Have to ask: have you had any aviation training? (it sounds like no?)
Quote from: stevejahr on February 25, 2015, 09:49:41 AM Some thoughts below in RED for Kieth and all.Correct, though I do have some conceptual training through the Civil Air Patrol (back from my High School days), I did mention that I was an amateur. I also mentioned in my original post the VFR Sectional as an underlay to the range maps. A sectional will not tell you flat-out what your range is or where ideal intersection points are between fueling stops (though you could break out a ruler and figure it out by hand). I guess I would add in a few other things, such as dos your winds allow you to fly as far as you want, each time you go. Simple reason being, you may average 2-3 hours of nice flying for a Legal Eagle if started early am, but if you “normally have higher the balance of the day” you may not like to progress back home. This would also be a point to toss in, with no training or past flying experience, do you like to do the “rough air flying” that you may likely experience if going further from home with hopes of returning each day? I’m not scolding, just saying, you may want to know more now rather than “much” later on after your build. I think I am far more curious if the 170 mile range is accurate, what rules of thumb Legal Eagle pilots go by for fuel calculations and range, and what amount of fuel is ideal to have left over for flight planning. I made some estimate assumptions and wanted clarification more than anything Fairly simple, 5 gal, decided by estimated fuel burn per hour, times estimated speed. i.e. 5 divided by 2.5 for 2 hours time 60 would be 120 miles with NO reserve. Little changes make big difference. Fuel is only limited by locations in which you can get it. Distance traveled by the same. If you can keep getting it, you can keep going.Our local airport director is seated two cubicles away from me, he suggested I attend an EAA meeting and getting in touch with the local airport community.always a good idea I've been waiting on a hangar for a year now so I could start building,sure don’t need a hanger to start building, in fact I would estimate a far higher amount of birds were built out of garage type locations than hangers and then assembled at the airport. so I have several more months until I even get to the point of flying.or years. In the meantime I am asking questions, watching Les Homan's excellent videos, and counting the minutes go by. questions are always good.
Some thoughts below in RED for Kieth and all.
Check put skyvector.comand loor at there sectoinals. Ultralights to be legal have to avoid all the cities in yellow. Actually gives more room than the map but course is one i generally fly going to Rio Vista