15.4 VFR Cross-Country and Fuel Planning

ACS PA.I.D is the planning task: route (K1), altitude (K2), time/heading/GS/fuel (K3), VFR flight-plan elements (K4), activate and close (K5), and inflight intercept procedures (K6). Chapter 4 already stated 91.151 and 91.159. This section applies them to a trip, adds climb fuel, UTC, the flight plan, and the AIM intercept actions, and leaves lost-procedures technique to Chapter 16.

Route first — SUA, terrain, glide, radios

PA.I.D.K1 is not “GPS direct.” Draw a line, then break the line around active restricted and prohibited airspace, around TFRs, around terrain you cannot out-climb, and around long stretches with no VHF outlet and no airport. You may plan through a MOA; you still get status and, if it is hot, talk to the controlling agency before you enter (Chapter 5). A four-digit MTR under the line is a low, fast military corridor — raise the altitude or accept a lot more see-and-avoid. Put checkpoints where 15.2 said they belong. Put a diversion airport on the log, not just in your imagination.

PA.I.D.K2 altitude is a stack, not a vibe:

1. Terrain and obstacles. Stay above the MEF with a margin you can defend, and obey 91.119.
2. Glide. Over mountains or night water, a higher cruise can be the only airport-in-glide-range choice even if a lower 91.159 altitude is legal.
3. 91.159. In level cruise more than 3,000 feet AGL, fly magnetic course 0°–179° at odd thousand + 500 (3,500, 5,500, 7,500) and 180°–359° at even thousand + 500 (4,500, 6,500, 8,500). Heading after wind correction does not flip the hemisphere.
4. Wind and clouds. A 7,500 westbound into a 30-knot headwind may be legal and stupid; 6,500 with a better wind and legal 91.155 cloud clearance can be the better PAVE call.
5. Communications and airspace. High enough to hear Flight Service or Center if you want flight following; low enough to stay out of a Bravo shelf you have not been cleared into.

Fuel — 91.151 plus climb, not cruise-only fantasy

91.151 is the legal floor for an airplane: considering wind and forecast weather, fly to the first point of intended landing and then, at normal cruising speed, 30 minutes by day or 45 minutes at night. Night is when any part of the operation is at night, not “I took off in daylight.” Helicopter 20-minute reserve is the wrong certificate.

Continue the 15.3 numbers. Cruise GS 118 knots, remaining cruise distance after climb 177 NM, cruise fuel flow 8.0 gph:

• Cruise time = 177 / 118 = 1.50 hours.
• Cruise burn = 1.50 × 8.0 = 12.0 gallons.
• Day reserve = 0.50 × 8.0 = 4.0 gallons. Legal cruise-plus-reserve = 16.0 gallons.
• Night reserve = 0.75 × 8.0 = 6.0 gallons. Legal cruise-plus-reserve = 18.0 gallons.

That 16.0 or 18.0 is still incomplete. Climb is not cruise. The POH time/fuel/distance-to-climb table is a higher fuel flow and a lower groundspeed. If the book says 10 minutes, 2.2 gallons, and 12 NM to reach 5,500, you add that 2.2 on top of a cruise segment that is 12 NM shorter — you do not bill the whole 177 NM at 8.0 gph from brake release. Taxi and run-up burn is real. A headwind that was 10 knots worse than forecast is why 91.151 says “considering wind.” Personal minimums that add a second hour of fuel are how you still have a plan when the first airport’s AWOS dies.

Usable fuel is the POH number, not the tab, not the rental desk’s “she takes 40.” If 18.2 usable is what the math requires and the tabs are 17, you do not “lean a little more.” You add fuel or you do not go.

VFR flight plan, UTC, activate, close

PA.I.D.K4 elements (FAA domestic VFR plan / AIM 5-1) include type, aircraft identification, type and equipment, true airspeed, departure point, proposed departure time, cruising altitude, route, destination, estimated time en route, remarks, fuel on board, alternate (optional VFR, still smart), pilot name and contact, number aboard, color, and a close-out contact. Fuel on board is hours and minutes, not “lots.”

Times on the plan are UTC (Zulu). Central Daylight Time is UTC−5, so a 07:30 CDT departure is 1230Z. Eastern Standard Time is UTC−5; Eastern Daylight is UTC−4. Pacific Daylight is UTC−7. Write the conversion on the log. An ETA of “about four” in local time is how search-and-rescue starts at the wrong hour.

PA.I.D.K5: filing is not activating. File with Flight Service (phone, radio, 1800wxbrief, or an EFB that actually transmits the plan). Activate after takeoff by radio, by the app, or by asking for a proposed activation time. Close by radio, phone, or app after landing. If you never close, Flight Service starts search-and-rescue action about 30 minutes after your ETA. Landing at a towered field does not automatically close a VFR plan — the tower closes IFR plans; VFR is still your phone call unless you arranged otherwise. A through-flight that never arrives is why the number aboard and the color are on the form.

Lost comm (high level) and intercepts

VFR lost communication is not 91.185 (that is IFR). Stay in VMC, land as soon as practicable, and use light-gun signals at a tower (Chapter 16). Squawk 7600 if you still have a transponder and it helps ATC see the problem.

PA.I.D.K6 inflight intercept (AIM 5-6) is a different emergency. If a military or law-enforcement aircraft intercepts you: remain predictable; comply with visual signals and radio instructions from the interceptor; attempt contact on 121.5 (and 243.0 if you have UHF) with identity, position, and nature of flight; if transponder-equipped, squawk 7700 unless ATC instructs otherwise; rock wings by day to acknowledge. If ATC and the interceptor disagree, keep complying with the interceptor until you are positively released, and ask for clarification. Rocking wings from slightly above and ahead, normally to the left, means “follow me.” An abrupt 90° turn by the interceptor after your acknowledgment can mean you may proceed. Prevention is cheaper: current TFRs, a DVFR plan before an ADIZ, and a discrete code in the DC SFRA.

Personal minimums and the Chart Supplement

Legal is not the same as smart. Write personal minima for ceiling, visibility, surface wind, fuel above 91.151, night, and mountain experience before the trip, not after the AWOS goes 3 SM in haze. Check the Chart Supplement for the destination and the alternate: runway length and width versus your POH, lighting and PCL, fuel grade and hours, attendance, TPA, and remarks (“deer on movement areas,” “no after-hours fuel”). A 3,500-foot turf strip that looked fine as a magenta circle is a different airplane at night with a 10-knot tailwind component.

PAR scenario: 177 NM remaining after climb, GS 118, 8.0 gph, day VFR, magnetic course 090°, MEF 26 along the route. Cruise at 5,500 (odd-plus-500, above the MEF, more than 3,000 AGL). Carry at least 18.2 gallons usable after you add the POH climb (2.2) to 12.0 cruise and 4.0 day reserve. File the VFR plan with ETE 1+40 (climb plus 1+30), activate after takeoff, convert 07:30 CDT to 1230Z, and close on the ramp. If a fighter shows up on the left wing, 121.5 and 7700 — not a debate about whether your EFB still shows you clear of the MOA.