Solo Cross-Country: 61.93 Applied

14 CFR 61.93 applies to two kinds of solo flight. The rule: a student "must meet the requirements of this section before— (i) Conducting a solo cross-country flight, or any flight greater than 25 nautical miles from the airport from where the flight originated. (ii) Making a solo flight and landing at any location other than the airport of origination" 1. The first trigger is distance. Any solo flight that goes more than 25 nautical miles from the departure airport is a 61.93 flight, with or without a landing. The second trigger is a landing anywhere else, at any distance. A solo landing at an airport 8 miles away is a 61.93 flight.

The rule measures the 25 miles from the airport where the flight originated. A practice area 20 miles out is inside the 25-mile limit. A practice area 30 miles out is a cross-country under this rule, and the student needs the 61.93 endorsements to fly there alone.

The other 50-mile rule

A different distance defines cross-country time for the private pilot certificate. The definition in 61.1: for "the aeronautical experience requirements" for "a private pilot certificate," cross-country time is time on a flight "That includes a point of landing that was at least a straight-line distance of more than 50 nautical miles from the original point of departure" 2. The rule measures the distance from the original departure point to the landing point in a straight line. The distance must be more than 50 nautical miles.

The two rules have two different purposes. The 25-mile rule in 61.93 sets when the student needs a cross-country endorsement. The 50-mile rule in 61.1 sets when the hours count toward 61.109.

A 45-mile solo flight with a landing needs each 61.93 endorsement. That flight adds no time toward the 5 hours of solo cross-country in 61.109(a)(5). No landing is more than 50 miles from the departure point. The general definition of cross-country time in 61.1 covers that flight, because it "includes a landing at a point other than the point of departure" 2. The student can log it as cross-country time. The time does not count toward 61.109.

A student must meet four conditions in 61.93(a)(2) before holding solo cross-country privileges. The rule lists them:

• flight training "on the maneuvers and procedures of this section that are appropriate to the make and model of aircraft for which solo cross-country privileges are sought"
• a demonstration of "cross-country proficiency on the appropriate maneuvers and procedures of this section to an authorized instructor"
• the 61.87 pre-solo maneuvers, "satisfactorily accomplished" in "the make and model of aircraft or similar make and model of aircraft"
• compliance "with any limitations included in the authorized instructor's endorsement" 3.

The first condition is training in the make and model. A student trained for cross-country flight in a Warrior holds no cross-country privilege in a Cessna 172. An instructor must first train the student on the same maneuvers in the 172.

The second condition is a demonstration. The student flies the maneuvers and procedures for an instructor, and the instructor judges the result. Training received is not the same as proficiency shown, and the rule requires both.

The pre-solo maneuvers and the ground training

The third condition refers to 61.87. The pre-solo maneuvers must be complete "in the make and model of aircraft or similar make and model of aircraft for which solo cross-country privileges are sought" 3. The words "or similar make and model" appear in this third condition and not in the endorsement rule itself. A Warrior and an Archer are similar. A Warrior and a tailwheel Luscombe are not.

The rule requires ground training as well as flight training. The rule: "A student pilot who seeks solo cross-country flight privileges must have received ground and flight training from an authorized instructor on the cross-country maneuvers and procedures listed in this section" 4. The twelve subjects in 61.93(e) are flight training subjects, and each also requires ground training. An instructor teaches weather analysis, performance charts, and chart navigation on the ground first.

One exception lets a student fly solo to a nearby airport without the three endorsements of 61.93(c). The rule: "Solo flights may be made to another airport that is within 25 nautical miles from the airport where the student pilot normally receives training" 5. The rule's last condition fixes the purpose: "The purpose of the flight is to practice takeoffs and landings at that other airport" 5. A student under this exception flies to the one named airport, practices takeoffs and landings there, and flies home.

The exception has five conditions. The rule lists them:

• an instructor "has given the student pilot flight training at the other airport, and that training includes flight in both directions over the route, entering and exiting the traffic pattern, and takeoffs and landings at the other airport"
• "The authorized instructor who gave the training endorses the student pilot's logbook authorizing the flight"
• the student "has a solo flight endorsement in accordance with § 61.87"
• the instructor "has determined that the student pilot is proficient to make the flight"
• "The purpose of the flight is to practice takeoffs and landings at that other airport" 5.

