Cross-country frustrations

the inference is there are people who only talk about flying, and people who fly. Talking about it isn’t the same as doing it.
It wasn’t an inference, it was a statement, and one that doesn’t make any sense.
 
Honestly, my biggest concern on my cross country wasn't the mileage but insuring I could find the destination airports. The VOR was to be used as a backup for pilotage and your calculation of the wind correction angle.
Yeah it’s funny, it was the same for me and were only talking 10-11 years ago.
 
Honestly, my biggest concern on my cross country wasn't the mileage but insuring I could find the destination airports. The VOR was to be used as a backup for pilotage and your calculation of the wind correction angle.

Pilotage and dead reckoning worked out for me because my CFI drilled it into my head. I made it within 5 nm of the destination airport and then they started vectoring me to the right due to too much traffic in the pattern. Felt like forever. Finally, tower says turn towards the airport and I don't know where it is. I start turning left towards where I think it should be ... keep turning and then finally relief when I spot it. Didn't use foreflight or else that whole scenario would have been a lot easier.
 
This thread has resulted in interesting visits to my first log book.

PPL solo cross country built up fast. Times are decimal tachometer times. 1960 Cessna with a fresh engine, cruised at 95 Knots.
1.0 tt
2.3 tt
3.3 tt
2.7 tt
9.3 Total time on cross country, solo.

No airport visited twice. Control tower airports avoided, as the Omnigator had only 3 crystals.
Solid state Nav Com installed shortly before the check ride, which made using the VOR navigation more accessible. The requisite flight into a control tower airport was much easier with digital selection of comm. frequencies.

The University of Virginia runway was hard to find, as it was simply a large lawn, no airplanes on site at Monticello. I walked up to the mansion to get someone to sign my logbook to confirm that I had landed there.

All but my first cross country went further than 100 NM from College Park, and included Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware.

The popular long cross country from KCGS was Ocean City. My instructor did not like it, as he said it allowed really sloppy navigation, just fly on an approximate heading until you came to the ocean, and if there is a coastal highway, turn south. Just dunes, turn north. At the city of Ocean City, look SW, and there is the airport.
 
Experiencing different FBOs, knowing how to use the different kinds of terminals at the self-serve fuel pumps, learning how to properly secure the plane in different weather conditions - all the things you can learn on long cross-country flights.
THIS! These things aren't found in handbooks nor are they often taught in primary training. The longer cross-country trips are good times to explore the aircraft's systems and avionics as well. I read up and played with a Garmin 430 simulator, but exploring it on long cross countries is where I understood it. Same for the crusty KAP140.
 
Pilotage and dead reckoning worked out for me because my CFI drilled it into my head. I made it within 5 nm of the destination airport and then they started vectoring me to the right due to too much traffic in the pattern. Felt like forever. Finally, tower says turn towards the airport and I don't know where it is. I start turning left towards where I think it should be ... keep turning and then finally relief when I spot it. Didn't use foreflight or else that whole scenario would have been a lot easier.

Remember, it's always ok to say "I lost the airport, could you give me a vector. "
 
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