[Jeroen]

Source

Flight preparation and flight planning is done in a very structured way. It doesn’t matter if you are flying a single engine Cessna or Jumbo jet. The main difference is I will do everything myself and on a Jumbo there are two pilots who will distribute the tasks and to some extend check one another. Also, airline pilots rarely do their own flight planning. They have an operational department that does all of that for them. They still need to verify and make sure they can conduct the flight safely of course.

So here is what I do:

I will do a very thorough flight planning exercise. Usually the night before at home behind my PC.

It all starts with where you start from and where you are heading to. Next I need to decide whether I would like to conduct the flight under Visual Flight Rules or under Instrument Flight Rules. Obviously, the weather might decide for me that is has to be IFR. The preparation for either VFR and IFR is somewhat different, VFR gives my much more flexibility as long as I don’t venture near any main airports (so called B-airspace). Fuel planning has also different requirements.

I rarely filed a flight plan for an VFR flight. For an IFR flight plan you have to file a flight plan. In the USA whilst flying under VFR rules you can ask Air Traffic Control for “flight following”. That means they will keep an eye on you and advise you along your flights on anybody getting near, or when you are entering restricted airspace. The ultimate responsibility is still with the pilot but in essence you get an extra set of very capable eyes. Flight following can be denied if ATC is too busy. However, that rarely happened to me.

Also, no mistakes, almost all major Airports allow VFR operations. So I could land my little Cessna/Cirrus just about anywhere. There are specific requirements on the aircraft equipment for entering this so called B-space. In essence you need a proper transponder and two way radio communication.

I would figure out the routes, look at the expected weather, check and work out possible alternate route and diversion airports. I would check the so called NOTAMs (Notice to Airmen). These deal with all sort of possible operational restrictions at airports and along the routes. On an IFR route I would very carefully check the complete route on sectional charts so I really understand what minimum altitudes I would have to be able to fly, whether me and my plane are capable etc.

I would look up the airport diagram of my departure and arrival airport and the possible alternates. Study the arrival routes, airport information, runway information etc. Depending on what plane I was going to fly I would make more or less notes. For instance on the Cirrus with a very advance full glass cockpit changing radio frequencies is very easy. Essentially you have all the information on the navigation display. On simpler aircraft that might not be the case. You would have to look it up on a chart or a document. So when I flew our little Cessna I would usually right down all the frequencies per airport and along the route, so I had them handy on a piece of paper. Less need for that in more advanced aircrafts.

Fuel planning is important. I would always try and leave with full tanks no matter what. As a rule most GA pilots will always fill up their tanks to capacity after the last flight of the day. That way chances of condensation are smallest.

Still, you need to do the fuel planning and especially on longer flights I would calculate fuel burns and check that at any point during my intended flight I would still have enough fuel to reach a potential alternate. Again, flying VFR or IFR has different requirements on alternates.

Once you have figured out the fuel, the next thing would be the CG (Centre of Gravity) calculation. Based on your airplane loading, (passengers, fuel, luggage) you need to determine that the CG is within certain limits. In the old days we used charts for this, these days all done on an easy app on your iPad.

You would do take off and landing calculation to ensure that given the loading of the aircraft, the expected wind, temperature, altitude and runway, you could safely take off and land. For you destination airport and alternates studying the missed approaches is really relevant as well.

Once I was happy that I could safely execute my flight I would print my flight plan in case of an VFR flight. In case of an IFR flight I would upload/submit it for approval/registration.

I used both an iPad as well as paper documentation. So I would make sure that the flight and all its relevant data (route, airports, departure / arrival etc) was easily available so I don’t need to search for it.

Part of the planning process is also taking your own personal minimums into consideration. When you pass your VFR or IFR check ride you are fully qualified. So legally as long as you adhere to the respective rules and requirements you are ok. The question a pilot needs to answer, what are my personal limitations. They might be less than the legal ones.