The training and the endorsement for that airport

The training is at that airport, over that route, in both directions. The rule names four parts:

• the flight out
• the flight back
• the pattern entry and exit
• the takeoffs and landings at the other airport 5.

A student who flew there once with an instructor and came home on a different route has not met the condition.

The endorsement comes from the instructor who gave that training, not from any instructor. The rule: "The authorized instructor who gave the training endorses the student pilot's logbook authorizing the flight" 5. The current 61.87 solo endorsement is a separate condition, and it must be current. The 90-day make-and-model endorsement of 61.87(n) is that endorsement 6.

The FAA's sample wording for this endorsement names the airport twice and includes conditions. AC 61-65K, endorsement A.8: "I have determined that they are proficient to practice solo takeoffs and landings at [airport name]. The takeoffs and landings at [airport name] are subject to the following conditions: [List any applicable conditions or limitations.]" 7. The lawful purpose under this exception is takeoffs and landings at that airport. A solo flight to that airport for lunch, or to a third airport on the return flight, is outside the exception. That flight needs the three endorsements of 61.93(c).

The second exception is for a route flown repeatedly. The rule: "Repeated specific solo cross-country flights may be made to another airport that is within 50 nautical miles of the airport from which the flight originated" 8. The word "specific" matters. The endorsement covers one route to one airport, and the student can fly it repeatedly. The exception removes the per-flight endorsement. The rule: "for repeated solo cross country flights to another airport within 50 nautical miles from which the flight originated, separate endorsements are not required to be made for each flight" 8.

The exception has four conditions. The rule lists them:

• the instructor "has given the student flight training in both directions over the route, including entering and exiting the traffic patterns, takeoffs, and landings at the airports to be used"
• "The authorized instructor who gave the training has endorsed the student's logbook certifying that the student is proficient to make such flights"
• "The student has a solo flight endorsement in accordance with § 61.87"
• "The student has a solo cross country flight endorsement in accordance with paragraph (c) of this section" 8.

What the repeated route still requires

The fourth condition keeps the paragraph (c) endorsements in force. A student on the repeated route still holds the category endorsement and the make-and-model endorsement of 61.93(c)(1) and (c)(2) 8. The student still holds a current 61.87 solo endorsement. The exception waives only the third endorsement, the planning review for each flight. The AC 61-65K sample, endorsement A.11: "I certify that [First name, MI, Last name] has received the required training in both directions between and at both [airport names]. I have determined that they are proficient of 14 CFR § 61.93(b)(2) to conduct repeated solo cross-country flights over that route, subject to the following conditions" 9.

The two exceptions differ in three ways:

• distance: 25 nautical miles for the practice airport, 50 for the repeated route
• purpose: takeoffs and landings only for the practice airport, a cross-country for the repeated route
• endorsements: the practice airport needs no paragraph (c) endorsement, the repeated route needs (c)(1) and (c)(2).

A solo cross-country outside the two exceptions requires three endorsements. The rule: "a student pilot must have the endorsements prescribed in this paragraph for each cross-country flight" 10. The first is for the category. The rule: "A student pilot must have a solo cross-country endorsement from the authorized instructor who conducted the training that is placed in that person's logbook for the specific category of aircraft to be flown" 10. The category is airplane. The instructor gives the endorsement once.

The second endorsement is for the make and model. The rule: "A student pilot must have a solo cross-country endorsement from an authorized instructor that is placed in that person's logbook for the specific make and model of aircraft to be flown" 10. The instructor also gives it once. A student who changes from a Warrior to a 172 needs a new one. The FAA's sample wording covers both in one sentence. AC 61-65K, endorsement A.9: "I find they have met the applicable requirements of 14 CFR § 61.93 and are proficient to make solo cross-country flights in a [M/M] aircraft, [aircraft category]" 7.

The per-flight endorsement

The third endorsement is for each flight. The rule: "For each cross-country flight, the authorized instructor who reviews the cross-country planning must make an endorsement in the person's logbook after reviewing that person's cross-country planning" 10. The endorsement comes after the review, from the instructor who did the review. It has three required contents. The rule: the endorsement must

• "Specify the make and model of aircraft to be flown"
• "State that the student's preflight planning and preparation is correct and that the student is prepared to make the flight safely under the known conditions"
• "State that any limitations required by the student's authorized instructor are met" 10.

