Rich, The PW-5 is a great cross country starter ship. It thermals quite nicely, benign stall and easy to land with great spoilers. At 32:1 it has the legs to get out a ways and still get back. It’s only drawback might be its weight which is on the light side and that will affect penetration into a head wind. So to practice don’t pick a day with winds aloft that exceed 10 to 12 knots, and if you do then fly up wind first. The performance means that you should easily get back from say Aero Lake or Dacy from 4500 msl. The next time you happen to be at 4500 msl look for those places and it will give you a feel for just how flat the newer ships fly. John L