Originally Posted by
flyingreasemnky
The whole point of the x-country time in the first place is to prove you can navigate an airplane from point A to point B and honestly, going 50 nm is kind of a joke (You can see your destination and your point of takeoff at the same time if you're at 10,000' anywhere that's not mountainous).
For the purposes of ATP Cross Country (fly 50NM out, turn around and come back with 1 landing back at your departure airport)...
Departure/Destination airport (Class D) WX:
-BKN 800, 1 and 1/2 SM vis in Heavy Rain
-Special VFR to Depart the Delta
Enroute (Class E upwards from 1,200ft AGL)
-OVC 900ft 1 1/2 SM Vis
-Every 5-10 miles or so you have a town (congested area) which you must circumvent and then get back on course in order to remain legally above your min altitude (500 ft AGL) while remaining Clear of Clouds
Overfly Point 51 NM away from you departure airport
-Point Falls within an area where Class E extends down to 700ft AGL
-You must descent to 600ft AGL to remain legal (clear of clouds in the Class G).
Turn around and fly home the same way.
I won't dispute the fact that some pilots do take advantage of this rule derived for military pilots and I agree 100% that a cross country is meant to demonstrate that you can navigate however, don't think for one second that a 51 NM round robin (for that matter, a 20 mile round robin in these conditions) isn't enough to prove that you can navigate from point A to point B.
Lastly, if you think this is unrealistic, don't fly cargo in the Pacific NW.