I would be very reluctant to fly near mountains. Not because it is illegal, but I just don’t have much experience. I took a week mountain flying instruction once, but still I would plan a route across mountains very carefully, if at all.

Crosswind is another. How much crosswind do you feel you can handle comfortably? If there is a likelihood of the crosswind at your destination airport being more than you feel comfortable, should you go at all, or at least make sure you can reach alternates with less cross winds!

Take off minimums are an interesting one. Believe it or not, for GA pilots such as me there are no minimum take off requirements. So legally I can take off with zero visibility. It would be pretty stupid, but perfectly

You also need to check whether you are fully current for the intended flight. If you have an USA FAA VFR/IFR rating you are automatically qualified for night flying. But under for instance VFR rules you can’t take passengers unless you have done a certain number of night landing the previous period. Some with IFR you need to have a certain number of type of landings under your belt or you are not considered current. That might put restriction on how you can conduct your flight.

As I mentioned VFR and IFR flight have legal fuel minimums. So once you arrive at your destination airport you need to have sufficient fuel to fly for say 30-45 minutes (depends a bit). My personal fuel minimums were at least double. I just never felt comfortable cutting it that fine. In practice it was rarely a problem. A Cirrus can easily fly up to five hours with sufficient reserves to meet legal minimums. There was sort of a joke/saying amongst GA pilots: Old GA pilots rarely run out of fuel, their bladder will be full long before their tanks are empty!

I actually used Microsoft Flight Simulator now and then to familiarise myself if flying into a particular airport I had not been before!. Google Earth is also an excellent tool to help yourself orientate in unknown territory.

So in all for my the flight planning could take several hours easily. Length of the flight doesn’t even make that big a difference. You still need to make all the checks, familiarise, do the calculations etc.

The next day, first thing when I wake up. Ask yourself “am I in a fit state of mind and body to conduct the flight”. You need to be brutally honest with yourself. If you had a few glasses of wine the night before you might not even be legally allowed to fly. But a bad cold can be a major issue, especially if your intended flight is at high altitudes. So once you self declare fit next is verifying any chances to your flight plan. Typically whilst driving to the airport, I would phone and get the latest weather updates for my departure / arrival en enroute weather. If it deviates too much from what I had counted on, I might have to redo some or all of the planning.

Once at the airport I might have to sort some paperwork before taking the plane. In our club we did most of ours online, but you had to sign of for the plane.

If the airplane was hangered the first thing was usually to get it out of the hanger. Then conduct the walk around. Which is done by checklist. It is a visual inspection of all sorts of parts of the plane. Wheels, tyres, wings, rudders, ailerons, flaps, engine, check oil, water, fuel (fill up if need be). Very important: You need to check the fuel for water!!! So you have to draw fuel from each tank with a special little device and check the colour. (Fuel for these single engines has a blue dye added)

Load and secure any luggage. Instruct passenger on what to expect, emergency procedures, help them strap in, get their headset on, show them how the oxygen equipment works. (these planes don’t have pressurised cabins, so over a certain altitude everybody needs to start using oxygen.

From there on you start you pre-flight checklist, contact ground (in most cases) and declare intentions. (e.g. you are ready to taxi or you want to activate the flight plan etc). There might be some paperwork you need to verify (depending on it being an VFR/IFR flight certain instruments need to be calibrated within a certain period etc. Also, there are a few documents that each airplane needs to carry on all flights and you need to verify they are on board.

And ultimately off you go. During the flight you would constantly monitor if your flight was going according to plan. So you would watch your fuel burn, altitudes, winds aloft, keep monitoring the weather en route, destination and alternates. If anything deviated by too much you might have to re-think, re-calculate or even re plan your flight

You can’t just hop into a plane and take off. Well, you can. But it would be pretty stupid and almost certainly illegal as well.

I loved flying every aspect of it. I always really enjoyed the lengthy flight planning, the more complex the better.

