I made another long cross-country in October, of about the same length as the one I documented in September’s issue (“If X, Then Y”). This one didn’t feature airport fuel farms with no 100LL, or a thunderstorm right over my destination when I wanted to use it, however. In fact, after delaying my planned departure for a day, thanks to widespread low IFR at my destination, it went off without a hitch, both ways. In between, I even worked in a 45-minute hop to visit with a close friend, since I’d already come most of the way.
The one-day delay in departing involved a real risk of not being able to get into the destination—the weather was that low—and not wanting to get there, shoot an approach, turn around and have to fly two-plus hours to get to decent conditions if I couldn’t get in. An en route fuel stop guaranteed I’d have the gas, but perhaps not the patience to spend 10 or so hours in the air that day.
