Cross Countries, what to bring?

[Airdale]

Okay so ATP if flying me down on Southwest to do my cross countries in Jax. How should I pack? They say to bring bed linens for staying at ATP apartments as well as clothes for the Citation flight and clothes for 2-3weeks. Well I've got 5 ATP shirts, 5 white undershirts, 2 pairs of kaki pants, one pair of dress pants and one dress shirt and dress shoes (for the citation ride). And of course 5 days worth of socks and underwear. That stuff there is necessity. Well that fills up one small rolling suitcase. Great. Now I need to bring my laptop, books to study CFI stuff, my career pilot binder AND all of my flight gear ie. headset, charts, plates, kneeboard, flight computer etc. I'm up to (1) suitcase (weighs maybe 35-40lbs if that) (1) laptop case with my CFI books, also my logbook, pilot certs. and med. cert. (1) Jepp. flight bag with headset, kneeboard etc. Where the hell do I put bed linens!? And a Pillow?!? I'm worried I have too much for the seminole's baggage compartment already! Also, I'm planning on taking this stuff on every cross country, never know when I'll be staying overnight on the road. So traveling light in the seminole is important, but I don't want to be sleeping on the floor in an apartment. I would think sleep would be important on these flights so your not exhausted to fly.

How did some of you guys do it? Thanks

 

[CRJDriver]

Okay so ATP if flying me down on Southwest to do my cross countries in Jax. How should I pack? They say to bring bed linens for staying at ATP apartments as well as clothes for the Citation flight and clothes for 2-3weeks. Well I've got 5 ATP shirts, 5 white undershirts, 2 pairs of kaki pants, one pair of dress pants and one dress shirt and dress shoes (for the citation ride). And of course 5 days worth of socks and underwear. That stuff there is necessity. Well that fills up one small rolling suitcase. Great. Now I need to bring my laptop, books to study CFI stuff, my career pilot binder AND all of my flight gear ie. headset, charts, plates, kneeboard, flight computer etc. I'm up to (1) suitcase (weighs maybe 35-40lbs if that) (1) laptop case with my CFI books, also my logbook, pilot certs. and med. cert. (1) Jepp. flight bag with headset, kneeboard etc. Where the hell do I put bed linens!? And a Pillow?!? I'm worried I have too much for the seminole's baggage compartment already! Also, I'm planning on taking this stuff on every cross country, never know when I'll be staying overnight on the road. So traveling light in the seminole is important, but I don't want to be sleeping on the floor in an apartment. I would think sleep would be important on these flights so your not exhausted to fly.

How did some of you guys do it? Thanks

Sound's like you're prepared for your X-Countries. I usually packed for a week. I had a small rolling suitcase for clothing, my bagpack with my binder, charts, etc., my flight bag and I carried a small pillow with me. The baggage compartment and the back seats were usually filled up I didn't take my laptop with me, you don't really need it. You can read your e-mail or log on to Jetcareers at the ATP offices or the FBO's.

Have fun on your X-Countries, it's definitely one of the best part's of the program.

 

[Timbuff10]

Haha, make sure and do a weight and balance if you fly a seminole with all that stuff in it. I know of a few guys who took off out of Dallas on their way to Jax and had to do a little cargo reconfiguration in flight. When your partner says that box and bag only weighs 20 lbs, dont trust him, weigh it!

Ditch the bed linens for a sleeping bag, also make sure you don't start out with a case of oil in the back either. I didn't know it was in there as I was second to load up my stuff so it was already covered up. Leave the extra oil behind but make sure you are within limits before you go. We ended up leaving the case of oil in Atlanta so we wouldn't have to worry about any issues.

Have fun!

 

[PhotoPilot]

Ditch the linens and carry a light, silk sleeping bag liner. It will stuff into a bag the size of your fist. If you get cold, wear an extra layer of clothes and a knit hat to bed. Forget the pillow and bring a 12"x18" nylon stuff sack. If you have time, get rid of the draw string and sew velcro onto the opening so it stays rectangular when fastened shut. Stuff the sack with lightly wadded clothes and use it as your pillow.

If you really want to go hard-core, be an animal and bring half as many undershirts, socks, and underwear. You can wear them twice before they get raunchy. Just rotate days so they dry out between wearings. I'll bet you can get away with one pair of shoes, 2 or 3 ATP shirts, one pair of khakis, dress pants, and dress shirt.

Since you've got a laptop, go to the FAA website and download the PDF's for the FAA publications and books and leave the printed copies at home. That should save 5 - 7 pounds and 5 books (including the Instrument Handbook and the Proceedures Manual). If you have binders with study materials or proceedures, see if you can combine the contents of two into one binder to save space. If you can get PDF of the documents, that's even better.

While your at it, go nuts and saw the handle off your toothbrush, steal a couple of mini shampoos from a hotel, and drill holes in the handle of your titanium spork to save weight . . . though that last one might be a bit extreme! :rawk:

 

[FlyingNole]

Ditch the linens and carry a light, silk sleeping bag liner. It will stuff into a bag the size of your fist. If you get cold, wear an extra layer of clothes and a knit hat to bed. Forget the pillow and bring a 12"x18" nylon stuff sack.