Jeroen

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

You can’t just hop into a plane and take off. Well, you can. But it would be pretty stupid and almost certainly illegal as well.

Wow, that was some exhaustive stuff. Do all private pilot take so much care? Somehow I am reminded of the tragic crash of the aircraft flown by JFK Jr. in the late 90s. For nearly a month, every US TV station discussed aspect of the crash non-stop, since he was like a American royalty, being JFK's son and all.

But all that coverage never gave me the sense that he had planned his trip this kind of detail. I remember he was not qualified to fly IFR, yet he was flying over sea at night.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Wow, that was some exhaustive stuff. Do all private pilot take so much care? Somehow I am reminded of the tragic crash of the aircraft flown by JFK Jr. in the late 90s. For nearly a month, every US TV station discussed aspect of the crash non-stop, since he was like a American royalty, being JFK's son and all.

But all that coverage never gave me the sense that he had planned his trip this kind of detail. I remember he was not qualified to fly IFR, yet he was flying over sea at night.

If the visibility was in accordance with VFR criteria it was perfectly legal to fly at night. If you are not that experienced pilot flying at night over sea is not a good idea. The problem is the horizon. VFR pilots need to see a horizon or they get disorientated very quickly. At night over land, usually it is still possible to see some sort of horizon. At sea it could become very difficult even if the visibility is great.

Again, these are personal choices pilots must make.

All private pilots should prepare and plan along similar. Most do, some don’t. GA certainly in the past had a very poor safety record. Many planes crashed, lots of fatalities and the number one reason was what is called loss of control.

The FAA did extensive research. Their conclusion were a bit of a revelation. One thing they found is that statistically there is no difference between a low hour pilot and a high hour pilot. Statistically speaking you are as safe with me as you are flying with a say KLM captain with 20.000 hours under his belt.

So flight experience did not really contribute to less fatal accidents.

What they did find is that people who are fairy conscious about the overall approach to flying are less likely to have a fatal accident. So it is all about attitude. And that is relative easy to teach. So they introduced the FAA wing program. Every USA pilot can participate for free. It teaches you how to deal with all the things I described. Planning and proper aeronautical decision making are key to flight safety. Being a hot shot stick and rudder pilot is not.

Most of these loss of control accidents happen because pilots get themselves into a situation they could have easily avoided. If they had planned it properly, if they adhere to procedure, if they are honest with themselves etc.

Let me give you a small example. At our airport a few times a year we would have open days. Pilots would take people up for a quick flight. Usually 10-15 minute flight. Great fun, lots of kids and also some parents for whom it is a hugely interesting first exposure to General Aviation.

I have participated as pilot a few times. Good fun.

There were two types of pilots during these days. There were those that did the initial prep, walk around and then loaded up their passengers, landed unload passengers and put the next lot of passengers on and took of again. They did not think a 15 minute flight warranted another walk around.

Then there were the likes such as me. I would do a walk around every time prior to each subsequent take off. Flying is about building routines, doing things the same way in order to quickly notice something out of the ordinary.

Takes all kind. But statistics don’t lie.

Jeroen

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

What they did find is that people who are fairy conscious about the overall approach to flying are less likely to have a fatal accident. Most of these loss of control accidents happen because pilots get themselves into a situation they could have easily avoided. If they had planned it properly, if they adhere to procedure, if they are honest with themselves etc.

Small aircraft engine is fairly reliable? As long as maintenance schedule is adhered to? You know what happens in Hollywood movies right? It's always the engine that causes problems.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by smartcat

Small aircraft engine is fairly reliable? As long as maintenance schedule is adhered to? You know what happens in Hollywood movies right? It's always the engine that causes problems.

Here is what they FAA statistics tell us:

The Top 10 Leading Causes of Fatal General Aviation Accidents 2001-2016:
1. Loss of Control Inflight
2. Controlled Flight Into Terrain
3. System Component Failure – Powerplant
4. Fuel Related
5. Unknown or Undetermined
6. System Component Failure – Non-Powerplant
7. Unintended Flight In IMC
8. Midair Collisions
9. Low-Altitude Operations
10. Other

So it is at number 3! Do bear in mind that the number 1 and 2 probably account for 75% of the fatalities to start with.

