in rising air the right thing to do is slow down and let it carry you up.
Then you dive as you fly through the descending air you're sure to find
(which you mention).

He can either take the assistance as fuel savings, or trade that for a
higher power setting that will get him to his destination faster. But by
diving in the updrafts, he's throwing away any possible savings, and
probably comes out behind when he has to slow down to maintain altitude in
the downdrafts.

Pete

And where did that rising heated air come from?

The sun heats the ground. The ground heats the air. The air expands
and goes up. Cooler air comes in from the outside of the desert, not
from above me.

Sure, there are some downdrafts, but the net is up.

Jose
--
Money: What you need when you run out of brains.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

Jose wrote:

And where did that rising heated air come from?


The sun heats the ground. The ground heats the air. The air expands
and goes up. Cooler air comes in from the outside of the desert, not
from above me.

Sure, there are some downdrafts, but the net is up.

Sorry, but not even most deserts heat that uniformly.


Matt