My solo cross country is Sunday.

Turn off the gps and do it with just a chart and watch. It’s easier than it looks and you’ll know you can do it if you have to.
 
Ok. I had purchased FlyQ two days ago in anticipation to the cross country flight, but I think it will be good practice with the nav log and sectional.

Thank you Salty.
 
Make sure you get all the right CFI signatures. "A friend of mine" and his CFI got excited about the first solo cross-country and missed one of the two required signatures, which was not noticed until my friend showed up for his check ride and the DPE immediately pointed it out.

If you file a VFR flight plan, remember to give them updates on your ETA and set some kind of reminder to call and close it as soon as you land. My same friend as the previous story had a SAR phone call made to the FBO whose bathroom he was using when he got in a little later than planned and had not phoned in to close the flight plan yet.

When you are at cruising altitude, landmarks will probably look closer than they are. If you can't find the airport or landmark you are looking for, try looking right under your nose. That seems to especially be the case with lakes in my experience.

Go-arounds are free at every airport. Do not hesitate to go around if anything doesn't look right with your landing at any of the places you plan to land. And remember that plans are meant to be adjusted, so if you can't comfortably and safely land at one of the airports on your plan, carry on and fly home. You need the hours anyhow so you are not going to slow down your progress by having to fly the solo cross-country trip more than once, whereas you will slow down your progress if you bend an airplane trying too hard to get it down somewhere.

Have fun. The solo cross-country flight is the first time you transport yourself to another place as pilot in command. The magic carpet nature of what you are doing really starts to click around that time.
 
And I agree with you this is more exciting than first solo. This is where you have to put all the skills together for more than 15 minutes. Lol
 
Expect something unexpected to happen...but know you are ready for it. Have fun. It is so cool to leave the earth, all by yourself, and land someplace you've never been before. And hope you landed at the right airport :)
 
What are you flying ... Jabiru ?
 
My drive is 2 1/2 hours to the airport and I’ve made the drive 48 times.

240 hours of driving...

But this shows how much I want to be a pilot.
 
All of your airports have runways aligned along 18/36 - with wind from 180 at 8-10 knots at Mount Vernon it should be a piece of cake - have fun.
 
Sport Pilot said:
My drive is 2 1/2 hours to the airport and I’ve made the drive 48 times.

240 hours of driving...

But this shows how much I want to be a pilot.
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2 hours ? So where are you located .... btw are you the same guy who started out in Evektor at Morris ?
 
Warmi, that is me. How are you? I was flying out of Morris with the Evektor but the CFI wasn’t able to work with my schedule. I have been flying out of Mt. Vernon since May 2018.
 
I am good - close to 200 hours in my Sting :) - but I see you are almost done , are you planning to do some renting once you get your ticket or perhaps looking for a cheap, nice Jabiru to buy ?
 
I will be renting for now. My goal is to move back to Chicago and then buy a Jabiru.
 
Alright , have fun on Sunday and let us know how was it ...
 
Have fun.

Like the others said, don’t use GPS or flight following unless you get lost, use the chart (orientated for direction of flight) and keep track of your position by matching with the chart to the window, maybe pull out the GPS once in a while to verify. Also try to calculate your fuel best you can and compare to how much it takes to top back up when you land.
 
Sport Pilot said:
My drive is 2 1/2 hours to the airport and I’ve made the drive 48 times.

240 hours of driving...

But this shows how much I want to be a pilot.
Click to expand...
Wow that’s quite the haul!

The solo cross-country flight is one of the funnest times you’ll have. It really stretches your skills and instills confidence in your ability as a pilot. Good luck to you, and I look forward to hear about your success!
 
Be a big boy and turn off flyq, Foreflight, etc.
 
iamtheari said:
Make sure you get all the right CFI signatures. "A friend of mine" and his CFI got excited about the first solo cross-country and missed one of the two required signatures, which was not noticed until my friend showed up for his check ride and the DPE immediately pointed it out.
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I had done my private training for a few years on and off back in the day, and decided I wanted to go somewhere and finish it up. I just needed to be trained for the checkride, I had all the requirements done. The instructor comes to me and shows me that my long solo cross country had no endorsement in my logbook. And I had to do it over, and this was when the long cross country was 300 miles minimum. Spent my prep time money on that flight and never got back to flying immediately and took me about 15 years more to get my private due to lack of money and life getting in the way.
 