I was a bit surprised by this number 3 slot if I’m honest. These engines are pretty simple and robust. But for various reasons we havent seen all that much development on them over the last couple of decades. It is probably a money thing. It is expensive to develop and certify new engines. Also, the GA and pilot community is, when all is said and done, pretty conservative, So they might prefer an old design with some known problems over a new unknown design.

Jeroen

PS: for those that like to understand the full details, here is where I took the numbers from:

https://www.faa.gov/news/fact_sheets...m?newsId=21274

[Aditya]

Pre-flight planning & checks for flying single-engined aircraft - Posts moved to a new thread.

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Flight preparation and flight planning is done in a very structured way.
I will do a very thorough flight planning exercise. Usually the night before at home behind my PC.
The question a pilot needs to answer, what are my personal limitations. They might be less than the legal ones.
The next day, first thing when I wake up. Ask yourself “am I in a fit state of mind and body to conduct the flight”. You need to be brutally honest with yourself.
If the airplane was hangered the first thing was usually to get it out of the hanger. Then conduct the walk around. Which is done by checklist. It is a visual inspection of all sorts of parts of the plane.

A beautifully written piece, Jeroen. Thank you. It will help our readers understand the complexities of flying be more careful with comments as arm-chair warriors next time a crash happens after the next several million flight-hours.

Originally Posted by Jeroen

If you are not that experienced pilot flying at night over sea is not a good idea. The problem is the horizon. VFR pilots need to see a horizon or they get disorientated very quickly. At night over land, usually it is still possible to see some sort of horizon. At sea it could become very difficult even if the visibility is great.

It is easier to lose situational awareness than most laymen realize. And losing it is more disconcerting and [at times] panic inducing than we realize.

So it is all about attitude. Planning and proper aeronautical decision making are key to flight safety. Most of these loss of control accidents happen because pilots get themselves into a situation they could have easily avoided. If they had planned it properly, if they adhere to procedure, if they are honest with themselves etc.

Well said. In flying your mental planning is always 20 minutes ahead of where you are. Rehearse and more rehearse.

[vharihar]

Great write-up Jeroen.

What is GA?

Also, you said:

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Next I need to decide whether I would like to conduct the flight under Visual Flight Rules or under Instrument Flight Rules. Obviously, the weather might decide for me that is has to be IFR.

Why is VFR even allowed as an option? Isn't IFR much safer?

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by vharihar

What is GA?

GA is General Aviation, basically non-scheduled flights in small aircraft like this:

Originally Posted by Jeroen

The main difference is I will do everything myself and on a Jumbo there are two pilots who will distribute the tasks and to some extend check one another. Also, airline pilots rarely do their own flight planning. They have an operational department that does all of that for them. They still need to verify and make sure they can conduct the flight safely of course.

There is this one well-known incident in which Air New Zealand's operational department messed up big time. That resulted in the aircraft crashing into a mountain killing all 250 passengers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Ne...and_Flight_901

[Raj_RD]

Originally Posted by vharihar

Great write-up Jeroen.

What is GA?

Also, you said:


Why is VFR even allowed as an option? Isn't IFR much safer?

GA means General aviation. VFR is not allowed in Class-A airspaces AFAIK and if you are sightseeing or just flying for fun IFR isn't suitable.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

It is easier to lose situational awareness than most laymen realize. And losing it is more disconcerting and [at times] panic inducing than we realize.
.

Depends a bit which aviation authority accidents statistic you want to quote.
But on average 75% of VFR rated pilots that find themselves in IMC conditions (i.e. conditions requiring an instrument rating) meet with a fatal accident.