Maybe its just me, but I thought this was a bad idea. I bought a small sleeping bag and ended up using it as a blanket. I say this because your face ends up on the mattress that everyone else has slept on, and done...whatever... Not every place you'll stay at is "nice." As far as a pillow, bring one, it doesnt take up much room, and you'll sleep better at night. Trust me, sleep is key, because you will get worn out. Everything else sounds good, just dont pack it in some huge rolling suitcase, because the other guy needs to fit his stuff in there too.

 

[CRJDriver]

Not every place you'll stay at is "nice."

True! But most places that I've stayed at were nice. I've only stayed at a hotel in JAX. One night at the Holiday Inn at JAX Airport, and one night at Hampton Inn by CRG. Both hotels were really nice!

 

[Timbuff10]

What was the name of that place right down the street from Craig? The extended stay place? Man that was scary! I remember some pimp came by looking for one of his employees one night, another night there was a knife fight in the parking lot. The weird thing is it wasn't a nasty place really, just drew a bad crowd for some reason. Well, maybe I take that back, they did give us the keys to a room that hadn't seen a house keeper in a month probably. Oh well, good times... CFI school!

 

[AirArney]

Ahh, the luxurious and beautiful SUBURBAN LODGE AND SUITES. Truly a sh*thole. I got propositioned by a hooker there, asked if I "Wanted some Company." Told her I had my X-C mate to keep me warm.

 

[CRJDriver]

What was the name of that place right down the street from Craig? The extended stay place? Man that was scary! I remember some pimp came by looking for one of his employees one night, another night there was a knife fight in the parking lot. The weird thing is it wasn't a nasty place really, just drew a bad crowd for some reason. Well, maybe I take that back, they did give us the keys to a room that hadn't seen a house keeper in a month probably. Oh well, good times... CFI school!

Yeah, thank god they didn't have any empty room's there when I was in JAX. I'm glad ATP put me in a nice & comfy $110/night room

 

[Airdale]

Well my suitcase is only 21x13x11 (h-w-d). So its not big at all. Its packed as **** though. So how to squeeze a pillow and something to sleep on is still the challenge. I have a small sleeping bag, but still I can't fit it in anything. My other option is ditch the suitcase and use a decent size duffle back I got from Trump Marina, the only thing I've won in that damn place the last year. Its pretty big, and I'm sure I could sqeeze more crap into it, like possibly a pillow and the contents of my flight bag. That would drop me down to two bags. The downside would be luggin that sucker through the airport. They're sending me to Jax, but I wonder how much I'll actually stay there. If it was mostly hotels on the road I'd leave the pillow and sleeping bag at home.

 

[Timbuff10]

Ahh, the luxurious and beautiful SUBURBAN LODGE AND SUITES. Truly a sh*thole. I got propositioned by a hooker there, asked if I "Wanted some Company." Told her I had my X-C mate to keep me warm.

Haha, yeah that was it... Man, that whole CFI school week/10days was something else. Classroom all week and then fly twice one day after that and then that night get the word that my initial CFI checkride was the next day in Tampa so they paired me up with a guy to fly the seminole down to Tampa and made it to the hotel by midnight so that I could do the checkride at 7am the next day. I don't think I ever had a better feeling than after passing that checkride and getting back to the Suburban lodge that night so my partner could do the same thing the next day.

The ultimate whirlwind!

 

[FlyingNole]

Yeah, thank god they didn't have any empty room's there when I was in JAX. I'm glad ATP put me in a nice & comfy $110/night room

You're so lucky, I got put up in this crappy ass Days Inn in Long Beach...It was so gross i slept in my sleeping bag on top of their bed and wouldnt take a shower there....I even found a crack pipe outside my door....I told ATP about it and they are taking it "off the list," but my luck I hadda be the test case. I didnt get any nice hotels yet, all gross...I think most of the apts are wel kept, and the ones in PHX are really nice.

 

[BobDDuck]

I think most of the apts are wel kept, and the ones in PHX are really nice.

We worked sort of hard at keeping them nice there. Also, the pool had some really nice scenery. When I went through the program we never stayed in apartments. I did spend a week in the Suburban Lodge in JAX. It had just opened and had internet in every room which was nice. Do they still use the Best Western? It was pretty nice, but a $25 cab ride.

 

[Tram]

Whatever you do.. when dispatch says "ah, it'll be an out and back" don't expect that to happen..

I lived out of Target for a few days..

 

[FlyingNole]

Dispatch lies.....lol

If you think you're headed to Norfolk for the whole day; just when you are fueled, filed, and ready.... "....Actually, we need a plane in Pensacola...."

Boom, 25 degree temp difference.....

 

[GAPILOT]

Airdale when are you starting the cross-countries? I'm starting on monday out of ATL.

Andy