Cross-Country Planning and Navigation practice questions

Answer: C) Traffic advisories

• AIncorrect. Flight Service does that.
• BIncorrect. Flight following is VFR.
• CCorrect. ATC provides traffic advisories workload permitting.
• DIncorrect. The pilot does that.

Answer: D) A VOR/DME

• AIncorrect. Airports use different symbols.
• BIncorrect. A VORTAC has a different symbol.
• CIncorrect. NDBs use a dotted circle.
• DCorrect. The square indicates distance measuring equipment.

Answer: B) 22.5 gallons

• AIncorrect. That leaves out the reserve.
• BCorrect. 2 hours × 9 = 18 gallons plus a 30-minute reserve of 4.5 gallons.
• CIncorrect. That uses a 1-hour reserve.
• DIncorrect. The reserve is 4.5 gallons, not 2.

Answer: C) 1930Z

• AIncorrect. Local time must be converted.
• BIncorrect. Subtracting 5 hours goes the wrong way.
• CCorrect. Add 5 hours to convert to UTC.
• DIncorrect. Add 5 hours, not 6.

Answer: B) It should be used together with pilotage, dead reckoning and current charts, because it has no integrity alerting.

Handheld VFR GPS receivers have no RAIM integrity alerting and no accuracy design standard. FAA guidance is to use them only together with pilotage, dead reckoning and current charts, never as the sole means of navigation.

• AIncorrect. The AIM states that VFR panel-mount and handheld GPS units have no RAIM alerting, so the pilot is not warned about satellite loss or position errors.
• BCorrect. The AIM advises pilots not to rely solely on VFR GPS. No accuracy or integrity design standard applies to these receivers, so they should be used alongside other forms of navigation.
• CIncorrect. VFR and handheld GPS systems are not authorized for IFR navigation, instrument approaches, or as a principal instrument flight reference.
• DIncorrect. VFR antennas are usually placed for convenience rather than performance. The AIM notes that handheld units are especially likely to lose the satellite signal.

Answer: A) About 29.8 gallons

14 CFR 91.151 requires enough fuel for 30 minutes after the first point of intended landing in day VFR, or 45 minutes at night. Here that is 3.5 h × 8.5 gph ≈ 29.8 gallons.

• ACorrect. Day VFR in an airplane requires fuel for 30 minutes beyond the first point of intended landing: 3.5 h × 8.5 gph = 29.75 gal.
• BIncorrect. 3 h × 8.5 gph = 25.5 gal covers only the flight and leaves out the required 30-minute day VFR reserve.
• CIncorrect. This uses a 1-hour reserve (4 h × 8.5 gph), which 91.151 does not require for VFR. Day VFR requires 30 minutes and night VFR 45 minutes.
• DIncorrect. This uses only a 15-minute reserve (3.25 h × 8.5 gph ≈ 27.6 gal), which is less than the 30 minutes required for day VFR in an airplane.

Answer: C) 22.5 gallons

• AIncorrect. That's 2.5 hours of fuel.
• BIncorrect. 15 minutes is 0.25 hour, not 0.15.
• CCorrect. 2.25 hours × 10 = 22.5 gallons.
• DIncorrect. That leaves out the extra 15 minutes.

Answer: A) About 10° off the selected course

• ACorrect. Each dot is about 2° on a five-dot scale.
• BIncorrect. That is one dot.
• CIncorrect. Full scale is about 10°.
• DIncorrect. VOR deflection is angular.

Answer: C) Select lighted checkpoints such as towns, beacons, and highways, and carry a working flashlight

Night cross-country planning should rely on lighted, easily seen checkpoints and include a working flashlight. VFR fuel reserves at night must be at least 45 minutes.

• AIncorrect. 30 minutes is the daytime VFR minimum. At night, 14 CFR 91.151 requires enough fuel to fly at least 45 minutes beyond the first point of intended landing.
• BIncorrect. Small, unlit features that work well in daylight are usually invisible at night and make poor checkpoints.
• CCorrect. At night, the checkpoints you can rely on are lighted ones, and a working flashlight is an important backup for reading charts and handling an electrical failure.
• DIncorrect. A landing light lights up only a small area close to the airplane and is useless for spotting ground features from cruise altitude.

Answer: B) A town located where a railroad line crosses a river at a sharp bend

The best pilotage checkpoints are prominent point features, ideally several of them together, such as a town, a railroad and a river, that can be confirmed against the chart. Line features, small airstrips and lone towers are weaker choices.

• AIncorrect. A road along the course helps hold the track, but it is a line feature. It can't show where along the leg the airplane is, so it gives no position fix.
• BCorrect. A town, a railroad and a river bend together form a combination that is easy to see and unlikely to repeat nearby. Each feature can be checked against the chart, so the fix is reliable.
• CIncorrect. Small grass strips blend into the fields around them and are often hard to spot from cruise altitude until the airplane is nearly overhead.
• DIncorrect. A lone tower is a thin structure that is hard to see from a distance. Its chart symbol matters most for obstacle clearance, not as a primary checkpoint.