For a private pilot certificate with an airplane single-engine land rating, 14 CFR 61.109(a) requires 3 hours of cross-country flight training with an instructor, and 5 hours of solo cross-country time within your 10 hours of solo, including one solo cross-country of at least 150 nautical miles total distance with full-stop landings at three points and one segment of more than 50 nautical miles straight-line between takeoff and landing. A separate night cross-country of over 100 nautical miles total distance is required with an instructor. Everything else about cross-country flying follows from how the FAA defines the phrase.
This page sets out each requirement, explains the definition that trips people up, and gives real routes from Van Nuys with measured distances. For the certificate as a whole, see private pilot license requirements, and for the stage that comes first, your first solo flight.
What Counts As Cross-Country: 14 CFR 61.1
The definition in 61.1(b) is where most confusion starts, because there is more than one of them. The general definition of cross-country time is flight conducted by a person holding a pilot certificate, in an aircraft, that includes a landing at a point other than the point of departure, and that involves the use of dead reckoning, pilotage, electronic navigation aids, radio aids or other navigation systems to navigate to the landing point.
The definition that applies to a private pilot certificate is stricter. It is flight conducted in an appropriate aircraft, that includes a point of landing at least a straight-line distance of more than 50 nautical miles from the original point of departure, and that involves navigation by those same means.
Two practical consequences follow. First, a flight from Van Nuys to an airport 40 nautical miles away and back is cross-country time in your logbook under the general definition, but it does not count toward the private pilot cross-country requirement. Second, the distance is measured straight-line from the original point of departure to a point of landing, not leg by leg. A triangular route whose individual legs are each under 50 nautical miles will not satisfy the requirement unless one landing point is more than 50 nautical miles from where you started.
Log cross-country time in a column that distinguishes the two, or use a logbook that does it for you. Sorting it out two years later in front of an examiner is unpleasant.
The Requirements In 14 CFR 61.109(a)
| Requirement | Regulation | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Cross-country flight training with an instructor | 61.109(a)(1) | 3 hours in a single-engine airplane |
| Night cross-country | 61.109(a)(2)(i) | One flight of over 100 nautical miles total distance, within the 3 hours of night flight training |
| Solo cross-country time | 61.109(a)(5)(i) | 5 hours, within the 10 hours of solo flight time |
| The long solo cross-country | 61.109(a)(5)(ii) | One solo flight of 150 nautical miles total distance, with full-stop landings at three points, and one segment consisting of a straight-line distance of more than 50 nautical miles between takeoff and landing |
| Towered airport landings | 61.109(a)(5)(iii) | Three takeoffs and three landings to a full stop at an airport with an operating control tower |
The towered airport requirement is the one item on this list that Van Nuys students get for free. Our home field is a Class D airport with an operating control tower, so those three full-stop landings happen in the course of ordinary training rather than as a special trip. Students based at non-towered fields have to plan for them.
Reading The Long Solo Cross-Country Carefully
Three conditions apply at once, and a route must satisfy all three:
- 150 nautical miles total distance, added up across the whole flight;
- full-stop landings at three points, which in practice means your departure airport plus two others, or three airports away from home depending on how the route is drawn; and
- one segment with a straight-line distance of more than 50 nautical miles between the takeoff and landing points of that segment.
A route can easily satisfy two of these and fail the third. A long loop of short hops reaches 150 nautical miles with no 50-mile leg. A single out-and-back to a distant airport has the long leg but only two landing points and may fall short on total distance. Draw the route, measure it, and check all three before you plan the fuel.
Solo Cross-Country Endorsements: 14 CFR 61.93
Solo cross-country flying needs more than a solo endorsement. Under 61.93 a student pilot must meet the requirements of that section before conducting a solo cross-country flight, or before flying more than 25 nautical miles from the airport where the training was received. That means demonstrated proficiency to an authorized instructor in the cross-country training items, and an endorsement covering it.
On top of that, and this is the part students forget, an authorized instructor must review the planning for each cross-country flight and endorse it, stating 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. That review happens on the day, with the weather in front of you, and it is where a lot of the real learning sits.
There is one narrowing. For repeated solo cross-country flights to another airport within 50 nautical miles of the one the flight originated from, separate endorsements are not required for each flight, provided the instructor has given the student flight training in both directions over the route, including takeoffs and landings at the airports to be used.
