Does cruise altitude matter?

tony roberts wrote in news:nospam-271FBE.19453002092004
@shawnews:

Hi Ben

If you lived where I live, cruise altitude on almost any crosscountry
trip is based on altitude required to clear terrain.

That usually takes care of anything between 7500 and 11500ft.
After that, can we get a decent tailwind?
Can we dodge turbulence/weather?
Controlled airspace we usually fly over, or ask permission and fly
through.

So it all depends what you are calculating - time enroute , see tailwind.
Fuel burn? All I calc is that I have lots. I really don't see any great
monetary saving by selecting anything except tailwind, and I'm landing
in 2 - 3 hours anyway. That's as much as I want to handle in a 172
without a walk/washroom/coffee ion that order

HTH

Tony


Around here (Ohio), pattern altitude will clear pretty much any obstacle
for many miles.

I like to fly high. Typical around the patch altitude is 11,500'
(Field elevation around 6,800'). Cross countries can be higher
especially if it minimizes turbulence and is cooler.

Ron Lee

No one has mentioned the fact that the higher you are the more time you have to
pick an emergency landing location. At 3000 AGL my Warrior has 5.5 NM of best
glide distance. At 8000 AGL I have 14.5 NM of best glide distance. That's a
choice between 95 square NM and 660 square NM in which to find a place to land.

Demonick