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How do you define EASA cross country time?

Hello
I apologize if this question has already been answered in another thread. If so, I have not been able to find it.

The Part-FCL clearly states: “Cross-country” means a flight between a point of departure and a point of arrival following a preplanned route, using standard navigation procedures. Note that there is no requirement that the point of departure and arrival be different from one another. In other words a flight taking off and landing at the same airfield would qualify for cross country as long as it has been preplanned and navigated using “standard navigation procedures”. I have always thought of cross country as a flight departing from one airfield with a full stop landing at a different one (point A to point B). According to Part-FCL, however, my definition is wrong.

How do you instructors interpret this requirement? I need the 50 hours of cross country flight to start my CBIR. And I have a lot of flights that I have untill now considered to be “local flights”. But because I always preplan my flights with a line in the map, even local ones, they might qualify as XC.

Thank you very much!

Christian

CLE
Roskilde Flying Club
EKRK

I found myself in the same situation, to see if I could qualify for starting with CB-IR.

There’s indeed no requirement to have a full stop landing elsewhere, for a flight to be qualified as cross-country.

hfl
EHLE, Netherlands

“Cross-country” means a flight between a point of departure and a point of arrival following a preplanned
route, using standard navigation procedures.

Just define it in your logbook.

Last Edited by mh at 04 Nov 11:05
mh
Aufwind GmbH
EKPB, Germany

I thought cross country was anything leaving the vicinity of the airfield, one definition is “can’t observe the traffic in the circuit anymore”. That at least was the definition of it during my PPL training (finished this summer).

In Germany you can’t fly cross country as a student pilot until you have done your RT license (separate from the PPL here, called BZF). So the above definition was quite relevant for me as a solo student pilot. I infamously had to break this rule because my airfield suddenly ended up in IMC during solo circuit training before I got my BZF. There is a thread about that in the ILAFFT section…
Low-hours pilot
EDVM Hildesheim, Germany

Way back when… way before SERA, Part-FCL etc, a x-country was a A to B flight to an airport at least 50 NM from the point of origin…

As usual Wikipedia is your friend. It seems like the US has a very elaborate definition of cross country for various purposes.

LFPT, LFPN

Aviathor wrote:

Way back when… way before SERA, Part-FCL etc, a x-country was a A to B flight to an airport at least 50 NM from the point of origin…

Country dependent. I recall that Sweden used 30 NM.

ESKC (Uppsala/Sundbro), Sweden

As a side note: the FAA definition is flight between two points at least 50nm apart in a straight line , so your track miles are irrelevant.

Airborne_Again wrote:

Country dependent. I recall that Sweden used 30 NM.

and memory dependent I can’t remember ever having any definition for “cross country” as such, and nothing that translates exactly to the English meaning. We still have the old “part NCO” for experimentals and microlights (Annex II). What the regulation say is if a VFR flight extends more than 50 NM from the place of departure, then this flight requires an operational flight plan. It is required for all IFR flights.

When using SD and similar, any definition of “cross country” is mostly academic anyway. It has no practical meaning unless you make a paper plan, navigate by paper map and compass, and follow and update the plan while you fly.

The elephant is the circulation
ENVA ENOP ENMO, Norway

CLE wrote:

“Cross-country” means a flight between a point of departure and a point of arrival following a preplanned route, using standard navigation procedures

I looked for that rule and only found this definition. To show my good will in case I am asked, I used the 50 NM rule (A-to-B distance).
To me, it’s consistent : for flights > 50nm, you start planning your route, watch closely your heading….

LeSving wrote:

When using SD and similar, any definition of “cross country” is mostly academic anyway

Yes don’t tell them, they will make it “50NM without electronic positioning devices”, another un-enforceable rule

LFOU, France

I am astonished one could log “cross country” on an A-to-A flight.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom
44 Posts
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