Would you pay thousands of dollars for a class and invest hundreds of hours if you didn’t know what material was going to be covered, or when the quizzes and tests were, and what was considered a passing grade? Most people wouldn’t, yet every day hundreds of people essentially do this when they show up for flight training and it is conducted without the benefit of a syllabus.

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Is a syllabus required for flight training? The FAA does not mandate the use of a syllabus under Part 61. However,under Part 141, pilot schools are required to use a structured training program that includes a syllabus. The elements and knowledge requirements of Parts 61 and 141 are identical—the experience requirements are slightly different, however, as a private pilot applicant who has trained under Part 141 can qualify to take the check ride at 35 hours, as compared to 40 hours under Part 61.

Is a syllabus useful for training? Yes, it is. It’s like a road map for both instructor and learner, showing you where you are heading in training and what milestones await. Under Part 61, the CFI can create their own syllabus using the FARs and the standards for the certificate or rating they are teaching, or they can purchase an off-the-shelf product like a syllabus from Jeppesen, Cessna, Sporty’s, or King Schools.

Ostensibly, these syllabi were designed to get the applicant through training in the minimum amount of time. They are often used in Part 141 programs. Therefore, the syllabus indicates the minimum time that should be spent on each lesson and the elements that need to be covered. Under Part 141, the syllabus has to be strictly followed, and this lack of flexibility can make it difficult to adjust for weather, student and/or medical certification delays, and mechanical issues.

There is nothing that says a CFI can’t take a syllabus that was designed for Part 141 instruction and apply it during Part 61 training. Indeed, many CFIs who trained at 141 programs but went on to teach under 61 often use the syllabus they trained with at their place of employment; however, they don’t have to adhere to the Part 141 time constraints or sequence requirements.

CFIs who create their own syllabus can adjust for towered vs. nontowered airports, airspace, equipment available, weather, their teaching style, and the knowledge acquisition style of learners. Often these syllabi are adjusted as the instructor’s experience changes.

Rod Machado, flight instructor, aviation author, and humorist, created a syllabus that dovetails into his popular online ground school. “A good syllabus covers what is necessary and no unnecessary things,” says Machado.“A flight instructor can look at the different syllabi available and find the one that is most useful and get rid of what is not for the training they are providing. The syllabus provides the CFI guidance, but they shouldn’t be using it to just check the boxes. They need to tailor the lesson to the learner and not be a slave to the syllabus.”

The way a syllabus presents the information is important, says Machado, who advocates the building block approach, which organizes training that begins with the most basic tasks—such as takeoffs, climbs, turns, and descents—and builds on them as the learner’s skill and experience grow. “The syllabus also needs to also be time ‘do-able,’ as the length of the lessons need to make sense and be practical. They can’t be too long.”

Can you imagine walking into a college classroom and the instructor asking, “What shall we do today?” A variation of that happens all the time when a syllabus is not used, says Michael McCurdy, owner and CEO of CHS Flight School at Charleston International Airport (KCHS) in South Carolina.

“If the CFI was not trained using a syllabus, there is a good chance they won’t use it to train their learners. You can tell this has happened when the CFI greets the learner by asking, ‘What do you want to do today?’ and the client replies, ‘You’re the instructor, shouldn’t you know what we’re going to do?’”

McCurdy’s school operates under Part 61 with a syllabus created in-house, built around using the Redbird FMX as a procedures trainer. The learners gain skills on the ground where the instructor can control the weather, then move out to the airplane—and are better prepared. This leads to quick progress and successful check rides.

Flight instruction is a second career for McCurdy—his first was law enforcement. He has been a CFI for 20 years and says the learners—not the instructors—get the most out of the syllabus.

“If you are organized and have experience, maybe you, the CFI, don’t need a syllabus—but the learners appreciate using one so they know where they are at and what is down the road for them.”

McCurdy’s school often picks up clients who were training elsewhere without a syllabus and left because they didn’t feel they were making progress. Some CFIs compare this to playing football and not knowing where the goal posts are.

