Cancelled my 12th cross country flight in a row

Great until it's windy and you end up dead anyway (unfortunately waiting for the full investigation report on a fatal accident despite CAPS) so have become even more of an advocate for stay on the ground wishing you were up there - particularly if poor vis, icing etc 😔

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DogeLikestheStock@reddit

Why would you keep replanning everything? Just use one of the cancelled plan.

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DisregardLogan@reddit (OP)

I use as much as I could, obviously can’t use historical wind and weather data

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Rictor_Scale@reddit

I know there are still occasional "easy street" accounts of getting one's PPL. However, from personal experience, trying to fully convey the level of perseverance it takes to push through to the end to a non-pilot these days is quite a task.

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acfoltzer@reddit

I've been in the military, gotten a graduate degree, and have had a decades-long career in tech and... nothing I have done took more persistence than the PPL.

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546833726D616C@reddit

Time to spare, go by air.

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MondayNightRawr@reddit

I probably had the same thing happen (various reasons) at least eight times. Hang in there. Things will eventually line up.

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s2soviet@reddit

Don’t worry, your money is going anywhere

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NeminiDixeritis@reddit

I have to do a lot of commuting by small plane. Dispatch rate is miserable, even with an IFR rating, but I compensate by going early, making myself available on zoom when necessary, and letting people know that cancellations can and will happen. Small planes will never have great dispatch rates. It kinda stinks.

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LearningT0Fly@reddit

Meh you’ll eventually want to push your envelope and go out on days you’re not 100% comfortable in but as a student PPL solo? Nah fuck that play it safe. There’s no reason not to.

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Mundane-Reality-7770@reddit

18g27 isn't terrible provided winds aren't a crosswind and you're not in the mountains

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DisregardLogan@reddit (OP)

It was an almost near direct crosswind and I’m in a clapped out C150. Was also my instructors call, but I wouldn’t have done it either

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Muted-Rhubarb2143@reddit

150 can go way over demonstrated. I guess it’s your call not to be 30 direct xwind is doable if you pull out all the tricks and have correct form.

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DisregardLogan@reddit (OP)

I’m a PPL student

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LearningT0Fly@reddit

Lmao this is the guy in another thread who’d rather have his students do a go around with full flaps in instead of drilling it into their heads that they need to take them out one at a time.

Don’t listen to him.

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FlyingS892@reddit

Ignore this guy. Just because you could, doesn’t mean you should.

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Brotein40@reddit

Don’t listen to this guy, you made a good decision.

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Muted-Rhubarb2143@reddit

Instructor would hopefully be a capable guardrail but yes those are high winds for a direct cross.

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LearningT0Fly@reddit

Lmao this is the guy who’d rather have his students do a go around with full flaps in instead of drilling it into their heads that they need to take them out one at a time.

Don’t listen to him.

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FlyingS892@reddit

For ppl training, I wouldn’t take a student in that even if it’s straight down the runway. For commercial training, send it!

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Mundane-Reality-7770@reddit

Might not be good for maneuvers. But I think practice in adverse conditions should be required.

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THevil30@reddit

That’s a bit surprising, where I’m at that would make it so you could very rarely if ever fly between October and April.

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Kein-Deutsc@reddit

Interesting. Where I live it’s very often winds 20 guesting 35. There will be weeks like this continuously in the summer. Thankfully the runway is pointed right into it 95% of the time. Instructors or students still cancel flights often but eventually you will just start going.

If it was a direct cross wind it would be a different story

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Oregon-Pilot@reddit

You’re getting really damn good at flight planning and ADM, so try to focus on getting as much out of your experience as you can. When it comes time for checkride, you’ll be super good at planning and it’ll be one less thing to stress about.

And I’m not trying to downplay the frustration. I did my PPL in the PNW back in 2010/2011 and due to being in high school, I could only fly during the weekends. If the weather wasn’t cooperating (it frequently wasn’t), I had to just sit all weekend and wait for the next one, just hoping it would be better.

You’ll get there!

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THevil30@reddit

18G27 with a CFI is fairly doable, unless you’re based at a narrow single runway airport…

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DisregardLogan@reddit (OP)

It was a direct crosswind, and it was also my instructor’s call, and he has near 6000 hours TT, so I trust his decision

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flynlionPS@reddit

Welcome to aviation. Experienced pilots can be short tempered at times but one thing we never get mad at is the weather. No point, it’s a BiG part of the game.

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Curious-Owl6098@reddit

Student pilot solo? Or a commercial or instrument cross country? Weather delays happen but I feel like there might be a gap in you weather knowledge when it comes to looking at the big picture if you get caught in a snow storm at night in a non Fiki piston . Same with the turbulence. You can look at pireps and Airmets to see where you’d expect it and either fly around it or fly somewhere else…. You can fly through it but it’s uncomfortable and work with ATC to get to a altitude where you’ll have a better ride… Unless you’re exaggerating All of it and the snowstorm was actually just some light flurries over a really small area that popped up. And the severe turbulence was actually light chop.

For a vfr cross country of 50-60 miles it’s not too hard to plan that. Just gotta be patient. You’re not the first person to have to wait

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DisregardLogan@reddit (OP)

I’m a PPL student, and it was more of a matter of shitty forecasting. Forecast was supposed to be clear and 10 miles vis, turned into 5 miles visibility with snow and turbulence.

I’m in a clapped out 150, no GPS and/or radar. Nothing to check to see if it updated besides the ATIS and Flight Following, which was as good as it got.

Also not exaggerating it, as my CFI was with me and said it was his fault, and that he wouldn’t have gone into that, either…

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ParagPa@reddit

I wouldn’t have wanted to do this when I was doing my PPL. Doing my commercial now and look for opportunities to fly as much as I can in that gap between my personal limits and my CFI's

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AlpineGuy@reddit

It happens sometimes... my region also has a lot of wind, especially in the colder months of the year. This combined with a limited personal schedule, I sometimes can't fly for months.

This of course gets somewhat easier after getting your license when you don't have to factor in your instructor's availability as well.

Keep it going, you get through this!

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DifferentLuck4545@reddit

Those are 12 flights you wish you were in the air rather than praying you were on the ground

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rFlyingTower@reddit

This is a copy of the original post body for posterity:

Planned out 14 different cross country flights throughout the last 3 months, only went on 2 of them (and even then, with my first one, accidentally ended up in a snowstorm at night, and my second one was accompanied with moderate to severe turbulence.)

Planned out a flight today, went to the airport, got in the plane with my instructor, turned on the ATIS, winds 18 gusting 27. Got out. Sat tired in the car for a good 5 minutes.

A bit irritated and annoyed, but not much I can do. Just thought I’d share my troubles

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