First cross country solo...and a big mistake!

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injb

Pre-takeoff checklist
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jb
Today I did my first cross country solo. It was to a class D airport that I've been to before with my instructor. Flight following handed me off to the tower a little later than I expected, but that was ok. I checked in with the controller and he asked my position (approaching from the north east). He told me to report right downwind for runway 35, which is roughly what I'd been expecting.

When I got to within a few miles I was a little concerned that I still hadn't spotted the airport. (mistake #1: it didn't occur to me to tell the controller that I didn't have the airport in sight yet). But the GPS assured me it was in front of me. Well, the graphics showed that I was pretty much on top of it, but the heading info suggested that I was still on track. I knew something was wrong and eventually spotted the airport over my left shoulder, a little behind me. I had passed it way off to the north. For a few seconds I thought about getting on the radio and telling the controller what happened, but then I thought, wait, it's a control tower - of course he knows where I am! (I know, I know...mistake #2).

So, being now on the wrong side of runway 35, I turned to the left and headed back towards the airport, trying to figure out what to do and/or say to get back on track. I heard him clear a plane for departure on 35 and I had them in sight. I was a little surprised that he hadn't said anything about my position at this point, so I decided to double check that right downwind was what I was told, and then cross the runway mid-field and join the right downwind. So I called the tower and asked to confirm right downwind for 35. His response (to my surprise) was to ask where I was. "You said you were approaching from north east, and I don't see you!". I didn't see any point in explaining what had happened at this stage, so I just told him where I was (and what I should have told him earlier: that I am a student pilot) and he cleared me to continue with a left downwind and land. When I cleared the runway he gave me a brief lecture about my bad behavior (but in very friendly terms, all things considered).

The good news is that this was the worst thing that happened and I got home safely. It was one of the bumpiest flights I've ever been on, both ways, so I didn't really enjoy it but it was a good learning experience all the same.

So what I learned from this is that most class D airports don't have radar and I really need to be a lot better about keeping them informed of my position. And, when you don't see the airport by the time you think you should, or you end up in a place you weren't expected to be, the controller wants to know that.
 
Sounds to me like the controller wasnt paying attention to you, or where you were, especially then clearing someone to take off on 35. What if you were in the departure path.

Yes you should have informed tower that the airport was not in sight. Also you give the impression of staring at your iPad or whatever for the airport location instead of looking outside for the airport.

That's what solo xc is about though. Learn lessons and hopefully put them to good use.
 
I’m sure controllers can tell lots of stories about lost pilots. It’s something to keep in mind when flying to/from towered fields. For that matter it’s something to keep in mind at non-towered fields. All you really know is that someone is reported as being somewhere until you see them. And another wunnerful thing is that just because a controller knows where you are doesn’t mean he/she won’t turn traffic towards you or turn you towards traffic.

Most of us have two eyes, two ears, and one mouth. They should be used in similar proportions.
 
Keeping positive SA at all times is important and one of the things that you will develop as you gain more experience.

Yes, I’m a bit surprised the controller didn’t call you up a lot sooner and find out what was going on— sounds like he might’ve gotten behind the 8-ball a little too.

Nothing to worry about, we’re all learning continuously. Well done!
 
Since misery loves company...True confessions time since I am certain the statute of limitations has loooooooong since ended. :)

Back in the day when I was on my long cross country I was flying into a class D (they weren't called that back then). I was approaching from the North and my experience at controlled airports was VERY limited. The controller said join the downwind for the active runway(I don't remember them saying left or right) so I figured cross midfield join the downwind for a standard left hand traffic pattern. WRONG! I got close to the runway but had not crossed it yet and the controller instructed me to turn left immediately and started yelling at me about never crossing an active runway. A plane was taking off as I recall. It all worked out in the end. I was embarrassed of course. Not enough training on that specific aspect and lack of experience since I learned mostly at a non-controlled airport but I learned that day.

I have heard some people don't like it but when I was training I used the "I am a Student Pilot" card every single time I talked to a controller or a briefer. If nothing else they talk slower also lets them know you might have less experience and to pay attention.
 
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mscard88 said:
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Also you give the impression of staring at your iPad or whatever for the airport location instead of looking outside for the airport.

