AOPA Online Members Only -- AOPA ePilot Flight Training Edition -- Vol. 6, Issue 15

WHAT'S YOUR ETD?
Of all the questions facing a student pilot planning a solo cross-country flight, when to depart gets little attention. A block of time may be a take-it-or-leave-it proposition, considering your schedule, aircraft availability, and how much time you'll need. Be selective. Schedule with a generous fudge factor built in for delays. Time not a problem? Great. Then what's the ideal estimated time of departure (ETD)? Generally, earlier is better. But advantages will be lost if you don't see to certain details.

Why go early? Flying in smooth air not yet destabilized by solar heating is comfortable, and those fair-weather clouds and bumps commonly encountered at lower VFR cruising altitudes may still be hours away. See the discussion of flying in turbulence in the February 18, 2005, Training Tips. Early departure carries less risk of your flight being delayed, or scuttled, by a previous pilot returning late.

Arrange to have your training aircraft fueled and positioned outside for an easy getaway from the home field. Request that an appropriate flight instructor be available to give final approval for your trip, and endorse your logbook as required in the Federal Aviation Regulations. You asked that the trainer be waiting with full fuel-but preflight carefully. Did an even earlier bird than you show up for a session of takeoffs and landings today? Double-check that fuel, and remember to check oil levels as well. A safety tip: Departing into a rising sun on an east-facing runway, or landing to the west in the late afternoon, requires extra care.

Conditions such as lingering ground fog at the destination could delay your departure. Watch the airport's weather behavior days or weeks beforehand. When briefing on the day you fly, focus on trends in the temperature-dew point spread. Remember when studying forecasts or filing a VFR flight plan that your local time's relationship to Coordinated Universal Time changed when daylight-saving time took effect this month. (See the July 11, 2003, Training Tips discussion of time conversions.)

Never rush to complete a cross-country because of scheduling. If delays occur in spite of your careful planning, so be it. Let them know back at the base, circumstances permitting, but stay safe. That's the most important lesson of all.

NEW BOOK CONSIDERS LOGBOOK ENDORSEMENTS
An active flight instructor will write a lot of logbook endorsements during his or her career. You owe it to your students to produce clear, concise, and accurate endorsements, according to Drew Chitiea, a designated pilot examiner and airline transport pilot (ATP) who holds all fixed-wing flight and ground instructor ratings. His book, Flight Instructor's Guide to Endorsements, proposes to help flight instructors do that by listing all endorsements in order of use that a flight instructor would have to make and including samples with notes and guidance to the instructor. The 112-page soft-cover book also includes a Transportation Security Administration training log and a section on flight reviews and instrument proficiency checks with tips to keep clients coming back for repeat business. The book sells for $20 and may be ordered online.

Note: Products listed have not been evaluated by ePilot editors unless otherwise noted. AOPA assumes no responsibility for products or services listed or for claims or actions by manufacturers or vendors.