Cross country question

[patrick]

For the purpose of meeting the cross country requirements a student pilot flies to a destination more than 50 nm from the departure point. On the way back he stops at an airport half way between the two. Can he log the whole trip if his second legs were not greater than 50 nm?

 

[Andy Neill]

It depends on which cross country requirement the student is filling. If it is for 61.109a(2)(i), yes. If for 61.109b(5)(ii), no. It would satisfy 61.109b(5)(ii) if the total distance were 150 and had legs of 75, 35, and 40, for instance.

You just have to read the reg for the requirement and that should give you the answer.

 

[midlifeflyer]

For the purpose of meeting the cross country requirements a student pilot flies to a destination more than 50 nm from the departure point. On the way back he stops at an airport half way between the two. Can he log the whole trip if his second legs were not greater than 50 nm?

I assume you're talking about the "normal" >50 NM cross country and not the special "long" one in 109(a)(5)(ii).

On that assumption, the answer is yes.

Even if he stopped there along the way outbound also.

Look at the definitions in 61.1. The one that talks about a landing >50 NM from the original point of departure does not specify a leg length at all. It uses the words

==============================
That includes a point of landing that was at least a straight-line distance of more than 50 nautical miles from the original point of departure
==============================

That means that all the flight need to qualify is a landing >50 NM from where the flight started. You can airport hop and land at an airport every 10 NM and, so long as at least one of them was >50 NM from "home" the whole flight counts.

For comparison, look at the long cross country in 109(a)(5)(ii). You'll see that when the FAA wants a minimum leg length, it doesn't have any trouble telling you.

 

[Amish RakeFight]

The whole trip gets logged as one trip. The entire time can be logged as one entry and all x-ctry.

ABC - DEF (51 NM away) - GHI - ABC

 

[patrick]

Thanks guys, you were all very helpful.

 

[Amish RakeFight]

Think of the intermediate stops as fuel or bathroom stops. Nothing against that!