“The lack of a syllabus during my initial training resulted in uncertainty on my part about what was required and where I was in terms of progress,” recalls Karen Kalishek, chairman of the National Association of Flight Instructors, a designated pilot examiner, and an airline transport pilot. “When my instructor went on vacation, the lessons with a replacement were largely redundant since there had been no tracking.”

“In today’s environment with rapid turnover of CFIs—which makes it more likely that a learner will experience transition to another primary flight instructor—I highly recommend using a syllabus,” Kalishek continues. “It is a tool to track progress, increase efficiency, save training dollars and support good communication between the instructor and learner.

This article was originally published in the March 2023 Issue 935 of  FLYING.

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The flight instructor is the first gatekeeper when it comes to aviation safety. It is incumbent on the CFI to teach and model good habits for mitigating risk—and you can’t do that without understanding where the risk is coming from, and when and where during the flight training process we are at a higher risk for an accident. 

One way to do this is for the CFI to review the Nall Report, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association’s (AOPA) Air Safety Institute’s annual report that looks into accident causal factors—and to develop training scenarios to give learners the tools to address these risks.

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AOPA released its 32nd report in October. The report looks at the number of events, the phases of flight where accidents happen, and contributing or causal factors. According to this latest release, most accidents happen during the approach to landing—in particular, when the pilot overshoots the turn to final, overcorrects with bank angle, and inadvertently allows the aircraft to get slow, resulting in an unrecoverable stall/spin. If you check the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) database, you will find hundreds of these accidents, which are usually fatal.

A scenario to address the risk involves taking the airplane to a safe altitude—like 5,000 feet—and practicing the base turn to final as if the airplane is in the pattern. This is a basic descending turn. Experiment with a combination of bank angles during a descent, working on coordination. Practice approaches with flaps and without. Use a cardinal heading as “final” and practice making 90-degree turns to that heading. Work on making the turn about timing—do a base-to-final turn at standard rate and roll out right on “center line.”

Make it a rule that if the aircraft is not stabilized on heading, speed, glide slope, and centerline—you will go around.

Scenario 1: Uncommanded Loss of Engine Power After Takeoff

How many CFIs teach the “loss of thrust on take-off” briefing from day one? I do, as a part of the pre-takeoff checklist. There are too many fatalities caused by a loss of engine power shortly after takeoff—resulting in a stall/spin situation—to skip this critical briefing. It goes as follows, for flight in a Cessna 172:

Loss of thrust on takeoff briefing:

• During the takeoff roll, if there is any issue with power production or controllability, the aircraft will be brought to a stop.
• If there is an uncommanded loss of engine power during the takeoff and there is runway ahead of you, land straight ahead.

Loss of thrust after takeoff no runway remaining, below 700 feet:

• If there is an uncommanded loss of engine power during the takeoff and the aircraft is out of usable runway, and at less than 700 feet agl, pitch for best glide and aim straight ahead for an open area, or, if needed, veer no more than 30 degrees off the extended centerline.

Loss of thrust after takeoff no runway remaining, 1,000 feet:

• If there is an uncommanded loss of engine power during the takeoff and the aircraft is at an altitude of at least 1,000 feet agl, pitch for best glide and turn back to the runway at no more than 30 degrees of bank to reach either the runway or some other uninhabited landing field that’s free from obstacles.

Scenario 2: Accidents During Landing

Most accidents overall occur during landing, a common cause being the unstabilized approach. Too fast and the airplane floats in ground effect, eating up all the available runway. Touching down too fast can also lead to a bounce and the dreaded “porpoise,” which can lead to a bent firewall and prop strike. Go around at the first indication you have that you won’t touch down and come to a stop within the first third of the runway.

Plenty of accidents happen when the pilot gets behind the airplane and takes incorrect action, such as trying to stretch a glide by pulling the nose up, or dumping the flaps in on final when the aircraft is going too fast and/or improperly configured—read that as the gear is still up. Dumping the gear and flaps at the same time can result in a loss of control with occasionally fatal results. If you are not configured by the time you’re on a long final, go around.

Fuel Mismanagement

Poor fuel management continues to be a causal factor in a great many situations resulting in accidents and incidents best described as “unscheduled off-airport landings.” This often breaks down to inadequate planning, poor decision-making, and a lack of knowledge about the aircraft’s fuel system. Just about every flight school has a story about a learner who either didn’t understand how the fuel system worked or failed to execute the emergency checklist by switching fuel tanks, resulting in an unscheduled off-airport landing that could have been avoided.

