Long Solo XC Done!

SkyChaser

Pattern Altitude
Joined
Mar 22, 2020
Messages
1,971
Display Name

Display name:
SkyChaser
I got to take my long solo cross-country today! 2.4 hours, 156 NM, and two new airports. There was an overcast layer way up high (which dropped to about 9000' by the time I was on my way home, but still up there) and the air was so smooth - one of the only great parts about cold-weather flying is how smooth the air is. Preflighting when it's 21* F is not fun, but still absolutely worth it!

IMG_20201024_111931222.jpg

Almost across the lake - my first airport. I didn't get many pictures of this one. I notice that the longer I fly in a flight, the more comfortable I am taking pictures, so the last half of the trip always has better photographs! :) This one, I landed on the grass runway - my shortest runway yet. It was only 1,976' long, so I did a soft and short field landing and take off! After a quick stop to plan the next leg, I was off again. The ceilings were supposed to start dropping later in the afternoon, and I really didn't want to get caught if they started dropping early, so I was trying to be as efficient as possible. The landing was awesome. I used way less than half the runway, and it was pretty textbook. The takeoff not so much. LOL The grass had several interesting bumps that I'd managed to somehow avoid on the landing but not on the takeoff. I let it distract me way too much, and I started climbing out at normal pitch angle, forgetting that I was doing a short/soft field takeoff and thus was at a way slower airspeed...yeah, I caught that just in time. Shove the nose over, baby! That was really freaky, especially taking off of the short runway, without a lot of good options straight ahead. I am pretty sure I will never do that again any time soon! I got myself "reset", and climbed out at the proper airspeed. After I'd leveled off at my cruising altitude, I realized that my near-stall on takeoff had freaked me out so much I'd completely forgot to raise the flap notch I'd put in for the takeoff. Thankfully, that was the last stupid thing I did on this trip.
IMG_20201024_131126357.jpg

En route to the next stop. Interesting propeller effect in this one! I spent a lot of time admiring the patchwork of grays, browns and golds - there's supposed to be 3-6" of snow in the next few days, so it's a limited time only view! LOL
IMG_20201024_115819999.jpg

At the second airport, I landed on an asphalt runway almost twice as long as my home runway, so that was an easy landing. Then taxi to the FBO at the second airport for a bathroom break and flight planning. 444 has rabbit ears! :D At this airport, I got marshalled in to a parking spot right in front of the FBO. Since it was so cold, I opted to let the line guy fill the plane up and went inside the warm FBO.
IMG_20201024_120845079_HDR.jpg

It was a super nice FBO, and had the most awesome recliners in the pilot's lounge...I almost decided to take a quick nap, but thought that sleeping defeated the purpose of being efficient. It was tempting, though! I did my planning, paid for my gas, and then headed towards home. Takeoff was absolutely flawless, which was nice for my self-confidence after the last one.
IMG_20201024_131146039.jpg

I was cruising back at 4,500', and I could see wispy clouds starting to form far beneath me. I was very glad that I had been in a hurry, because I didn't want to be up in the air when those clouds thickened up. I made it back fine, though, with a nice landing on the grass. Once I got back, there was no line guy to fill the tanks for me, so I had to do it. It was cold. LOL I fired 'er up and took 'er back to the hangar.
IMG_20201024_135354820.jpg

At the home drome! I got 'er in there! It's an adventure pushing the plane back into the hangar by myself. I'm not strong enough to push back with my hand on the towbar, so I have to position the nosewheel and then push on the wing until the nosewheel straightens out...lather, rinse, repeat. It takes a while, but it always feels like such an accomplishment when the plane's back inside. :)

I was so much more comfortable flying into new airports this time around, which was a nice surprise! Unfortunately, even though I tried to pick the busier airports, nobody was around. LOL At the first airport, it got busy after I left - there were at least three planes in the pattern together less than ten minutes after I'd left. It sounded like a very interesting situation, as two out of three didn't know where the other planes were. Just hearing that made my stomach hurt and I was really glad I wasn't there at the time.

I am totally wiped out again, but it was a nice way to end a pretty difficult week. It definitely wasn't a perfect flight, and there's lots that I learned (like, don't let yourself get distracted on takeoff for any reason!!! I still can't believe I did that. That was so close to a bad ending. I try so hard to stay away from those!), but it was overall a pretty decent flight. I still have .6 of an hour left of solo cross country, but then I only have to take my night flight and do checkride prep. It'll be weird to fly with my instructor again. It's been a month since I've flown with her!
 
I wouldn’t equate cold WX flying with smooth air....I think the ovc is what kept it smooth. Just forewarning you ;). But congrats.
 
Now, wasn't that fun? In the future, post PPL, you can do this to travel somewhere, not just for flying sake.
 
Fine cross country, well done. As eman mentioned, the overcast was the source of the smooth air, happens in summer or winter. High overcast is my favorite sky condition. Smooth, and no sun glare.

The stall warning horn would have sounded if you had been too slow, but you should see that it never goes off when climbing out from the airport. Nice catch, noticing before the technology warned you. That will keep you safe when the technology fails.
 
Fine cross country, well done. As eman mentioned, the overcast was the source of the smooth air, happens in summer or winter. High overcast is my favorite sky condition. Smooth, and no sun glare.

The stall warning horn would have sounded if you had been too slow, but you should see that it never goes off when climbing out from the airport. Nice catch, noticing before the technology warned you. That will keep you safe when the technology fails.

High overcasts almost never happen in summer around here, so we call that "winter weather". LOL

I know I was going too slow - the airspeed indicator was somewhere in the 60s, and I was supposed to be climbing out at 74. The Archer I fly doesn't have a stall horn - it has a light, though, and as I was starting to push the nose over, it started the pre-stall flicker. That scared me silly. LOL I prefer stalling on purpose with lots of altitude beneath me!
 
