Does cruise altitude matter?

I like to fly high. Typical around the patch altitude is 11,500'
(Field elevation around 6,800'). Cross countries can be higher
especially if it minimizes turbulence and is cooler.

Ron Lee

No one has mentioned the fact that the higher you are the more time you have to
pick an emergency landing location. At 3000 AGL my Warrior has 5.5 NM of best
glide distance. At 8000 AGL I have 14.5 NM of best glide distance. That's a
choice between 95 square NM and 660 square NM in which to find a place to land.

Demonick

In article ,
"G.R. Patterson III" wrote:


If my wife
is in the
plane, the factor that comes into play most often is turbulence; when she's
not with
me, it's wind.


The wife is a big factor in my cruise altitude also. She wants to be
low enough to see things...and doesn't give a hoot about ground speed,
fuel burn, etc..."If I'm up here I want to be able to see things on the
ground. She want's me to fly her around over the city at night so she
can look at the Christmas lights!! G

--
Dale L. Falk

There is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing
as simply messing around with airplanes.

http://home.gci.net/~sncdfalk/flying.html