You can obtain the fuel endurance of the aircraft readily from the pilot operating handbook, yet sadly, many learners do not learn how to apply this information until they enter the cross-country phase of training. Anytime you land, check the fuel before taking off again. Every time.

Understand that some aircraft—because of age or engine modifications—may burn more fuel at a particular power setting. The art of leaning the mixture for best economy and endurance should be taught early in training.

VFR Into IMC

Flying VFR into instrument meteorological conditions (IMC)—followed by poor IFR technique—were cited as causal factors in a sizable portion of accidents. The FARs require private pilot candidates to log three hours of flight controlling the aircraft by instruments, and there are requirements for IFR currency—but not proficiency. That responsibility rests with the pilots. If you have an instrument rating, make a plan to fly under the hood at least once a month. Fly in VFR or MVFR with an appropriately rated pilot for practice.

If you are a learner pilot, ask your CFI to teach you how to fly an actual instrument approach as an emergency procedure. It is a practical application of the three hours of instrument training you are required to have during your initial course. Remember the most important skills you can have to avoid VFR into IMC are checking the forecast before flight and the 180-degree turn.

This article was originally published in the December 2022/January 2023 Issue 933 of FLYING.

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I admit flying into unfamiliar airports has caused me anxiety and confusion in the past. If the proverb is true that “familiarity breeds contempt,” new airports still command all my respect. I guess a big part of this is not knowing what to expect.

Back at my home airport in Daytona Beach, Florida (KDAB), I’d mastered all the visual navigation aids that had come to serve as cues for my flying. For example, to fly the RNAV Runway 16 approach at that airport, a local hospital positioned 5 miles north of the airport was my signal to establish a steady, 500 fpm descent with 10 degrees of flaps—which would take you right in. If you wanted to circle-to-land on Runway 7L, here’s what you’d do: You only had to wait until you were adjacent to the Daytona International Speedway, at which point you could make a turn left and fly towards I-95 south until the nose of your airplane touched the road. With Daytona’s 10,500-foot primary runway now on your left—provided that you leveled off well at your circling altitude—you’d gradually bring the power almost to idle, confirm that your gear and final flaps were down, and you’d be right on the numbers. With the visual cues guiding me along the way, my rehearsal worked every time, whether day or night. Whenever I had to teach that sequence to students, I was like a drill sergeant training recruits how to march in step.

Now, imagine doing that circle-to-land procedure at another airport and—compounding the level of complexity—doing it at night. You might feel the urge to look for similar cues, but it is unlikely you’d get the same results since very few airports are built alike. So, I used to find myself approaching a new airport in the air while under visual flight rules, and instead of being able to focus on the approach phase, I’d end up behind the airplane, figuring out where I was. And it was easy to lose my way if the airport had multiple runways and air traffic controllers issued instructions that required me to report from a particular reference point to be configured for the traffic pattern. Plus, pilots know all too well that the simplified rendering on sectionals and airport diagrams by themselves never completely do the job of allowing you to get up to speed ahead of time.

I know I am not alone here. As an instructor, I’ve seen students at all levels display the same patterns of confusion, regardless of experience. If you’ve recently purchased a new or new-to-you airplane and have set off to explore the world, it will only be a matter of time before you run into this problem. How can you overcome this? Here are some best practices I’ve discovered that quickly orient me to new surroundings and help me get configured for landing in a timely manner.

The rise in satellite imagery available on many commercial products allows you to see photo-quality images of the world as it appears in real life. This tip I discovered when I had to fly into a private airport for a check ride and needed to figure out what visual cues I would use for my traffic pattern. Using Google Earth, I could set up the point of view as if I was at a reasonable altitude and looking forward. Using this perspective, you can see the world as you’d see it from an airplane. I could follow the path I’d expect to fly and learn the surroundings.

