Planning my flight to Oshkosh. A direct flight would take me across Lake Erie and Michigan. Erie is no big deal. Lake Michigan at its narrowest is 43.5 nm.
My glide ratio is 1.65nm / 1,000ft. If I climbed to 14,000ft, that would allow me to glide to land with some margin to allow for a 180 turn and slightly sloppy flying. I will be the only passenger, so will be well below gross.
I don't know what the service ceiling is for a 1968 PA-28-140. It is too old to have POH but has a 4 page AFM that doesn't list ceiling. I've see reports of anywhere from 14,300 to 15,000 ft. I'd actually like to get closer to 15,000ft if possible, to give myself a bigger buffer for the crossing.
I have an O2 tank with my choice of nasal cannula or a non rebreather mask. Haven't used my oxygen set up before though.
Think it's a reasonable plan? Have you noticed any problems operating at high altitude like cooling issues?
Going around Lake Michigan would add around 2 hrs of flying.
My glide ratio is 1.65nm / 1,000ft. If I climbed to 14,000ft, that would allow me to glide to land with some margin to allow for a 180 turn and slightly sloppy flying. I will be the only passenger, so will be well below gross.
I don't know what the service ceiling is for a 1968 PA-28-140. It is too old to have POH but has a 4 page AFM that doesn't list ceiling. I've see reports of anywhere from 14,300 to 15,000 ft. I'd actually like to get closer to 15,000ft if possible, to give myself a bigger buffer for the crossing.
I have an O2 tank with my choice of nasal cannula or a non rebreather mask. Haven't used my oxygen set up before though.
Think it's a reasonable plan? Have you noticed any problems operating at high altitude like cooling issues?
Going around Lake Michigan would add around 2 hrs of flying.
