Crossing Half The Country In One Flight

In 1984, I sold the 1975 Cessna 172 I had operated for nine years and acquired a 1978 Mooney 201. I immediately put the airplane to work on a multi-stop trip around the country, quickly discovering how efficient it was. On the last leg of that trip, from St. Petersburg, Fla. (KSPG) to Mansfield, Mass. (1B9), I flew the 1029 nm nonstop in 6.7 hours using 52.4 gallons of fuel. That’s an average of 154…

Editorial Staff

Thursday, October 30, 2014 at 12:00 AM ET

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Key Takeaways:

The author acquired a Mooney 201 and initially completed multiple long, nonstop flights (over 6 hours, some exceeding 1000 nm) at high altitudes (10,000-11,500 feet) without supplemental oxygen.
After one particularly high-altitude (12,000 feet) and long-duration flight, the author experienced a severe headache, recognizing he had exceeded physiological limits and increased risk due to potential hypoxia.
This experience led the author to limit future flights to under six hours and generally below 11,000 feet, unless using supplemental oxygen, which he later acquired.

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As I recall (I wish my short-term memory was as good), I flew that trip IFR at 11,000 feet, even though the weather was good VMC, and my logbook says “slight tailwind.” I didn’t have any supplemental oxygen, and I don’t remember any adverse effects from that first-ever flight I made that was over six hours long.