To apply this, I suggest positioning yourself 20 nm away from the airport and role-playing what ATC might assign you for headings and altitudes during normal operations. Determine how you would join the pattern for various runways. Think about what you’d need to do if the pattern was full and you needed to turn around without causing a problem for someone in trail. More importantly, figure out where the highest obstacles are. Compare it with your sectional to watch for nearby airspace and establish visual cues to keep you from violating any that you’re not cleared to enter. Consider what you’d do in low-visibility conditions, or at night. 

In hindsight, I was surprised it took me so long to use this, but it has proven to be a helpful idea for preflight planning. By talking about how the airplane should be reasonably configured as you fly along and using visual markers as guiding points, you can ensure that by the time you actually make the trip, you know what to expect. It sure beats what I’ve seen other CFIs try to do, e.g.: holding up an airport diagram and spinning it north to figure out where they are. Whenever I’ve shared this Google Earth tip with new students, I’ve seen their eyes light up as they know they now have a workload-relieving tool that improves decision-making and situational awareness. And here’s another tool: You can use ForeFlight’s 3D View after selecting an airport to get a similar bird’s-eye view of your approach to any airport in their database. Pretty slick.

Once you get on the ground, you also need to have a plan. In the past, I’ve let my guard down—just being happy to have safely landed—only to be bombarded with taxi instructions from controllers that sound like a foreign language. Did they say cross this runway and then hold short of the next taxiway, or was it the other way around? Familiarize yourself with the airport diagram beforehand to help mitigate this potential confusion—better yet, a copy of the diagram at your fingertips. Airport taxiways and runways are usually organized in an orderly fashion and have typical flow patterns that pilots at the airport follow. You can also call the tower ahead of time on a mobile phone, or talk to other pilots to figure out those best practices and save yourself some trouble. 

In every situation, even with your best efforts, don’t be ashamed to ask for help. However, forming good habits can ensure you enjoy exploring new locations and continue to fly safely.

The post Approaching a New Airport appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Even when you’ve had your private pilot certificate for some time, buying your first airplane can be tricky. Typically, potential buyers who’d like to go for faster single-engine equipment—even when they remain in the piston category—find that they have obstacles to overcome, to include qualifying for insurance.

That was the case a few years ago when a long-time pilot friend told me she wanted to upgrade to a Beechcraft Bonanza that had come up for sale. It was in the middle of the pandemic, which meant she probably wasn’t alone in her pursuit, as more people were finally deciding to tap into the general aviation market.

The problem, my friend explained, was that while she earned her private ticket years ago, she hadn’t pursued her instrument rating because flying was still just a hobby for her. Years went by while she worked in another industry, and she only periodically kept up with flying, usually going up with friends. However, now, with money in hand from her professional endeavors, she had the means to buy her own airplane.

There’s a reason the Bonanza has been in production since 1947, with more than 17,000 built. For most pilots, it gets the job done. Even older versions with enough retrofits—through engine upgrades, new glass displays,and electronic instruments—will feel almost new. With a Bonanza, you can get in and out of most fields with relatively modest runways and navigate moderately inclement weather with confidence. If you add on tip tanks or even internal auxiliary tanks, ferrying a Bo across the U.S. is doable and allows you to explore many places that an airliner can’t take you. Finally, with a six-seater variant, you can bring a lot of company along. However, all of that comes with a few caveats because of the higher exposure to risks, simply because you can do more.

Therein lies the challenge for many would-be buyers who find that leaping up in the airplane ranks isn’t as easy as they’d like it to be. Insurance companies tend to find pilots who lack an instrument rating or more advanced certifications too great a risk to provide reasonably priced coverage. Providers consider a series of factors that include the pilot’s background, recency and proficiency experience, and the category and class of the aircraft as part of the final policy premium.

Of all these factors, the most pressing is pilot experience and hull value. Simply put, in the eyes of your insurance agent, a bigger, faster, and more powerful airplane will naturally require a more experienced pilot, regardless of the would-be owner’s ability to pay for it. The more my friend realized this, she saw that being able to afford the Bonanza was the easy part.