The FAA's sample names the route, the airports, and the date. AC 61-65K, endorsement A.10: "I have reviewed the cross-country planning of [First name, MI, Last name]. I find the planning and preparation to be correct to make the solo flight from [origination airport] to [origination airport] via [route of flight] with landings at [names of the airports] in a [M/M] aircraft on [date]. [List any applicable conditions or limitations.]" 9. The endorsement names one route on one date. A different route or a different day is a different flight and needs its own endorsement.

The logbook goes in the airplane

The student carries the logbook on each solo cross-country. The rule: "A student pilot must carry the following items in the aircraft on all solo cross-country flights as evidence of the required authorized instructor clearances and endorsements— (i) Pilot logbook; (ii) Student pilot certificate; and (iii) Any other record required by this section" 11. The endorsements are in the logbook, and the logbook is the evidence. An inspector at the destination can ask for it. A private pilot can leave the logbook at home. A student on a cross-country cannot.

The instructor's limitations are conditions of the privilege. The rule in 61.93(a)(2)(iv): a student must "Comply with any limitations included in the authorized instructor's endorsement that are required by paragraph (c) of this section" 3. The endorsement itself must "State that any limitations required by the student's authorized instructor are met" 10. The two rules state the same requirement. The instructor writes the limitation. The student complies with it.

A flight outside a limitation violates 61.93. The limitation is not advice. Each of these limitations is a rule for that flight once it is in the endorsement:

• a ceiling of 3,000 feet
• a wind of 15 knots
• a return by 1500 local
• a named route.

The general student limitation in 61.89(a)(8) says the same: a student must not act as pilot in command "In a manner contrary to any limitations placed in the pilot's logbook by an authorized instructor" 12. A student who continues past the endorsed return time flies without an endorsement from that minute.

The known conditions

The per-flight endorsement describes the conditions the instructor reviewed. The rule requires it to state that the student "is prepared to make the flight safely under the known conditions" 10. The instructor's duty in 61.93(d)(2) is to have "Reviewed the current and forecast weather conditions and has determined that the flight can be completed under VFR" 13. The endorsement depends on that review.

When the conditions change, the review no longer describes the flight. An endorsement signed at 0800 describes a forecast of clear skies and 8 knots. It does not describe a flight at 1300 into a forecast of 2,000-foot ceilings and 20 knots. The rule names the known conditions, not a time limit. A student who finds the conditions changed before takeoff calls the instructor and asks for a new review. A student who finds them changed in flight lands or turns back.

The rule in 61.93(d) applies to the instructor. It opens: "An authorized instructor may not permit a student pilot to conduct a solo cross-country flight unless that instructor has" made five determinations 13. The first is about the planning: "Determined that the student's cross-country planning is correct for the flight" 13. The instructor reads:

• the navigation log
• the fuel calculation
• the weight and balance
• the performance numbers
• the airspace
• the alternates.

A planning error the instructor does not find is an error nobody finds. No one else sees the plan before the student is airborne with it.

The second determination is about the weather. The rule: "Reviewed the current and forecast weather conditions and has determined that the flight can be completed under VFR" 13. The rule uses two verbs. The instructor reviews the current weather and the forecast. The instructor determines the student can complete the flight, which means the whole flight, including the last leg home.

Proficiency and the two endorsements

The third determination is about the student. The rule: "Determined that the student is proficient to conduct the flight safely" 13. Proficiency is for this flight, at these airports, in this weather. A student can be proficient on a 40-mile flight to a quiet airport in calm wind. That proficiency does not cover a 150-mile flight into a towered airport in a crosswind.

The fourth and fifth determinations are about the logbook. The rule: "Determined that the student has the appropriate solo cross-country endorsement for the make and model of aircraft to be flown," and "Determined that the student's solo flight endorsement is current for the make and model aircraft to be flown" 13. The instructor opens the logbook and checks two endorsements. The make-and-model cross-country endorsement of 61.93(c)(2) must exist. The 61.87(n) solo endorsement must be within 90 days 6. An expired solo endorsement prevents the cross-country before the planning review begins.