Cross-Country Routes From Van Nuys
Southern California gives student pilots an unusually good set of cross-country destinations: real airports, real airspace, real terrain, and weather that mostly cooperates. These distances are great-circle distances between published airport reference points, measured for this page.
| Destination | Direct Distance | What It Teaches |
|---|---|---|
| Santa Barbara (KSBA) | 68 nautical miles | A coastal route, a Class C arrival and a busy tower. Qualifies as a private pilot cross-country leg on its own |
| Bakersfield, Meadows Field (KBFL) | 79 nautical miles | Crossing the mountains north of the Valley into the Central Valley, with real density altitude in summer |
| Palm Springs (KPSP) | 101 nautical miles | Desert flying, a long leg east, and a lesson in afternoon winds and heat |
| Camarillo (KCMA) | Roughly 35 miles west of Van Nuys | A common first dual cross-country, but inside the 50-nautical-mile threshold, so it does not count toward the private pilot cross-country requirement |
A Long Solo Cross-Country That Works
The classic route from Van Nuys is the triangle north-west and north: KVNY to Santa Barbara to Bakersfield and back to Van Nuys.
| Leg | Direct Distance |
|---|---|
| Van Nuys to Santa Barbara | 68 nautical miles |
| Santa Barbara to Bakersfield | 72 nautical miles |
| Bakersfield to Van Nuys | 79 nautical miles |
| Total | 219 nautical miles |
That route clears all three conditions comfortably: 219 nautical miles total against a 150 requirement, full-stop landings at three points, and every leg longer than 50 nautical miles straight-line. It is also a genuinely educational flight, with a coastal arrival at a Class C airport, a mountain crossing, and a return leg over the Tehachapi terrain into the Valley. The route works in either direction, and your instructor will have a view on which way round suits the winds and the time of day.
Real routes are longer than direct distances because of terrain, airspace and the arrivals ATC gives you, which is one reason the margin above 150 nautical miles is welcome rather than wasteful. Plan it properly with current charts, and treat these figures as a starting point for your own measurement rather than as flight-planning data.
What The Dual Cross-Country Training Actually Covers
The three hours with an instructor are not three hours of watching scenery. They are where you learn to build a navigation log, get a weather briefing and reach a conclusion from it, compute a heading from a true course with wind correction, calculate fuel to the 14 CFR 91.151 reserve and beyond it, use pilotage and dead reckoning as the primary method with electronic navigation as a cross-check, divert to an alternate when something changes, and operate at an airport you have never seen before.
That last item deserves emphasis. Arriving at an unfamiliar airport is the skill the cross-country requirement exists to build. Everything about it is different from home: the pattern direction, the runway picture, the frequencies, where the fuel is, and who to call. A student who can do that calmly is a long way toward a private certificate.
Planning The Long Solo: A Checklist
The flight itself is not difficult. The planning is where students lose a day and an instructor's patience, so work through it in this order.
- Draw the route and measure all three conditions. Total distance at or above 150 nautical miles, three full-stop landing points, and one segment over 50 nautical miles straight-line. Do this before anything else, because a route that fails here wastes every step that follows.
- Check what each airport actually offers on the day you plan to go. Fuel availability and hours, whether the tower is open, runway lengths against your performance figures, and any notices affecting the field. An airport that closes for a weekend event is a common surprise.
- Build the navigation log properly. True course from the chart, wind correction from the winds aloft, magnetic variation, groundspeed, time and fuel for each leg, with checkpoints roughly every ten minutes. Electronic planning is fine as a cross-check; the log is what you will be asked to defend.
- Compute performance at the temperature you expect. A summer afternoon at Bakersfield is not the same airplane as a January morning at Van Nuys, and takeoff distance and climb rate both need checking against the charts rather than against memory.
- Work the fuel twice. Once to the 14 CFR 91.151 legal reserve, and once to a personal reserve of an hour on landing. If the second number does not work, add a fuel stop rather than shaving the plan.
- Decide your turn-back points in advance. Name the airport you will divert to on each leg and the weather or fuel state that triggers the decision. Making that call in the air without having thought about it on the ground is how students get into trouble.