The logic isn’t unreasonable, since if you want to fly a big, powerful cross-country airplane consistently, you’re going to need the option to file IFR—and it will offer the pilot the ability to get to most destinations more quickly. Popular higher-performance airplanes, like the Bonanza, Mooney M20, Cirrus SR22—and even the Piper Arrow—all allow pilots to climb to higher altitudes, which means there will be more opportunities to run into instrument meteorological conditions during any phase of the flight.

Aside from just the instrument rating, complex airplanes with retractable landing gear, variable pitch propellers, turbochargers, pressurization systems, and even a second engine all mean there are other levels of complexity to master. Those all need someone at the yoke who can handle emergencies if things go wrong. It gets even trickier if the airplane is older with less modern instruments or equipment.

So, as my friend discovered, her airplane-buying options were seriously limited, once she took insurance into the equation—and in her case, until she earned her instrument rating. She had to overcome that first, so she tapped me to help her prepare for her check ride. The first question we needed to answer was, was it practical for her to train in the airplane she wanted to buy, or should she try to complete the certificate in another model? Well, most pilots with an instrument rating will agree that the thinking—and the speed at which that thinking needs to happen to stay ahead of an approach—isn’t intuitive. Consequently, being in a fast aircraft with additional complexities makes it easier to be overwhelmed.

Ultimately, we determined it would be better for her to master the core skills, as much as practical, first on the ground with available simulators or even mobile applications, and then in a slower airplane, such as a Cessna172. After she had truly mastered the skills needed to execute all phases of instrument flight independently and consistently, it would be easier to move up.

Here’s the other thing. Even after my friend gained her instrument rating and could purchase her aircraft, another challenge awaited. She would discover that her insurance rate would be much higher because she didn’t have enough pilot-in-command experience in the make and model. To lower her rate, she’d probably have to fly with an equally or higher-rated pilot who could support her and be on her policy. And, it would help if that person was an instructor.

Most likely, if there is transition training available for the airplane, as some pilot groups of the airplane manufacturer offer, she’d need to complete that too, to get the insurance benefits at a cheaper price. For newer airplanes, some manufacturers, like Cirrus, have established training programs to get owners up to speed to lessen the insurance burden, and if you have the means, it is worthwhile to consider.

So, where did that leave my friend? It was clear that adding an instrument rating would only enhance her flying experience. She’d be able to enjoy more destinations with her friends and worry less about getting stranded or worse, scud-running to avoid marginal weather. Moreover, she discovered that overall, more training would ultimately lower her costs of purchasing and operating bigger, faster, and more powerful airplanes. Frankly, who wouldn’t want that?

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I remember saying to my student, “It’s finally August, Kevin, we’re almost there.” I was upbeat about our training progress and beaming with optimism that we’d be able to meet our goal. Kevin and I met for the first time in June. We were paired together for his initial commercial pilot training course.

Doing my typical spiel, I told Kevin it was possible to earn his entire certificate before the end of summer. I would do my best to make it happen if he was up for the challenge, but I warned him: “This will be very demanding.” The fact that we had to complete the entire training course was the easy part—the Florida summertime heat and humidity would push us to our limits. “At least your training block is at 6 a.m. It’ll be cooler in the mornings, but we have to watch for the early morning fog followed by the cloud build-up,” I reasoned out loud insearch of some reprieve in light of our aggressive training agreement.

Fast forward—it’s now August. Kevin and I could see the end in sight. We needed just one more flight to complete a mock checkride. We’d put all the things we’d been working on together in an entire sequence, and I told Kevin that if we found anything deficient, we would fix it on the spot. This meant we went on a flight much longer than usual—for three hours this time—hoping we’d have the endurance to match.

On Saturday morning, when we set out to complete our flight, I had the first indication that maybe I was unflinchingly optimistic about getting things done amid typical fuel and traffic delays. That should’ve been my cue to adjust our plans. Still, to a fault, I was bent on getting Kevin’s course complete.

We made it through the first series of procedures fine, but as the day grew hotter, both Kevin’s and the airplane’s performance waned. The Cessna 172 in which we were training was no longer climbing sharply as Kevin tried to complete his lazy eights, so his technique was off. I also failed to adjust the performance standards, instead insisting that Kevin make another attempt to fix the procedure as we dodged the clouds building up around us.

