Your first XC flight: how to plan 10 km

A first XC flight is not a record; it is the experience of leaving the site. Ten kilometres is enough to fly out of sight of launch and land somewhere else, and not enough to get lost when you make a mistake. That makes it a good first goal. Most of the work is done not in the air but at the table the evening before.

1. Choose the day, do not let the day choose you

The perfect day for a first XC is not a strong day but an easy one: light wind, regular and soft thermals, a ceiling that is reliable if not high. Wind above 15 km/h, broken thermals or an afternoon overdevelopment forecast mean it is not a first-XC day. The three questions in how thermals form are enough to pick the day.

Watch what the experienced pilots at the site do. If they are not going cross-country today, neither are you.

2. Draw the route with the wind

A first XC is flown downwind or crosswind; never into wind. Put the 10 km goal on the map as a line from launch toward the downwind side. Along the line:

• Thermal sources: south-facing slopes, rock, dry fields, ridges. The route connects them.
• Sink areas: lakes, wet valleys, wide forest. The route avoids them or crosses them high.
• Airspace: the whole route must be free. Check the map beforehand, not in flight.

3. A landing field every 3 km

A reachable landing field must exist from every point on the route. On the ground, from satellite imagery, pick a field every 2–3 km and ask four questions: Is it big enough? Are there wires over it? Is the approach obstructed? Is it near a road? Mark the fields on the map; "I'll find somewhere" is the most expensive sentence in XC.

Power lines do not show on satellite imagery; look for pole shadows and regular dots along field edges.

4. Set decision altitudes in advance

Deciding in the air is hard; on the ground it is easy. Set three altitudes:

• Departure altitude: the minimum to leave the site. Usually near the ceiling; the first jump is made from the top.
• Search altitude: below this you stop looking for a new thermal and head for the landing field. 300 metres above ground is a good start.
• Landing decision: below this you only land, you do not try a thermal. 150 metres above ground.

These three numbers are not renegotiated in flight.

5. Plan the retrieve

Ten kilometres is walkable but not enjoyable. Before landing, know who is coming, by which road, and when. Phone charged, one person at the site knows your route and your expected landing area. Hitch-hiking is not a plan; it is what you do when the plan fails.

6. In the air

After launch, climb to the ceiling in the first thermal; impatience is the most common first-XC mistake. At departure altitude head for the first thermal source on the route. On every glide your target is only the next source and your eye is on the next landing field. When you drop to search altitude, do what the plan says.

Do not count the distance. On a first XC a controlled landing in a chosen field is a more important result than completing 10 km.

7. After the flight

Upload the log and look at two things: in the thermals table, whether you climbed to the ceiling in each thermal, and how much height each glide cost. Leaving thermals early is the shared pattern of first XCs and it shows clearly in the log. The wind profile shows how much wind there was at each altitude through the day; you draw the next route from it.

Checklist

• Easy day, experienced pilots going too
• Route downwind, connecting thermal sources, airspace free
• Marked landing field every 2–3 km, wires checked
• Departure / search / landing altitudes written down
• Retrieve plan and one informed person
• Pre-flight check as always