Do you flight plan?

Even my flight instructor told me I would never plan flights the way I did as a
student. We've gone out with nary more than a weather briefing for the general
area we think we are going to, but that's more boring holes in the sky rather
than flying somewhere specific. The GPS makes it very easy to get very lazy so
always make sure you know where you are on the chart also in case you lose the
GPS. If you have an intended landing point you should check the notams enroute
and for the airport you are going to. After you start taking long cross
countries you find out that you often end up at some other airport anyway due to
weather, bathrooms, hunger, etc. I never planned fuel out to the last ounce
because I know in the old clunkers I fly they aren't anywhere near the book. I
told the DE that during the oral and she just smiled and said "besides we both
know private pilots don't know how to lean". I think I passed the ride right
then. In my plane we can burn anywhere from 10 to 14 depending on how we fly
it. I always plan 14, plus and hour reserve. I keep the baggage tank full as
ballast unless I have lots of luggage. I always have at least 20 gals when I
land.

Margy

Nasir wrote:

Having received my PPL recently and been on several cross countries, I was
wondering how extensive of a flight plan do people prepare before the trip?

Do you guys do all the checkpoints on a map, calculate time/distance/fuel to
each leg? Do you just draw the line on the map and mark checkpoints that you
expect to see but not calculate other things? Do you always calculate winds
aloft and fly the appropriate heading?

I have found myself getting lazy and I dont do all that I did when planning
x-countries when I was training. I tend to draw my line and mark
checkpoints, make sure I have plenty of fuel to get to my destination (plus
an hour more) based on 6gal/hr average. But I dont calculate
time/distance/fuel to each leg. I also have a GPS so that makes getting lazy
easier!

How much do you all plan before each x-country? Am I the only slacker?

Nasir