As the student, Kevin’s optimism rode on mine, but as the flight went on longer and longer, his energy and focus began to deplete, despite his best efforts to push through. As an instructor, I should’ve anticipated this and understood that Kevin would’ve gone along with anything I said. In the end, it turned out to be an exhaustingly futile—if not altogether foolish—exercise, and Kevin and I later admitted that we were shortsighted about the demands of summer flying.

Ultimately, Kevin made it through. We’d figured out that it was wiser to split the flight sequence up, and that it was in our best interest to stick to a shorter time limit for each flight, even though we originally thought otherwise.

While I’ve had other memorable summer flights, this one has been most instructive to me. As you navigate the summertime, you’ll realize there are multiple challenges to address. Even on the best days, your airplane will be sluggish—longer takeoff and landing rolls; slower climbrates; and, worse, never enough ventilation.

Weatherwise, pilots have to contend with morning fog, thunderstorms, microbursts, high winds, clear air turbulence, and humidity. The worst scenarios might find you hoping that your airplane can withstand whatever nature has thrown at you.

However, those aren’t the only hazards. As I discovered in my flight with Kevin, pilots tend to think about summer performance only in terms of the airplane and the weather, but more is at play. Indeed, the effect the environment has on our bodies might pose a more significant threat than we tend to acknowledge. This could be costly.

The FAA has described the challenge pilots and their passengers face in the heat as “thermal stress.” With extreme heat as the stimulus, thermal stress is an important factor in fatigue, and it impairs performance. Occupants of low-flying, piston-powered airplanes are the ones who typically have to deal with airplanes that don’t have the best air-conditioning systems, and most onboard cooling systems are deficient on the ground and at low altitudes.

Pilots need to anticipate this to take care of themselves and their students and passengers, especially since everyone reacts differently. Some human needs aren’t immediately obvious until you’re in a bind. As I learned with Kevin, it can be costly to push a fellow pilot along or expect a student to comply with your demands.

Whether you’re going on a long cross-country trip or doing a training flight, it’s in your best interest to consider the potential impact of heat exposure. This means planning shorter trip legs, diversion airports, and enough hydration. As usual, dress for the environment, understanding that your body cools down when you sweat, which means breathable fabric might be more comfortable. Flying with another pilot will always be a hedge against your own limitations, allowing you to reduce your workload and potential stress. Ultimately, planning your trips earlier in the morning and later in the evening will reduce your heat exposure.

While it may seem that these external elements threaten a good experience in the airplane, pilots who take the time to plan accordingly for the demands of summertime flying can ensure instead that the memories end up being pleasant.

The post Hot Weather Takes a Toll appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

It’s approaching time of year when you might be thinking of taking that long trip you have envisioned. Sure, you have flown shorter cross-country flights before, but the trek that you have in mind won’t be like the old times. It’s easy to be biased about multiple things—your airplane, your ability, your experience—that will goad you into thinking this trip will play out like ones before, but these assumptions could be costly.

Planning a long flight alone may involve some additional risk. To combat any gaps in your knowledge, my first recommendation is to have a flying partner go along with you, even just for some company. Another pilot in the airplane can work the radios to reduce your work-load and help you stay alert. If you must go alone, de-pending on your level of comfort, break the trip up into multiple legs.

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If you plan to fly a trip that will take you from day into night, you want to get your airplane ready as well.

Ensure that your aircraft is sufficiently equipped for night flight—just in case you get caught out during a flight segment that went longer than expected. Recall that there are different lighting requirements for day and night flights.

Do you have the correct navigation and communication instruments? Can you operate at an optimal altitude for the trip? Are you meeting the proper fuel requirements based on the time of day and whether the flight is VFR or IFR? Do not aim to be minimally compliant here. For a long time, fuel mismanagement was a leading cause of accidents in the widely flown Beechcraft models, the result of either fuel exhaustion or starvation. On the outside, it seems trivial, but I can appreciate the lapse in judgment because every time I transition to flying a Beech Bonanza that only has a left/right fuel se-lector and analog engine-monitoring instruments from an airplane with a “Both” fuel selector option, it isn’t my instinct to monitor the fuel and be ready to switch tanks.