The rule in 61.93(e) lists twelve subjects a student must log before solo cross-country flight in a single-engine airplane. The rule: a student "must receive and log flight training in the following maneuvers and procedures" 14. The twelve are:

• "Use of aeronautical charts for VFR navigation using pilotage and dead reckoning with the aid of a magnetic compass"
• "Use of aircraft performance charts pertaining to cross-country flight"
• "Procurement and analysis of aeronautical weather reports and forecasts, including recognition of critical weather situations and estimating visibility while in flight"
• "Emergency procedures"
• "Traffic pattern procedures that include area departure, area arrival, entry into the traffic pattern, and approach"
• "Procedures and operating practices for collision avoidance, wake turbulence precautions, and windshear avoidance"
• "Recognition, avoidance, and operational restrictions of hazardous terrain features in the geographical area where the cross-country flight will be flown"
• "Procedures for operating the instruments and equipment installed in the aircraft to be flown"
• "Use of radios for VFR navigation and two-way communication"
• "Takeoff, approach, and landing procedures, including short-field, soft-field, and crosswind takeoffs, approaches, and landings"
• "Climbs at best angle and best rate"
• "Control and maneuvering solely by reference to flight instruments, including straight and level flight, turns, descents, climbs, use of radio aids, and ATC directives" 14.

The first item names the magnetic compass and no electronic aid. A student who can navigate only by the tablet does not meet item one.

Weather, terrain, and the instruments

Item three has two halves. The first half is on the ground: "Procurement and analysis of aeronautical weather reports and forecasts." The second half is in the air: "recognition of critical weather situations and estimating visibility while in flight" 14. A student who cannot estimate visibility from the cockpit cannot know when the flight reaches the 3-mile limit of 61.89(a)(6).

Item seven is the terrain of the area where the student will fly the cross-country: "Recognition, avoidance, and operational restrictions of hazardous terrain features" 14. The training is for the ridges, the passes, and the rising ground on the student's own routes.

Item twelve is control by instruments alone. The rule requires "straight and level flight, turns, descents, climbs, use of radio aids, and ATC directives" by reference to the instruments 14. 61.89 limits a student to flights that "can be made with visual reference to the surface" 12. The training exists for the flight on which the pilot loses sight of the surface anyway. Without a horizon, the inner ear and the body sense motion that is not happening, and the pilot loses "orientation with regard to the position, attitude, or movement of the airplane in space" 15. The instrument training is for a return from cloud to visual conditions, and nothing more.

The runways and the climbs

Items ten and eleven are the takeoffs, landings, and climbs. The rule requires "short-field, soft-field, and crosswind takeoffs, approaches, and landings" and "Climbs at best angle and best rate" 14. A cross-country includes landings at airports the student does not know. One has a short runway, one has a grass runway, and one has a crosswind the home airport never has.

Best angle of climb clears the trees at the short field. Best rate of climb gets the airplane to cruise altitude. Each is a required subject because the destination runway is not the home runway.

The private pilot certificate requires 10 hours of solo flight. The rule in 61.109(a): the applicant must log "10 hours of solo flight training in the areas of operation listed in § 61.107(b)(1)" 16. Paragraph (a)(5) states the solo hours a second time with their contents: "10 hours of solo flight time in a single-engine airplane, consisting of at least— (i) 5 hours of solo cross-country time" 16. Half of the solo time is cross-country time. The 61.1 definition applies to the 5 hours. Each flight that counts has a landing more than 50 nautical miles from the departure point 2.

The towered airport

The third item of (a)(5) is at a towered airport. The rule: "Three takeoffs and three landings to a full stop (with each landing involving a flight in the traffic pattern) at an airport with an operating control tower" 16. Three conditions apply:

• the landings are to a full stop
• each landing involves a flight in the traffic pattern
• the tower is in operation at the time.

Three touch-and-goes at a towered airport meet none of the three conditions. Three full-stop landings at a towered airport after the tower closes meet two.

The student can make these three landings on a cross-country or on a local solo flight. The rule places them under the solo hours, not under the solo cross-country time. A student whose home airport has a tower can meet the item in the pattern at home. A student whose home airport has no tower flies to one, and that flight is a 61.93 flight if it lands away from home.