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That's a good point. By the time I was close enough that I knew something was wrong, I was looking outside very carefully. The problem was that by that time, I was so close that I needed to scan a much wider area to see it. Leading up to that point, I probably was concentrating too much on the GPS.
 
injb said:
That's a good point. By the time I was close enough that I knew something was wrong, I was looking outside very carefully. The problem was that by that time, I was so close that I needed to scan a much wider area to see it. Leading up to that point, I probably was concentrating too much on the GPS.
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Hey ya learned a few things. We all have coming up, and still do. When a pilot thinks they know it all that's when they get bit.

If you're near a towered airport, get your CFI to arrange a tower and/radar visit. Your CFI doesn't even need to go with you. It's very educational.

Good luck in the rest of your training. And have fun!
 
Start working on landmarks that tell you when you are close to the airport. Also familiarize yourself with your GPS, most downwinds are about a mile or two from the airport midpoint waypoint (find out where that is BTW). The GPS will tell you how far away from the airport you are.
 
A lesson learned.

You might want to consider what zoom level on the GPS you should be at for your phase of fight or your distance from the airport. Also stay higher for a little longer if possible. Easier to see the airport with a little more altitude.

Good luck going forward with your training.
 
SkyDog58 said:
A lesson learned.

You might want to consider what zoom level on the GPS you should be at for your phase of fight or your distance from the airport.
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Dang 'Dog good point. OP did you zoom in?
 
coloradobluesky said:
Start working on landmarks that tell you when you are close to the airport. Also familiarize yourself with your GPS, most downwinds are about a mile or two from the airport midpoint waypoint (find out where that is BTW). The GPS will tell you how far away from the airport you are.
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SkyDog58 said:
A lesson learned.

You might want to consider what zoom level on the GPS you should be at for your phase of fight or your distance from the airport. Also stay higher for a little longer if possible. Easier to see the airport with a little more altitude.

Good luck going forward with your training.
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mscard88 said:
Dang 'Dog good point. OP did you zoom in?
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You guys nailed it! And this helped me solve the big mystery of how I ended up so far off course, despite keeping a close eye on the GPS. I was not zoomed in enough, and if I had been that would have helped. But I didn't worry about it at the time, because I had something much more useful (I thought): real time course information, in the form of the 'dtk' (desired track) and 'tk' (actual track).

It didn't sit right with me that I ended up so far off - I was sure that the GPS was telling me the airport was in front of me just before I found it behind me. I reviewed my video footage, and from there I saw that I was off course for a really long time before I previously thought. There's no way I was ignoring the GPS for that long! And then it dawned on me, slowly...what if I was reading it accurately and frequently, but it doesn't mean what I think it means? So I just did some youtubing on the issue and found out the answer: dtk is the heading to the destination from where you started, not from where you are!

Now, I have to put my hand up for this one - I should have familiarized myself with it more. In my defence, although we've used it on previous flights, the instructor never let me get very far off course, and he always insisted that I find the airport visually as soon as he knew it was within sight. This mistake is one that only comes up when you're close to your destination. So it never would have occurred to me that a GPS system would work like that. Why would anyone want to know how to get somewhere from anywhere other than where they are? I still don't really see the point in that.
 
At least you were able to get straightend out and nothing bad happened. Chalk it up to a good learning experience. Talk it over with your instructor and maybe do an Xc flight with him just observng you and not instructing. Let him take notes on your cockpit management and task management and then debrief after the flight.

At least you did eventually land at the correct airport. Once, I was flying to Lancaster, KWJF, and I heard the tower clear a student pilot to land. Several minutes later, the tower called up the student and told them that it appeared that they were lined up to land at nearby Palmdale, KPMD, a USAF base. That would have been pretty bad for that student!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Remember the GPS takes you to the center of the airport. Can be confusing if you get to close before seeing the airport. This is a lesson you’ll surely remember.
 
I’ve done worse when I was a relatively new pilot and was just beginning to fly from a new to me towered airport. I was flying a new to me plane and I landed the opposite direction. Tower folks called me at FBO and gently explained my error to me with the warning NOT to do it again.

Good folks and a very slow day fortunately.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Sounds like you learned a few good lessons with no harm done. And I’m always leery approaching a new to me airport, those things can be amazing hard to see!
 
Lesson learned, nothing and no one harmed. Keep learning.

My first solo XC was to a nontowered field. Left traffic was norm. I called and landed left traffic. It wasn’t until I got back home that I realized I was doing right traffic. Lucky for me I was the only one in the pattern.
 
DFH65 said:
I have heard some people don't like it but when I was training I used the "I am a Student Pilot" card every single time I talked to a controller or a briefer. If nothing else they talk slower also lets them know you might have less experience and to pay attention.
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I wish I had done that.
 
injb said:
...So I just did some youtubing on the issue and found out the answer: dtk is the heading to the destination from where you started, not from where you are!...