- Take the plan to your instructor for the 61.93 endorsement with the actual weather in front of you, not the day before.
The Night Cross-Country
14 CFR 61.109(a)(2) requires 3 hours of night flight training including one cross-country flight of over 100 nautical miles total distance, and 10 takeoffs and 10 landings to a full stop at an airport, each involving a flight in the traffic pattern. This is dual, not solo.
Note the distances differ: over 100 nautical miles total for the night cross-country, against 150 total for the long solo. Note also that the 10 night takeoffs and landings are a separate requirement and do not have to happen on the same flight. Our page on night flying currency and training covers what night flying involves in the Los Angeles basin, where the city lights make navigation easy and the dark terrain to the north makes it anything but.
Related Reading
- Private pilot license requirements — the full 14 CFR 61.109 picture.
- Your first solo flight — the 61.87 stage that comes before cross-country solo.
- Cross-country destinations from Van Nuys — where to fly once you hold the certificate.
- Flying in Los Angeles airspace — Class B, the corridors and how to plan around them.
- Private pilot oral exam guide — the examiner will build the oral on a cross-country you planned.
- Private pilot license in Los Angeles — the full course and what it costs.
Private Pilot Cross-Country Requirements FAQ
What Are The Cross-Country Requirements For A Private Pilot License?
Under 14 CFR 61.109(a), 3 hours of cross-country flight training with an instructor, 5 hours of solo cross-country time, one solo cross-country of 150 nautical miles total distance with full-stop landings at three points and one segment of more than 50 nautical miles straight-line, and a dual night cross-country of over 100 nautical miles total distance.
What Counts As A Cross-Country Flight For A Private Certificate?
Under 14 CFR 61.1(b), a flight in an appropriate aircraft that includes a point of landing at least a straight-line distance of more than 50 nautical miles from the original point of departure, and that involves navigation by dead reckoning, pilotage, electronic navigation aids, radio aids or other navigation systems.
What Is The 150 Nautical Mile Cross-Country?
The long solo cross-country required by 14 CFR 61.109(a)(5)(ii): a solo flight of 150 nautical miles total distance, with full-stop landings at three points, and one segment consisting of a straight-line distance of more than 50 nautical miles between the takeoff and landing locations.
Does A Flight Under 50 Nautical Miles Count As Cross-Country?
It can be logged as cross-country time under the general definition in 14 CFR 61.1(b)(i), but it does not count toward the private pilot cross-country requirement, which needs a landing point more than 50 nautical miles straight-line from the original departure point.
What Endorsements Do You Need For A Solo Cross-Country?
Under 14 CFR 61.93, an endorsement confirming you have received the required cross-country training and are proficient, plus an endorsement from an authorized instructor before each flight stating that your preflight planning and preparation is correct and that you are prepared to make the flight safely under the known conditions.
Can You Repeat The Same Solo Cross-Country Route Without A New Endorsement?
For repeated solo flights to another airport within 50 nautical miles of the one the flight originated from, separate endorsements are not required for each flight, provided the instructor has given flight training in both directions over the route including takeoffs and landings at the airports to be used.
What Is A Good Long Cross-Country Route From Van Nuys?
Van Nuys to Santa Barbara to Bakersfield and back is 68, 72 and 79 nautical miles for a total of 219, which satisfies the 150-mile total, the three full-stop landings and the 50-mile leg with room to spare. Measure it yourself on current charts before you fly it.
Does The Night Cross-Country Have To Be Solo?
No. The over-100-nautical-mile night cross-country in 14 CFR 61.109(a)(2)(i) is part of the 3 hours of night flight training and is flown with an instructor.
Fly The Route Instead Of Reading About It
Cross-country flying is the part of training where a license starts to feel like transport rather than an exercise. If you are not yet flying, a discovery flight is $229 for 60 minutes, you fly it from the left seat with an instructor, and it logs as dual instruction toward the certificate; enroll within 24 hours and it credits in full. If you are mid-training and want to plan your long solo cross-country with someone who has flown these routes hundreds of times, book a free consultation or call (818) 330-1318 any day between 9 AM and 9 PM. We are at 7900 Balboa Blvd, Van Nuys, CA 91406, on Van Nuys Airport.