The long solo cross-country has three measurements. The rule: "One solo cross country flight of 150 nautical miles total distance, with full-stop landings at three points, and one segment of the flight consisting of a straight-line distance of more than 50 nautical miles between the takeoff and landing locations" 16. The first measurement is the total route distance, at least 150 nautical miles. The second is the landings: full-stop landings at three points. The third is one segment: more than 50 nautical miles in a straight line between its takeoff point and its landing point.

The three points include the home airport. A flight from A to B to C and back to A has full-stop landings at B, C and A. Those landings are at three points. The landing at A counts, because the rule counts landings at points and A is a point.

The total and the segment are different measurements

The 150 miles are the sum of the legs. The 50 miles are one leg, measured in a straight line. A route can pass one test and fail the other.

Three legs of exactly 50 nautical miles each total 150 miles. No segment is more than 50 miles. That route fails the third measurement, and the flight does not meet 61.109(a)(5)(ii). A route of 40 miles, 55 miles, and 60 miles totals 155 miles and has a 55-mile and a 60-mile segment. That route passes both tests.

The segment test is takeoff point to landing point, in a straight line. A leg flown around a mountain covers more ground than the straight line, and only the straight line counts. A leg of 48 miles flown as 60 miles around weather is a 48-mile segment. The student plans the route on the chart with a plotter before the instructor sees it. The instructor checks the same three measurements at the planning review.

The flight of N8575F

On October 3, 2024, a student pilot with 22.4 hours ditched a Piper Archer in Tampa Bay, 9 miles from home. The unselected tank held about 8 gallons of fuel. The NTSB: "About 9 nm from SPG and an altitude of about 800 ft mean sea level (msl), the student pilot reported that 'the engine stalled, came back and stalled again.' The airplane descended and impacted the water, resulting in substantial damage to the left wing" 17. He was not injured. The engine had nothing wrong with it. The day's plan was a 217-mile cross-country on one fill of fuel, and a diversion for weather lengthened it to 284 miles.

The plan was two flights over the same route. The NTSB: "the plan for the day was for he and his flight instructor to fly a round-trip cross-country flight from Albert Whitted Airport (SPG), St. Petersburg, Florida, to Arcadia Municipal Airport (X06), Arcadia, Florida, a straight-line distance of 54.2 nm. After returning with his flight instructor to SPG, the student pilot would then fly the same cross-country flight solo" 17. Arcadia is 54.2 miles from St. Petersburg in a straight line. The solo half was a 61.93 flight and a 61.109 cross-country. The student planned the fuel once, on the ground, for the whole day.

The diversion to Sebring

The instructor saw the plan. The NTSB: "when he arrived at the airport, the student pilot had performed a preflight inspection of the airplane, verified full fuel, and had calculated how much fuel was needed to complete the flight" 17. On the first leg the cloud cover became denser. "as the flight crossed Tampa Bay, they noticed cloud cover becoming denser and they made the decision to change the destination from X06 to Sebring Regional Airport (SEF), Sebring, Florida, a straight-line distance of 70.9 nm, which added 16.7 nm straight-line distance from SPG" 17. The NTSB's total: "an alternate route was flown that was about 284 nm long, about 67 nm further than planned" 17.

The instructor left the airplane after two legs. The NTSB: "They landed at SEF and returned to SPG, where the student pilot dropped off his flight instructor about 1000. About 1007, he departed on his solo flight for SEF, where he landed about 1058. He departed for SPG at 1106" 17. Seven minutes passed between the instructor leaving the airplane and the solo takeoff. The student did not refuel the airplane. "the student pilot reported that the fuel was full before the 1st leg of the day. He also reported that he did not refuel the airplane at any point" 17.

The fuel

The Archer holds 48 usable gallons, 24 in each tank. The student switched tanks on a 30-minute timer. The NTSB's calculation: "one tank would have used about 22.4 gallons of fuel and the other about 15.6 gallons of fuel if the fuel selector was switched from one tank to the other every 30 minutes" 17. One tank held about 1.6 gallons, and the student had the selector on that tank. The other tank held about 8 gallons. The engine stopped on that tank.