TommyG said:
Be a big boy and turn off flyq, Foreflight, etc.
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I say use all the tools at your disposal. I kept a paper sectional on the passengers seat opened to where I needed it. And I did need it a few times. But if you've got the tech tools, use them. That's my opinion.
 
Don’t get lost! Bring some water and stay hydrated. Maybe bring some granola bars or trail mix or just eat a good breakfast or lunch before you go on your trip. You’ll be exhausted by the end of it.
 
mryan75 said:
I say use all the tools at your disposal. I kept a paper sectional on the passengers seat opened to where I needed it. And I did need it a few times. But if you've got the tech tools, use them. That's my opinion.
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If you don’t learn how to use them first, the charts aren’t going to do much good when your gps goes out.
 
That route looks nice, too. Set up all your nav equipment, then follow the power lines and RR tracks. That pilotage experience keeps your eyes outside and hones your skills at matching up what’s on the ground with what’s on the sectional.
 
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Piece of pie. Easy as cake. You know how to do this.

Use the chart and enjoy "feeling" your way across the landscape. The GPS is a backup and I wouldn't even turn it on unless you need it. You just bought FlyQ, so now is not the time to play with it.

If you are really lost, remember that the ATC controllers ARE your friends. Just call them up, identify yourself as a student pilot on a cross country and confess that you're not 100% certain where you are. They will get you straight and on your way again. Not a fail, it's part of being a pilot who is learning.

Have fun. It's a cool thing to fly an airplane a couple hundred miles and come home again.
 
You will do fine, you have easy land marks to look for. If by chance you don’t know where you are ATC can vector you. I had my gps on the seat next to me just incase:) and had flight following.
 
A tip for using a chart for landmarks: Don't pick a landmark directly at 12:00. Your nose will cover it before you get a chance to see it. Choose one slightly off your course. In your case you have a nice lake you can use, one of the arms points to from H96 to KMVN (not sure of your direction of flight.) All sorts of good info on the sectional, so you might as well learn how to use it.

I always like to verify with 3 items a checkpoint. If it's a railroad bridge, for example, I want to see that radio tower (or whatever) that's to the north, and that bend in the road just to the east.
 
Yes - get flight following. On my long XC, I hit some virga- that wispy rain that doesn’t hit the ground - new to me that day. Also had to follow a Lear at Sikorsky Airport with my 152. Made me feel like a real pilot! Have fun, be safe
 
Eric Brunelle said:
Yes - get flight following. On my long XC, I hit some virga- that wispy rain that doesn’t hit the ground - new to me that day. Also had to follow a Lear at Sikorsky Airport with my 152. Made me feel like a real pilot! Have fun, be safe
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To each their own, back when I trained lots of folks most of our planes didn’t have transponders or even VORs, they had a chart and clean windows.

I’d also send them with my GPS in a pouch with strict instructions to only use it if they get REALLY lost, I’d put a hole punch of paper or something in the pouch too so I’d know if it was opened, let’s just say I didn’t need to correct many deficiencies in their nav work.
 
I was going to offer my advice, too but it is too late. You should be down by now.

How did it go? -Skip
 
Skip Miller said:
I was going to offer my advice, too but it is too late. You should be down by now.

How did it go? -Skip
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Where are you at that it’s Sunday night already?
 
Have fun. I just did both solo XC flights last week and had a blast. Yes, I have technology but I used good ol’ pilotage by landmarks and it was easier than I thought it would be. Snacks and water are a good idea as is one last restroom break before you start the engine. If your plane doesn’t have a “both” option for the tanks set a timer to remind you to switch tanks. I run for fun so I used the interval setting on my watch and set it for 30 minutes with a 1 minute rest. That way if I didn’t feel the vibration on my wrist the first time I’d likely feel it 60 seconds later. Speaking of time, pick a good spot or two to do a ground speed check with your E6B, it may not sound exciting but I hear my dpe will expect it on my check ride so I may as well practice in flight so I’m used to the division of attention.
 
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