...So it never would have occurred to me that a GPS system would work like that. Why would anyone want to know how to get somewhere from anywhere other than where they are? I still don't really see the point in that.
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Well, for one thing, there could be a mountain in the way.

DTK stands for "desired track." I think the assumption is that the course line that the GPS has drawn from the beginning to the end of the active leg of the flight plan is the flight path that you "desire," and the "DTK" displayed tells you what direction that course line is pointing. If you're not on the planned course, getting back on it is one of the skills that you're supposed to learn during pilot training, and DTK is valuable information for that purpose, because it helps you determine whether the airplane's current track will intercept the course line or not. However, if circumstances are such that you no longer need to be on that course line, then it's necessary to let the GPS know what you want to do instead (if you still want to use the GPS for course guidance). So for example, if you want to fly direct from your present position to the next waypoint instead of getting back on the originally planned course, this will generally involve using the "D" (direct) button. (The best order of button pushing will depend on the model of GPS.)
 
Palmpilot said:
DTK stands for "desired track." I think the assumption is that the course line that the GPS has drawn from the beginning to the end of the active leg of the flight plan is the flight path that you "desire," and the "DTK" displayed tells you what direction that course line is pointing. If you're not on the planned course, getting back on it is one of the skills that you're supposed to learn during pilot training, and DTK is valuable information for that purpose, because it helps you determine whether the airplane's current track will intercept the course line or not. However, if circumstances are such that you no longer need to be on that course line, then it's necessary to let the GPS know what you want to do instead (if you still want to use the GPS for course guidance). So for example, if you want to fly direct from your present position to the next waypoint instead of getting back on the originally planned course, this will generally involve using the "D" (direct) button. (The best order of button pushing will depend on the model of GPS.)
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I'm not sure how many GPS models have this feature, but some (the 480 for instance) can also display the bearing to the active waypoint, which on the 480 is called "BRG". So you might have that information available too, without doing "direct to". Course guidance via the CDI, however (if the GPS is driving a CDI, or the unit's internal NAV display if it has one), is based on the course line pointing in the direction defined by DTK. In other words, as @Palmpilot said, you might have to do a "direct to" in order to make the direct course to that waypoint be the course the GPS displays with the magenta line, and uses to tell you how far you are from the desired course.
 
If you're using ForeFlight... a very useful graphic support for entering the pattern:
Map tab, Edit subtab... Procedure, Traffic Pattern... select runway... select entry (45 to downwind, cross midfield teardrop, etc).

I learned this (the hard way) trying to find an airstrip in the middle of hundreds of wheat fields in northwest Nebraska.

But a related tip: get the iPad out of your lap and "up"... either on a yoke mount or, better yet IMHO at eye level on a suction mount.
 
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Some airports like to hide behind hills, just saying. Also, the higher you are the easier they are to pick out at a distance.
 
wayneda40 said:
If you're using ForeFlight... a very useful graphic support for entering the pattern:
Map tab, Edit subtab... Procedure, Traffic Pattern... select runway... select entry (45 to downwind, cross midfield teardrop, etc).

I learned this (the hard way) trying to find an airstrip in the middle of hundreds of wheat fields in northwest Nebraska.

But a related tip: get the iPad out of your lap and "up"... either on a yoke mount or, better yet IMHO at eye level on a suction mount.
Click to expand...

Good info on getting the traffic pattern options, but I found that from the map page, I have to select the FPL tab in order to get to the Edit subtab.
 
wayneda40 said:
If you're using ForeFlight... a very useful graphic support for entering the pattern:
Map tab, Edit subtab... Procedure, Traffic Pattern... select runway... select entry (45 to downwind, cross midfield teardrop, etc).

I learned this (the hard way) trying to find an airstrip in the middle of hundreds of wheat fields in northwest Nebraska.

But a related tip: get the iPad out of your lap and "up"... either on a yoke mount or, better yet IMHO at eye level on a suction mount.
Click to expand...

I have a tablet (not an iPad but Android so I have to use Garmin Pilot) but I haven't been making much use of it. I didn't use it on this flight at all. The reason being that I can't find a decent way to mount it. I bought a RAM yoke mount only to discover that the yoke has some kind of attachment on the top that makes it impossible to mount the tablet. I'm not sure what it's for or why I didn't notice it before. It's only on the left yoke for some reason. I then got a suction cup to replace the yoke clamp, but again when I got into the plane, I realized I can't find a good way to mount it. Anywhere on the side window it seems to interfere with the yoke unless I put it up very high, in which case it blocks quite a bit of my view. But I'll figure something out eventually.
 
