Guide for student pilots

How to plan a VFR cross-country flight

Most of a navigation flight is done on the ground. This guide takes the planning in the order most instructors teach it, from the route to the fuel. Where your school or your country’s rules say something different, follow them.

Written for training. Rules and figures differ between countries and operators, so check them against your own regulations, your school’s manual and your instructor.

1. Choose the route and check the airspace

Draw the route on a current VFR chart, such as the ICAO 1:500,000 chart or your country’s VFR chart in the AIP. A straight line is the starting point, then adjust it for airspace, high ground and anything you cannot easily see from the air.

• Pick checkpoints you can recognise from altitude: rivers, railway lines, motorways, lakes, towns. Aim for one every 10 to 15 minutes of flying.
• Note the class and the limits of every airspace you cross or pass close to, and whether any restricted or danger area on the route is active.
• Read the NOTAMs for the departure, the destination, the alternate and the route.
• Choose an alternate aerodrome you could reach with the fuel you plan to carry.

2. Get the weather

Get the METAR and the TAF for the departure, the destination and the alternate, and the forecast winds for the level you plan to fly. Note the time each report was made: a briefing that is a few hours old can describe a different day.

• Compare what you read with your own minima and your school’s: cloud base, visibility, wind and crosswind.
• Decide before you take off what would make you turn back or divert, so that you do not have to decide it in the air.

New to reading them? The guide on how to read a METAR and TAF decodes one of each.

3. Work out true course, heading and compass heading

Measure the true course of each leg on the chart. The wind then moves you off that line, so you point the aircraft a little into it.

1. True course. Measured on the chart, from true north.
2. Wind correction angle. Found from the wind direction and speed and your true airspeed. Applying it gives the true heading.
3. Variation. Convert true to magnetic. The old rule is “east is least, west is best”: subtract easterly variation, add westerly variation. The result is the magnetic heading.
4. Deviation. Read from the compass card in the aircraft. Applying it gives the compass heading you actually fly.

The order is often remembered as True, Variation, Magnetic, Deviation, Compass. Check the sign of each correction against a sketch when you learn it, because a sign error is the commonest mistake.

4. Groundspeed, time and fuel

The same wind triangle gives your groundspeed. From it:

• Time for a leg is its distance divided by the groundspeed.
• Fuel for the flight is the total time multiplied by the fuel burn per hour, plus start-up, taxi and climb allowances from the aircraft’s documents.
• Reserve goes on top. For aeroplanes on a day VFR flight, EASA Part-NCO (NCO.OP.125, with its acceptable means of compliance) gives a final reserve of at least 30 minutes at holding speed at 1,500 ft above the destination (45 minutes at night). National rules may add to it, and many schools set a larger figure. Use your school’s number and check the current rule.

Write a time estimate for each checkpoint, so that in the air you can see at a glance whether you are early, on time or late.

5. Choose the cruise level and check the terrain

• Find the highest terrain and obstacles within a corridor either side of your track, and choose a cruise altitude that clears them with a margin you are comfortable with and that your school accepts.
• Where the semicircular rule applies, cruising levels depend on your magnetic track, so check the table in your regulations and the limits that apply in the country you are flying in.
• Check that the level works with the cloud base and the airspace limits you noted earlier.

6. Check the aircraft and the numbers

• Work out the mass and balance with the real fuel and the people and baggage on board, and confirm it is inside the limits.
• Check take-off and landing distances for the expected temperature, pressure altitude, wind and runway surface.
• Look at the aircraft’s documents and its technical log, as your training taught you.

7. Tell someone the plan

File a flight plan (the ICAO form) or give the notification your rules require. At a school, send the plan to your instructor in time for them to review it. Tell someone on the ground where you are going and when you expect to land.

8. In the air

• Note the time over the departure point, set the heading, and check it against the ground in the first few minutes.
• At each checkpoint, compare the actual time with your estimate and correct the heading and the estimates if you are drifting.
• Keep a running note of fuel and time. Look at the next checkpoint before you reach the one you are on.
• If you are no longer sure where you are, use the procedure your instructor taught you for that, and ask for help early.

Where VectorEFB can help

VectorEFB does the arithmetic in steps 3 to 5 so that you can check your own working against it. You build the route on the map and the nav log fills in true course, wind correction, magnetic heading, distance, groundspeed, time and fuel, using forecast winds for each leg. You can open any airport for its latest METAR and TAF with the time of each, and a side view draws the terrain and obstacles within 2 NM of your track against your cruise altitude. At a school that uses it, one button sends the plan to your instructor. It is free for students. See the student page.

VectorEFB is a training and situational awareness aid. It is not certified for navigation. Do the planning yourself first, and use official charts, the AIP, NOTAMs and a proper weather briefing for real flights.

Flying as a licensed pilot? The pilot page shows the same tools.

Next: how to read a METAR and TAF. All guides are listed on the guides page.