Welcome Guest. Sign in or Signup

4 Answers

Commercial Cross Country

Asked by: 650 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.

Ace Any FAA Written Test!
Actual FAA Questions / Free Lifetime Updates
The best explanations in the business
Fast, efficient study.
Pass Your Checkride With Confidence!
FAA Practical Test prep that reflects actual checkrides.
Any checkride: Airplane, Helicopter, Glider, etc.
Written and maintained by actual pilot examiners and master CFIs.
The World's Most Trusted eLogbook
Be Organized, Current, Professional, and Safe.
Highly customizable - for student pilots through pros.
Free Transition Service for users of other eLogs.
Our sincere thanks to pilots such as yourself who support AskACFI while helping themselves by using the awesome PC, Mac, iPhone/iPad, and Android aviation apps of our sponsors.

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

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  2. 321_Pilot_COI on Oct 17, 2024

    Is that a yes?

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  3. John D Collins on Oct 17, 2024

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

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  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.

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes


The following terms have been auto-detected the question above and any answers or discussion provided. Click on a term to see its definition from the Dauntless Aviation JargonBuster Glossary.

Answer Question

Our sincere thanks to all who contribute constructively to this forum in answering flight training questions. If you are a flight instructor or represent a flight school / FBO offering flight instruction, you are welcome to include links to your site and related contact information as it pertains to offering local flight instruction in a specific geographic area. Additionally, direct links to FAA and related official government sources of information are welcome. However we thank you for your understanding that links to other sites or text that may be construed as explicit or implicit advertising of other business, sites, or goods/services are not permitted even if such links nominally are relevant to the question asked.