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4 Answers

Commercial Cross Country

Asked by: 1153 views Commercial Pilot, FAA Regulations

Requirement
One cross-country flight of not less than 300 nautical miles total distance with landings at a minimum of three points, one of which is a straight-line distance of at least 250 nautical miles from the original departure point.
Does this meet the requirement?
10/2  KTIX KSSI KCRE 4.5 hours solo
10/8  KCRE KSSI KTIX 4.5 hours solo
Flight school says no.  It was not "One flight" because it was 2 logbook entry's on different days and is not "three points".  I disagree.

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4 Answers



  1. John D Collins on Oct 17, 2024

    See this General Counsel Opinion:

    https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/faa_migrate/interps/2009/Van_Zanen_2009_Legal_Interpretation.pdf

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  2. 321_Pilot_COI on Oct 17, 2024

    Is that a yes?

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  3. John D Collins on Oct 17, 2024

    I think the General Counsel argument is clear. I read it as a yes.

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  4. Mark Kolber on Oct 19, 2024

    I’m going to take a different position on this. I’m pretty familiar with the rules and the interpretations. It’s actually older than the two 2009 Chief Counsel letters. I’ve seen it as early as 1997. My own commercial cross country in 1994 covered three days.

    Yes, what is considered a single cross country flight is mostly in the mind of the beholder. But I also think that the rule is subject to a test of reasonableness. To give an extreme example, I recall a discussion of this subject in which a pilot quipped, “I consider my 2000 hours of flight time just one long cross country.”

    You are describing a flight in which the outbound to the destination was Day 1 and the return trip Day 6 (I hop it was a great vacation). Is that a single trip or does the passage of almost a full week between the landing and the next takeoff constitute a break in the “single flight” chain?

    I don’t know the answer to that. But I do think it’s enough of a break to raise a question in the mind of a DPE. That’s where I would start – a discussion with the DPE you will use. The last thing you want to do it to prepare, pay a big fee, appear at your checkride ready to go, and find the DPE will not accept it. Plus, if the DPE agrees with you, you have an ally to convince your flight school to sign off on it.

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