Timbeck2 said:
I've found that a lot of people (myself included) look way too far out when trying to locate an unfamiliar airport.
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Yup. Start from the end of the cowling and look forward from there, rather than begin your search at the horizon.
 
wayneda40 said:
If you're using ForeFlight... a very useful graphic support for entering the pattern:
Map tab, Edit subtab... Procedure, Traffic Pattern... select runway... select entry (45 to downwind, cross midfield teardrop, etc).
Click to expand...

Thanks for that info! Somehow I missed that.
 
coloradobluesky said:
Start working on landmarks that tell you when you are close to the airport. Also familiarize yourself with your GPS, most downwinds are about a mile or two from the airport midpoint waypoint (find out where that is BTW). The GPS will tell you how far away from the airport you are.
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Landmarks on a sectional and Mark I Eyeballs. Make it a point during flights to practice comparing landmarks to the sectional, either paper or electronic, and try to spot airports every chance you get.

My CFI used to take me to unfamiliar airports as often as possible. I still remember the words, "And now the fun begins, finding the airport."
 
About 30 years ago I was a USAF controller working the tower at a SAC base. Those of you who know about SAC also know they take security a little on the serious side. On a Sunday afternoon with nothing going on I just happened to look out at the runway and observed a Cessna 150 landing. Tried contacting him on the radio no response. Activated the crash phone (all kinds of base agencies on that phone not just the fire department) as the Cessna taxied across the large ramp to the base of the tower onto the grass and stopped. By this time the SP's were converging on him from all directions as the pilot got out walking to the fire station next to the tower asking Where the HELL am I (so they told me later). He thought he was landing at another airport 20 miles away was on his first solo cross country and got lost. The SP's went through their complete drill with him I guess they were a little bored that day.
 
Timbeck2 said:
I've found that a lot of people (myself included) look way too far out when trying to locate an unfamiliar airport.
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+1
Not just airports. Every time I have been uncertain where my next visual check point was, the correct answer turned out to be “right under the nose.”

Definitely don’t be shy about telling ATC that you messed up. Or asking for clarification on what they expect. Maybe you’ll ask a stupid question from time to time, but nobody is going to put “he never asked a stupid question in public” on your tombstone anyhow.
 
First dual XC to 7B2 Northampton, MA could not find the airport, had the bend in the river located from the sectional but totally missed the airport. My CFI told me after I'm not the only student who has missed it and is one of the reasons it's always the first dual XC destination he uses.

First solo XC, SFM Sanford, ME and back, flying a Victor airway. Outbound no problems nail every checkpoint, land, tie up the plane, call my cfi, grab a quick drink and start heading home. Get Flight Following, using the same Victor Airway for the return hit my first check point and something seriously wrong as the checkpoint which is another airport is on the wrong side of the plane. As I'm trying to figure out what I did wrong ATC asks me what my route is and when I advise of the Victor Airway tells me I'm a little off, after double checking everything I realized I had dialed in the wrong VOR radial for the return. On the plus side I got to practice intercepting a radial.
 
During one of my BFR's the sadistic head of the flight school vectored me all over the place under the hood, had me take it off then failed the engine. I set best glide speed, did a 180 in search of a good spot to land, picked one, then started working through the checklist, yada yada then started to set up to 'land' in a rice field. At that point he said "Why do you want to land there when you could have landed at a perfectly good airport?" "Huh?" "Look behind you."

We were directly over a small, little used non-towered airport with a couple of intersecting runways when he failed the engine. Lesson learned. Look down as well as in front.
 
Another thing that I do to practice picking out airports is to visually acquire everyone that I am within visual range of en route. This hones your skills in locating airports and it also helps to ensure that you know exactly where they are should you need one. This goes for small private grass strips as well as public paved one. Look for all of them.
 
I didn't have the same ending, but I also missed the airport (on my long solo cross country). I ended up taking the wrong radial off the VOR. When I didn't see the airport, NY Approach advised, "suggest heading 360". Sure enough, there it was 10miles (I think) to the north.
 
On my long solo XC for my private (back when it was 300NM total) I couldn't find the Albany GA airport flying from Panama City. FSS offered a 'DF steer (do they still do those?) but for whatever reason I turned him down and eventually found it. I was right on top of it and couldn't see it.
 
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