I've been working on xc training. We did one down to Martha's Vineyard a few weeks back and just did one up to Maine on Tuesday. It was exhausting... take off from Hanscom, request early frequency change, call FSS and open flight plan, call Boston for flight following, maintain altitude and heading in turbulent conditions, write down time as we pass each checkpoint, look for other traffic, unexpected clouds at 3,500 ft and decision on whether to go over or under (I made the right choice and went under), being passed off to different ff frequencies, closing flight following, closing flight plan, entering untowered traffic pattern with two other planes at the same time - each initially going for a different runway (wtf!), making one of my crappiest landings to date... ugh. By the time we got on the ground, I felt like I just ran a marathon. Then I barely have a foot out the door when my instructor pelts me with a snowball!!!
At no point did I just get to kick back and look around at the ocean or other supposedly pretty scenery! At one point I became so overwhelmed with tasks (he was having me work on VOR as well), that I asked him to take the flight controls for a minute so I could better organize the stuff on my kneeboard (and in my head). For the first time ever, he refused. He simply said, "Nope," crossed his arms and looked out the window.
Annoyingly, it was good he did that, as it forced me to depend on myself to get my act together.
After landing, we had lunch at a really cool little WWII design airport cafe and headed home. The flight back was much better. I was better organized and juggling the tasks much more gracefully. I even got to look around outside (for something other than other planes) for a bit. Maybe one of these days I'll be able to handle these longer xc's on my own. Kind of a scary thought for me right now, though.