The first item of the engine failure checklist was the fuel selector. The NTSB: "A review of the POH showed that the first item on the 'Engine Power Loss In Flight' checklist is 'Fuel Selector…switch to tank containing fuel'" 17. The student "did 'ABC; airspeed, best place to land and checklist but I did not have enough time for checklist'" 17. At 800 feet there was time for one action. The probable cause: "A total loss of engine power in flight due to fuel starvation. Contributing to the accident was the inadequate preflight fuel planning by the student pilot and flight instructor, and the improper inflight fuel management by the student pilot" 17.

Where the pilot could have prevented the accident

A student with 22.4 hours flew a route lengthened by a diversion, alone, on fuel planned for the shorter route. He ditched 9 miles from home with fuel in the other tank. Nobody was hurt. Each decision is marked with the PAVE category that applied to it.

On a solo cross-country, no one aboard catches an error. The instructor's review under 61.93(d)(1) is the only check on the plan before the flight 13. That review works only on a finished plan. The instructor cannot check an unfinished plan, such as:

• a navigation log with the winds left blank
• a fuel calculation postponed to the ramp
• a weight and balance not written down.

The student brings the finished plan to the review. The instructor checks it. The student flies the checked plan.

The pilot sets the triggers before takeoff

The pilot makes the decisions to turn back and to divert on the ground, as numbers. The Risk Management Handbook: "Established personal minimums enable the pilot to make a no-go or divert decision rather than departing with a sense of unease regarding the outcome of a flight" 18. The Pilot's Handbook's procedures include a plan to divert made before the flight: "Consider the possibility that the weather may be different than forecast. Have alternative plans and be ready and willing to divert, should an unexpected change occur" 19. The pilot writes four numbers on the navigation log before takeoff:

• a ceiling
• a visibility
• a fuel quantity
• a clock time.

In flight, the pilot compares the observed conditions to the number. The pilot made the decision on the ground.

A decision made alone, in the air, behind schedule, is the worst decision a pilot makes. Four conditions of the flight make it so:

• the pilot is under workload
• the fuel decreases
• the daylight decreases
• no second person is aboard to disagree.

The written trigger replaces that decision with a comparison.

The fuel reserve

The legal reserve is a legal minimum, not a plan. The rule: no flight under VFR begins without fuel "to fly to the first point of intended landing and, assuming normal cruising speed— (1) During the day, to fly after that for at least 30 minutes" 20. A pilot who begins a flight with fuel for the destination and 29 more minutes breaks the rule. A pilot who begins with 31 minutes does not.

Thirty minutes in a Warrior is about 4 gallons, and the gauges cannot distinguish 4 gallons from 2. The personal reserve is an hour. The Archer in Tampa Bay had about 8 gallons aboard when the engine stopped, in the wrong tank. Nobody planned a reserve for the 284-mile day 17.

The return leg

External pressure is strongest on the return leg. The Pilot's Handbook lists the pressures: "Someone waiting at the airport for the flight's arrival," "A passenger the pilot does not want to disappoint," and "The desire to satisfy a specific personal goal ('get-home-itis,' 'get-there-itis,' and 'let's-go-itis')" 21. On a solo cross-country the return leg has four pressures:

• the airplane's schedule
• the instructor's expectation
• the daylight
• the student's own wish to finish.

The endorsement's limitations are the decision written in advance. The rule requires the endorsement to "State that any limitations required by the student's authorized instructor are met" 10. A return time of 1500 in the endorsement settles one case. A student at the far airport at 1430, with weather between that airport and home, stays there. The instructor decided that case in the morning.

When the weather deteriorates

Weather below the endorsed conditions ends the flight. The instructor endorsed a flight that "can be completed under VFR" under the reviewed weather 13. The student limitations set the minimum: no flight "With a flight or surface visibility of less than 3 statute miles during daylight hours or 5 statute miles at night," and none "When the flight cannot be made with visual reference to the surface" 12. Below either limit, the flight is illegal from that moment.

The plan is to land at the nearest suitable airport or turn back to the last good weather. Continuing is illegal. The Risk Management Handbook's example is a pilot who "Rather than divert to an airport while in VMC, the pilot decided to continue toward the destination and into instrument meteorological conditions" 22. The pilot decides to land while the airplane is still in visual conditions, with fuel, in daylight. A landing at an unplanned airport requires a phone call to the instructor. The instructor expects that call.