I expect that there are many pilots who recently bought airplanes and made avionics retrofits. After such upgrades, pilots could find themselves trying to decipher errors or warning messages they have never seen before. But the best way to mitigate this is to immerse yourself in the handbook and POH supplements for your new equipment so that you can anticipate any notifications ahead of your trip. Even if you do not memorize them, knowing where to locate the right buttons and the sequence to press in a crunch will relieve a lot of pressure.

While new avionics have the potential to increase safety, National Transportation Safety Board datahas shown that aircraft equipped with glass cockpits have a higher fatal accident rate than comparable air-craft equipped with the old-fashioned, “sometimes-challenging-to-decipher,” round mechanical gauges. This may be true in part because pilots do not know how to work the equipment, even if they know how to manage it in principle. The problem compounds when pilots are under pressure from ATC and completely forget the basics of flying the airplane first.

Dueling with the weather has been the biggest challenge for pilots all around. Despite all the technological progress we have made in the GA industry, pilots still come up short when dealing with deteriorating weather conditions beyond their typical comfort level, even with additional reporting and the ability to view updated weather in the cockpit.

According to a recent study of GA accidents, one of the leading causes of fatal accidents remains continued VFR flight into instrument conditions. The greatest number of accidents were reported in single-engine aircraft being flown by private pilots on personal flights. Aside from VFR into IMC, poor IFR technique is another major cause of weather-related accidents. Going on a cross country will expose you to even more phenomena that you’re unfamiliar with and test your mettle, but it can be easier if you prepare ahead.

Keep in mind that summer thunderstorms often include hail. You might be required to deviate by a wide margin to steer clear of the hazards that come with it, and thereby stretch your fuel limits. Even for airplanes equipped with icing protection systems, traversing bad weather increases pilot workload—the icing protection systems on light GA aircraft are no panacea. The key to avoiding this exposure comes from understanding the broad picture of the area’s weather, not just for your planned trip time. Get a thorough picture by calling a briefer, talking to pilots, and using all your resources through apps on your smartphone or tablet. Especially if you are flying solo, it’s worthwhile to have tools that can augment your decision-making.

A clear picture of the weather will allow you to con-sider the optimum performance profiles, routing, and altitudes for your trips, as well as potential diversions or appropriate alternates, even though the appeal of being able to go directly with GPS will linger in your mind. As you already know to be conservative with fuel, always consider the potential to encounter lousy weather.

There are other things to think about with GPS, especially as the FAA is decommissioning VORs and em-bracing newer “Tango” or RNAV terminal transition routes. Even if you have flown the same trip before, you might find yourself scratching your head when a con-troller begins rattling off new five-letter fixes and routes that sound like a foreign language. I have found this to be a most unsettling experience, especially in flight, and wound up kicking myself for my own expectation biases. One way you can anticipate this is by fast-tracking your flight review or instrument proficiency check to help ex-pose yourself to changes in the system.

If you decide to conduct your trip under VFR, consider flying as close as possible to populated areas. However, if the trip includes flying over water or unpopulated areas with the chance of losing your visual reference to the horizon, be prepared to file IFR even in clear skies.

You don’t want your emotions to get the best of you. I know how it is. If the skies are clear on a good day, even if you have been flying all day—especially after required fuel stops—it’s enticing to complete that final leg and skip the hotel bill. I have been there before, and not get-ting home as planned can be a drag.

I have had to overnight a few times because of weather and a malfunctioning electronic engine component. I was even more bothered that the next day when the mechanic showed up with a laptop to fix it—I lost a whole day of work drinking FBO coffee.

Plus, you promised someone you would be there. It is tempting to think you will rise to the occasion, especially when things start to go wrong. But the truth is, you are just plain tired, and this may be compounded by a lack of recency of experience in your airplane.

If the options permit, it’s always best to deviate to a convenient airport with the amenities you need—suchas fuel, proper aircraft storage, and even a crew car—and finish the trip the next day. If you want to be wise,carry an overnight bag, just in case. You will thank your-self later

A long cross-country flight that exposes you to new environments and experiences is something every pilot should have on their bucket list, and if done safely, it can create memories for a lifetime.

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