Within three minutes of having entered the clouds!

here is the the (in)famous 178 seconds to live.

https://www.flightsafetyaustralia.co...-vfr-into-imc/

If you are a VFR pilot and you accidentally fly into cloud you have to act very very fast. Statistically the changes of your plane crashing and killing everybody including yourself are huge. In most cases the most prudent thing to do is to turn 180 degree and try and fly out of the cloud again!

Originally Posted by vharihar

Why is VFR even allowed as an option? Isn't IFR much safer?

VFR flight is at least in theory about as safe a flying IFR. There are lots of rules and regulation you need to adhere too ensuring the risk of collision are minimal. And very very very few aircraft collide in mid air. The biggest problem with VFR is flying into IMC where you really need an IFR condition. As long as you plan your flight properly, and keep tracking your progress, tracking the weather it really is not an issue.

Here is good overview of VFR flights:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_flight_rules

Under VFR each pilot is responsible for ensure sufficient separation with other aircraft in the vicinity. As I indicated earlier ini the USA you can request flight following from Air Traffic Control. But there are also certain rules you must follow to ensure the chances of a collision are minimal. The below ensure 1000 feet separation between airplanes based on the (magnetic) course they are heading.

In the US, there are specific VFR cruising altitudes, based on the aircraft's course, to assist pilots in separating their aircraft while operating under visual flight above 3,000 ft above the surface (AGL) but below 18,000 ft Mean Sea Level (MSL). Unofficially, most pilots use these rules at all levels of cruise flight. FAR 91.159[4] states that any aircraft:

On a magnetic course of 0-179 degrees shall fly at an odd thousand ft MSL altitude +500 feet (e.g., 3,500, 5,500, or 7,500 ft); or
On a magnetic course of 180-359 degrees shall fly at an even thousand ft MSL altitude +500 feet (e.g., 4,500, 6,500, or 8,500 ft).

Originally Posted by vharihar

What is GA?

Originally Posted by smartcat

GA is General Aviation, basically non-scheduled flights in small aircraft

Quoting from IAOP:

What is General Aviation
Definition

The term General Aviation often is misinterpreted in public as well as in media and politics as "aviation in general". But even where the term is known to be a defined part of aviation, most conjure up a mental image of a small single-engine piston-powered aircraft, operating for recreation out of a small rural aerodrome. This image is correct for only about one-quarter of worldwide general aviation and aerial work activities whereby private travel for whatever reasons other than business, is considered as "recreational" even though family affaires, as an example, can hardly be considered as that.

The other three-quarters of the roughly 40 million annual GA/AW flight hours are occupied with flight instruction, business travel, agricultural application, emergency medical services and other gainful pursuits. In fact, the diversity of GA/AW is so great that ICAO defines general aviation operation by exception: those flight activities not involving commercial air transportation or aerial work. Similarly, aerial work, for remuneration or for own use, may only be generally defined as operations used for specialized services such as agriculture, construction, photography, surveying, observation and patrol, search and rescue, aerial development, etc. (ICAO Annex 6, Operation of Aircraft, Definitions). In short, one could say, the primary mission of a flight is not to carry regular passengers or cargo from A to B.

https://www.iaopa.eu/what-is-general-aviation

Or to put it even more simply:

civil aviation other than large-scale passenger or freight operations

That doesn’t say anything on the size of the plane! Huge planes, depending on how they are operated can be considered GA.

Quoting for the USA

General Aviation is the portion of civil aviation which encompasses all facets of aviation except for commercial air carriers that hold a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity from the Civil Aeronautics Board or the United States Military. General Aviation is commonly misunderstood as only light, small engine private aircraft, however, even a large jet or cargo aircraft that is operated under Federal Aviation Regulations can be considered a General Aviation aircraft.

General Aviation includes ninety-two percent of all U.S. aircraft and accounts for more than sixty-five percent of the flight hours flown within the United States. There are more than 5,000 local and community airports around the U.S., and all are exclusively built to service General Aviation aircraft.

