30 tips for successful cross-country flying
#1: Don’t make excuses - go fly!
"It might sound strange, but the most important prerequisite for successful XC flying is to actually go out and fly. I know the predicament – many pilots don’t have the time to go out to fly on every halfdecent day. Work, family, everything needs to be accommodated. So you need to choose the good days carefully and make the most of them. But instead of “epic day” you often read “late start”, “windy” or “possible thunderstorms in the afternoon” into the forecast.
What a shame, it doesn’t look like such a good flying day after all. Or maybe it is?
The fact is, that it is often easy to come up with arguments NOT to go flying and to wait for a better day. But then it could be that you look at the online contest in the evening, and loads of your friends have flown 150+km triangles and are happy about this wonderful flying day. And you are annoyed about the missed chance and wait for the next perfect day. And it comes, but it’s your son’s birthday, your boss wants a presentation urgently or the car has broken down.
So don’t let yourself be put off by a weather forecast that’s a little on the pessimistic side or listen to your inner couch potato. By keeping your eye on the forecast, you can make the most even of a supposedly non-perfect day."