Firstly, congratulations on your long solo XC. Nice write up.

One item did catch my eye. I do not know how far you were from land, possibly behind you, in that first photo. But in the direction of the photo, does not appear to be within gliding range of land.
 
Good job.
A tip for pushing the airplane into the hangar by yourself........place your shoulder on the prop close to the spinner, while still steering with the tow bar, and use your legs and shoulder to push the airplane.
 
Firstly, congratulations on your long solo XC. Nice write up.

One item did catch my eye. I do not know how far you were from land, possibly behind you, in that first photo. But in the direction of the photo, does not appear to be within gliding range of land.

I think I was just past the shoreline in the picture - it's actually a pretty small lake, though it looks huge in the picture for sure!

Good job.
A tip for pushing the airplane into the hangar by yourself........place your shoulder on the prop close to the spinner, while still steering with the tow bar, and use your legs and shoulder to push the airplane.

That'd be a good idea, if I was tall enough for my shoulder to reach the spinner with my hand on the towbar! :D Thanks for the idea, though!
 
Ditto what the others have stated - Congrats on your long XC! That looks like a memorable trip... and GREAT use of aeronautical decision making to have the line guy fuel up your plane while in the FBO. :p;) Looking forward to reading about your checkride and certificate! :)
 
The great thing about your first solo XC is it is the first time you use the plane to actually *go* somewhere. It’s a great foreshadowing of adventures to come. Cherish it!

Keep us apprised of your progress!
 
The great thing about your first solo XC is it is the first time you use the plane to actually *go* somewhere. It’s a great foreshadowing of adventures to come. Cherish it!


^This !

Lots of people talk about the first solo, but to me the big point was my first solo XC. That's when I really felt like a pilot. I flew somewhere else, two other airports on my first solo XC, and then continued on and flew back to the home airport.
 
Very nice and great job! I am just about to start the XC lessons and the thought of a solo XC makes me extremely nervous for some reason.
 
Very nice and great job! I am just about to start the XC lessons and the thought of a solo XC makes me extremely nervous for some reason.


Why? When I did my first solo XC, we didn't have GPS, or Loran for that matter. We actually had to figure the compass/heading deviation, wind triangle, speed, etc.........on paper. THEN, fly it with a paper sectional.
You people these days have it WAY WAY WAY too easy!! :)...........But I sure do like it better now.
 
Why? When I did my first solo XC, we didn't have GPS, or Loran for that matter. We actually had to figure the compass/heading deviation, wind triangle, speed, etc.........on paper. THEN, fly it with a paper sectional.
You people these days have it WAY WAY WAY too easy!! :)...........But I sure do like it better now.

I guess just all of the things I don't know yet (haven't started XC lessons yet). My instructor is not allowing GPS for XC lessons.
 
I guess just all of the things I don't know yet (haven't started XC lessons yet). My instructor is not allowing GPS for XC lessons.

Don't worry about what you don't know. You'll learn it before you need it. :) After a while, it's super quick and easy to plot the course, fill out the log and do the calculations. I do it the old-fashioned way (with a manual E6B!) even though my instructor allows and actually encourages me to use the GPS, etc. I find it easier to fly along the course I plotted on my sectional, and would happily skip the GPS altogether. LOL

Solo XC is fun - it is a lot of work, but it's awesome when you land at another airport and realize you got there all by yourself! I did get a little nervous before both of the solo XCs I've done, which was funny since I was barely nervous at all before my solo. There's a lot to think about, but your instructor wouldn't let you go unless there was a good reason to think you could make it. Sometimes, you just have to trust their judgment!
 
Don't worry about what you don't know. You'll learn it before you need it. :) After a while, it's super quick and easy to plot the course, fill out the log and do the calculations. I do it the old-fashioned way (with a manual E6B!) even though my instructor allows and actually encourages me to use the GPS, etc. I find it easier to fly along the course I plotted on my sectional, and would happily skip the GPS altogether. LOL

Solo XC is fun - it is a lot of work, but it's awesome when you land at another airport and realize you got there all by yourself! I did get a little nervous before both of the solo XCs I've done, which was funny since I was barely nervous at all before my solo. There's a lot to think about, but your instructor wouldn't let you go unless there was a good reason to think you could make it. Sometimes, you just have to trust their judgment!


I dunno......My brother and I flew his RV9A from Oklahoma City out to Pocatello, ID a couple of weeks ago to buy a Rans S6S. He flew his RV home, and I flew the S6S home. I don't think I would have been as eager to do that without the GPS...........I'd have probably had to work a LOT harder. Although, I did have my paper sectionals too, and followed along on them where I was all the time just in case the GPS decided to go TU.:)
Where do you fly out of? That ground/landscape looks as flat as ours.
 
I dunno......My brother and I flew his RV9A from Oklahoma City out to Pocatello, ID a couple of weeks ago to buy a Rans S6S. He flew his RV home, and I flew the S6S home. I don't think I would have been as eager to do that without the GPS...........I'd have probably had to work a LOT harder. Although, I did have my paper sectionals too, and followed along on them where I was all the time just in case the GPS decided to go TU.:)
Where do you fly out of? That ground/landscape looks as flat as ours.

I'm getting better/more comfortable with the GPS. It's just a lot easier to figure out how a sectional works and a lot harder to screw it up somehow. LOL

I fly out of a little airport in northwestern IA. It's very flat for sure!
 
My first cross country airplane had a compass, DG and VOR. I got off course, got nervous, so I got on the radio and called for help. The controller was great, had me squawk a code, gave me a vector to the airport, wished me well when I told him I had it in sight. Only the military had gps then. Never got lost again. Just don't get rattled and remember help is a radio call away.
 
Back
Top