So it is really the purpose of the flight that determines whether it is GA or not. Not the type of plane.

What is relevant is that from a legal point of view under most aviation jurisdiction, GA and Commercial aviation come under different rules. The latter even more strict.

Jeroen

[sun_king]

Well written and excellent preparations combined with impressive knowledge about aviation procedures and regulations, Jeroen. Loved the meticulous planning, pretty much covered everything a pilot should do and more so on the part where you avoid doing things that constitute unnecessary risks. GA is the last remaining zone of pilot's flying, the fun is taken out of everything else by the instrumentation available these days.

PS: Is there a hint of Richard Bach? If not, I'd suggest "A Gift of Wings"

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by sun_king

GA is the last remaining zone of pilot's flying, the fun is taken out of everything else by the instrumentation available these days.

GA and military flying!

[PetrolRider]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

You can’t just hop into a plane and take off. Well, you can. But it would be pretty stupid and almost certainly illegal as well.

I loved flying every aspect of it. I always really enjoyed the lengthy flight planning, the more complex the better.

Jeroen

Hi Jeroen, a lovely and informative thread. Few stupid questions if you wont mind to answer.

1. For a GA pilot, do he/she has to own a plane to fly? Or are there organizations like Zoom for car, that rent out planes for you to fly?


2. Like commercial aviation, do GA pilots also get certified for the particular brand and model of aircraft? Do small aircraft have defined categories for license, e.g. when we say I am certified to drive a LMV, I can literally drive any private car.



3. Do flying domestic and international need separate set of preparations? Are there other private and smaller airfields that are open to GA only? Who manages these airfields?



4. How is the fuel efficiency for a small aircraft like the one you fly?


Last, but not the least, if you own an aircraft, will it be too much of botheration to you to enlighten us lesser souls with some photographs of your beauty?

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by sun_king

.
PS: Is there a hint of Richard Bach? If not, I'd suggest "A Gift of Wings"

No sorry, I had to look him up. Looks interesting. I have quite a few books on aviation as you can imagine. However, I have very few books on the sort of planes I fly. Most of my books are about flying the big commercial jets. (E.g. Flying the big jets by Stanly Stewart). Most of my aviation books are detailled description of a particular plane and how to operate it. Including some books on military planes. (E.g. SR71, Lightning Boys etc)

I do have two excellent books from Jeppesen on respectively VFR and IFR flying.
And then I have lots of actual manuals, mostly on the Boeing 747-400

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

GA and military flying!

True, although I am not quite sure how much fun military flying is these days. It is very restricted. Also, military pilots tend to make very few hours. I used to fly more hours per year than most NATO pilots believe it or not.

Originally Posted by PetrolRider

1. For a GA pilot, do he/she has to own a plane to fly? Or are there organizations like Zoom for car, that rent out planes for you to fly?

I did most of my flying in the USA and lots of people own their own planes. But most will rent their plane. Same in Europe.

Just about every airfield will have at least one, sometimes multiple outfits that rent out airplanes.

Some people go for fractional ownership. And you will see advertisement in the “planes for sale” sections in magazines/website. E.g. you will see the 1/4 fraction of a Diamond aircraft advertised. So this is where mostly 4 guys get together and jointly own the aircraft, each owns and is responsible for 1/4 of the cost. It brings down the cost of owning and operating the cost of an airplane considerable.

Of course you need to work out simple rules on who gets to fly, when.

