![]() ![]() If that’s not enough, unfavorable winds often arise that are strong enough to significantly prolong the time over the lake. This made it plenty ripe for moderate icing conditions in that altitude window.Ĭlimbing and descending through a 2000-foot icing layer would be a no-go for most single-engine piston pilots. Freezing levels were in the range of 7000 to 9000 feet, with a moist warm front south of the route. Unseasonably warm late-February temperatures were steady for most of the route at 10 degrees C. While reviewing this scenario, I happened to check real-time weather showing ceilings from 300 feet at Milwaukee to 500 feet at Muskegon. But you might need it anyway for flying above 14,000 feet because, well, being conscious and alert is kind of important here. Perhaps you could get the flight portion that’s above 12,500 feet under 30 minutes to satisfy the oxygen requirements under 14 CFR 91.211. Most owner-pilots around the lakes do just that. ![]() But everyone flying some kind of for-hire or large-aircraft operations must have appropriate equipment, so it behooves you to do the same, even if it’s just wearing good, comfortable life vests on the flight. Part 91 operations that are not for hire aren’t required to have flotation gear per 91.205(b)(12). In the light-piston category, you can expect most charts to give you 15 to 20 NM of glide distance in that 12,000 to 14,000 foot window, which is the case in the Cessna 206 example.īut on this route, it’s 68 NM from shore to shore, so assuming a (conservative) groundspeed of 130 knots, you’re looking at maybe a half hour over open water, with over 10 minutes out of gliding range. The emergency chapter (Section 3 in modern handbooks) will have a gliding distance chart. That’s the mileage from KMSN to CARNA, a fix on V2 that’s just off the lakeshore. Other climb tables in the POH offer different weights and speeds, but all things being equal, you can see that you’ll reach the lakeshore at the desired enroute altitude as you have 65 NM to do it. Assuming you start at maximum weight from about 1000 feet leaving Madison, the climb to 14,000 at 82 knots would take about 28 minutes and 43 NM. Your POH has climb charts to help estimate the time and nautical miles to reach selected altitudes.įor example, a Cessna 206 table offers numbers for climbing from sea level up to 14,000 feet. First, how high do you go? Second, do you want to take any special equipment, and third, what weather conditions are you willing to accept while flying across the lake? How High?Ĭommon sense tells you that the altitude options will start no lower than 11,000 feet, with 13,000 and 15,000 feet even more appealing. Now, there are three burning questions about that crossing to address before you top-off the fuel. One I often get is BAE (Badger) V2 MKG (Muskegon). There are a couple convenient fix-to-fix routes and airways that take you over Lake Michigan while avoiding its widest segments. Not good weather for a crossing? Same deal. Don’t want to cross the lake at all? Fly around it and spend that extra time to stay over land. When you fly around the Great Lakes, it’s taken for granted that if you’re in a single-engine piston aircraft, you have to carefully examine the risks and mitigations. These flights cross Lake Michigan, and require a bit more planning than flights over land. On occasion I have a flight “across the pond.” No, it’s not an ocean crossing, although it sometimes feels like it.
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