Red Tail Cadets Make Cross-Country Flight During Training Program

By Carmelo Turdo

The Red Tail Cadet Program recently reached a new milestone: cross-country flight training. The exercise was one of technical training but also one of logistics. Six cadets with six CFIs in six Cessna 172S Skyhawks along with a much faster Piper Turbo Saratoga support aircraft departed Elite Aviation at Spirit of St. Louis Airport July 21 for Sikeston Memorial Municipal Airport. Each leg of the flight there and back to Elite Aviation took nearly an hour and a half to complete, giving the cadets plenty of time to practice point-to-point navigation techniques along the way. The Aero Experience was with the cadets for the day, accompanying them on the trip and providing this pictorial presentation below.

A pre-flight briefing and navigation tutorial was held for the cadets to review cross-country (non-GPS) navigation methods. The cadets plotted the route using dead reckoning, a navigation method based on computed course, heading, distance, ground speed and other factors. They also discussed pilotage - using recognizable landmarks to confirm the position of the aircraft along the route. Weather, fuel, weight and balance and other standard factors were also included in the pre-flight briefing. While the cadets were out doing pre-flight inspections of the aircraft, the CFIs briefed the flight with John Tipton, who flew the seventh aircraft and not surprisingly arrived early to welcome and park the six Elite Aviation Skyhawks.

All seven aircraft depart Elite Aviation for Sikeston:

Arrival and group photos at Sikeston Memorial Municipal Airport:

Everyone who flies to Sikeston knows where to have lunch:

Flying back to Spirit of St. Louis Airport with full stomachs and fuel tanks:

Another training milestone was achieved by the Red Tail Cadets with this first cross-country flight. The Aero Experience will continue our coverage of the Red Tail Cadet flight training at Elite Aviation in more stories and videos in the coming weeks.