Can you fly a Cessna?

Question

From New York to LA? How many landings would you have to make to refuel? And how do they go about charging you for landings+parkings at different airports?

Answer 1

You get  a flight plan from the FAA, basicly gives you your alt., heading etc....... On avg a cessna can fly around 300mi's between fueling. Its around 2500 mi's..................so i'll let you do the rest of the math...............

Answer 2

Have flown from Teterboro, NJ  (directly across the Hudson from Manhattan) non-stop to Santa Monica, CA  in a Cessna Citation  Sovereign. Ramp fees vary, but can be rather substantial.

Answer 3

Since a young man flew around THE WORLD in a Cessna (or other similar single engine plane) recently, i figure NY to LA is possible too!

1. NY/LA journey is about 3000 miles (i think).

2. The airplane does about 130 miles per hour and can hold 5 hours of fuel.

3. In each leg you would be able to fly for about 500 miles (leaving a 45 minute reserve). This would mean about 6 tanks of fuel and about 30 hours of flight time.

4. To be safe, legal and to avoid pilot exhaustion, you would probably need to split the entire journey into at least 4-6 days.

5. Flying at night would not be worth it for that kind of trip since you actually need rest.

6. Different Airports have different rates for (overnight)parking, landings and fuel. Usually someone comes to you with a bill or documentation shortly after landing.

Answer 4

Depending on the weather, headwinds etc. you can spend two very long, weary days flying a C-172 across the US.  A C-210 would be a more comfortable two day trip. Three days would be ideal, but you'd have to start at first light each morning so as not to waste any daylight. The good news would be that you'd be flying toward the setting sun, so you could make the most of what daylight you'd have.

Plan on a fuel stop every 400 miles or so. Many airports will waive the overnight parking fees when you buy fuel. Each airport will have a diffrent way of doing it depending upon who runs 'em and how.

Answer 5

I assume you mean a single-engine piston Cessna, rather than a Citation.  Yes, you can.  You would not necessarily need to file a flight plan if you were going VFR, though it would be a good idea to file a VFR flight plan when going into rough terrain like the rocky mountains.

You would have to be well prepared and plan your route carefully.  You would work out your fuel stops and have contingency plans for all the tricky places.  It's not a project for a beginner.

I occasionally fly my fabric covered two-seat taildragger on trips of 400 and 1200 miles.  Sometimes stop at a friendly grass airstrip where I can camp out for the night.  It can be lots of fun, but be sure you know what you're doing first.

Answer 6

If I am not mistaken a cesna has a fule capasity for about 350miles of flight.  That means that if you flew it from New York about 3500 miles you would have too stop for fuel about 10 times.  This would get very expensive as aircraft fule isn't cheep.  I am sure that different airports have different cnarges for landings and parkings.  Your best bet would be too plan your flight plan and then check with the airports where you would be stopping.

Answer 7

Cessna makes puddle-jumpers, and bizjets,

and others in between.

Which one?