Hey everyone Jason Schappert here
of MzeroA.com and this week I'm working with two of our
great team members here at MzeroA.com as they pursue their
commercial certificate. One of those requirements is that long
dual cross country, and it got me thinking here, what are some things
I do and I teach my students to do before and even during
each long cross country. And then I want to hear from you as to
what are some things you do. I picked out 5, obviously there's hundreds,
but I just want to share 5 of these with you to get you to think a little bit
outside of the box. Here is the first one: Always have a
plan B. Your route is not always going to work out
how you plan it. There is going to be airspace that pops up,
things you thought that you would get cleared through you don't get cleared through. Whatever
it may be, it could be weather in front of you, things out of your control.
Always have a plan B. Yes, you can
draw a straight line from A to B, but understand that there is a lot that can happen
in between. Let's just have a back up route around this restricted airspace
just in case. Around this Class Bravo airspace
just in case. Add a different altitude, always have
a plan B. Here's another one: Have you ever thought about
calling the FBO and ask about parking?
So often we spend so much time planning the flight
that we forget when we land and the ground controller asks us
"Where are you parking?" and there's three FBO's to choose from, we haven't even
picked one out yet. We don't even know where the three are, what the three options are.
Research all that, pick which FBO you're going to.
Call them, ask about where do they want the general aviation parking to go?
What should I expect? Maybe look and say okay if I land runway 3 6
it looks like I'll taxi Alpha Bravo over to
this FBO, and they want me parking on the south side of the building over here.
And I can plan that out. Ask about their hours of operation, Ask about
fuel prices and the hours of fuel because
full service may not also mean they have self serve. They may be in two totally
different locations. Make sure we find that out ahead of time.
Here's number 3: I'm a old school back-up kind
of person. My online ground school members know this. I still make them fill out
the old school cross country NAV Log because I want you to have
a back-up plan. I realize that's not for everybody, but please
if you're putting all your faith in just that IPad at least
write down some key frequencies, key diversion airports,
their identifiers, your heading, your times. Have these
items written down because you can't take paper away from you, but that
IPad can sure overheat, or the battery die. Always
have some sort of old school back-up for when
technology fails. Number 4: What
about weather and personal minimums. Our long time MzeroA.com
fans and friends know I teach to have hard set personal
minimum numbers. Take the emotion out of it because when you say
"man my check ride is in a week, I have to get this cross country done."
You end up making silly mistakes, and perhaps
flying into weather that you wouldn't normally fly in because you feel like you have
to get it done. You never have to be anywhere in aviation.
Does today's weather exceed your personal minimums? Do you find yourself
making different decisions because you feel you have
to get this done? "Because I don't want to schedule my check ride again, they're taking months to get booked.
I just have to get this done." You never just have to get it done. You never
have to be anywhere in aviation. Stick to your
hard set personal minimum numbers here. And lastly:
you have to always be willing and always be adjusting the plan.
You may realize your ground speed is 10 knots faster, 10 knots
slower once you actually start flying. Can you make that adjustment?
What does that do to the bottom line? What does that do to the fuel burn?
What about wind correction angles, 10 degrees left, 10 degrees right?
You spend all this time making this beautiful plan on the ground,
you're still planning in the air because the conditions change.
You have to be willing to adjust. So, let me ask you a question,
I just shared 5 out of hundreds of things you should be
and probably do before each and every long VFR,
really short VFR, IFR, whatever it is cross country flight.
What are some things that you do before each and every cross county
flight? Leave me a comment in the comment box below this video
whether it's on Youtube, MzeroA.com, Facebook, Instagram, where ever it may
be, I can't wait to read your comments, and perhaps we'll use them in a future
video. Listen enjoy the rest of your day and most importantly
remember that A Good Pilot is Always Learning! Have a great day guys, we'll see ya!
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