A very good and easy way to learn to fly and to continue flying is to join a flying club. They will own the planes, often have certified instructors that can help you obtain the various ratings. I started as a member of a flying club. During our last year in the USA a couple of us, together with one of the instructors step out of the club and we made our own club. Three guys had bought their own planes an d the flight instructor owned three planes. So we pooled all those planes together and formed our own club. The club looks after the planes, hanger, insurance any and all maintenance cost. The total annual cost is paid by the members. Then we calculate hourly rental rates for each plane. All of us could fly any of the planes we had in the club at very attractive rates. We had a very simple system for rostering. Essentially a web based Excel sheet where you filled out the hours/days you wanted to fly a certain plane

Airplanes cost money to buy. But once you own them the cost continues. You need insurance, a hangar or at least a parking place on a ramp, you need maintenance (you are only allowed to do minimum aircraft maintenance yourself. So you end up taking it to specialised outfits with certified mechanics. Certain equipment needs regular inspection and or calibration etc

Originally Posted by PetrolRider

2. Like commercial aviation, do GA pilots also get certified for the particular brand and model of aircraft? Do small aircraft have defined categories for license, e.g. when we say I am certified to drive a LMV, I can literally drive any private car.

When you have your PPL (Private Pilot License) you can fly any single engine aircraft weighing less than 12.500 pounds. There are a few special so called endorsements. The PPL is issued by the FAA, based on theoretical and practical tests conducted by a FAA certified examiner. An endorsement can be done by your certified flight instructor. It is for things like what is known handling a complex aircraft. Which is an aircraft with a retractable landing gear and or a variable pitch propellor. Or a high altitude endorsement. These endorsements are written into your logbook and signed of the CFI (certified Flight Instructor).

Flying a water plane requires a special license.

So in essence you can fly any single engine plane weighing less than 12.500 pounds. However, no flight school, club or rental place will let you have a plane unless you can prove you are familiar with it. So your log book needs to show you have sufficient hours on type.

Originally Posted by PetrolRider

3. Do flying domestic and international need separate set of preparations? Are there other private and smaller airfields that are open to GA only? Who manages these airfields?

Originally Posted by PetrolRider

4. How is the fuel efficiency for a small aircraft like the one you fly?

Fuel efficiency for planes is usually expressed in terms of liters burned per hour. Or in the USA it is still in Gallons per hour. It is defined at standard conditions so you can compare How far you get depends on the wind and the wind direction!

A little two eater Cessna 150 burns 6.1 gallons per hour.
A huge, luxurious, Cirrus SR22 burn 17 gallons per hours

Originally Posted by PetrolRider

Last, but not the least, if you own an aircraft, will it be too much of botheration to you to enlighten us lesser souls with some photographs of your beauty?

I do not own my own aircraft. Never have and most likely never will. One of the things I enjoyed about flying is that it meant I had to concentrate for the full 100% on the flying. I just did not have the mental capacity to do anything else. Hence I have very few photographs of my in or around the planes I flew. I have a few videos. This is in the Netherlands where I rented a Cirrus SR20 for 4-5 hours. I am in the left seat. In the right seat the CFI (Certified Flight Instructor). I had never flown in the Netherlands before, also it had been a while. At the time, my license might have expired.

My eldest son Luc came along for the ride and took the video shots which I edited:

We take off from Rotterdam airport. Fly across Belgium into the north of France. We land and do a few touch and goes on various airport along the way

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQQk...ga-Nw&index=25

The Cirrus is my personal favourite. It is one the heaviest, largest and fastest aircraft anybody with a PPL can fly. It is very luxurious. It is also fully IFR equipped and certified. It is even certified for flying into known icing regions.

I did not mention it specifically in my earlier post. But part of the flight planning when it comes to weather is to be on the look out for areas where you might encounter icing conditions. Icing for most small aircraft is lethal. Legally you have to plan around it, If there is a reasonable chance of icing conditions you have to plan around it. Unless you fly a plane like the Cirrus. Very few of these small planes have this capability.

https://www.avweb.com/news/airman/181877-1.html

This thread originated as part of a very different one. Just so happens Smartcat asked me a question regarding safety on these sort of planes. I am very happy to see such interest. I will add a little bit more around obtaining a PPL and my own journey/experience in doing so. I can already give away the plot: It was one the best/coolest things I have ever done!! Extremely rewarding when you do your first solo take off!

Jeroen