Completed first solo xc yesterday.

[drotto]

Completed my first solo xc yesterday from Robbinsville (N87) to Millville (MIV), NJ. No issues everything went very smooth, both my landings were good (not great, oh well). My navigation was dead on, but it helps that Cedar Lake VOR basically creates a straight line between the two airports. With that said, I did not need the VOR. Successfully, talked to both McGuire and Atlantic City on my way down. Only small issue was the weather lied. Clouds were supposed to be broken at 5000 and were more like scattered to broken at 2500 to 3000 feet. But on that route, I need to stay below 3000 anyway to stay under the shelf for Philly. I had wanted to be more like 2800, but ended up doing between 2000 and 2500 for my clearances.

Now have a night xc to get done, one more hour of hood work, and then polish things up. CFI also wants me to do an airport tour of central NJ with him, so he can show me all the places that the examiner may take me or divert me too. Hours I am now officially 0.3 short of the 40 hour minimum.

 

[frfly172]

Congrats looks like your having a good time.

 

[Scott@KTYR]

Congrats!!

 

[Hobobiker]

Very cool! Keep up the practice and we'll be reading your checkride write-up in no time...

(and don't forget those clearing turns on the checkride!)

 

[Johnnyt77]

Drotto,
Who you flying with at robbinsville? Looking to start my training back up and was looking at different places. How is it over there? my original cfi is to far away now.

 

[CTLSi]

Completed my first solo xc yesterday from Robbinsville (N87) to Millville (MIV), NJ. No issues everything went very smooth, both my landings were good (not great, oh well). My navigation was dead on, but it helps that Cedar Lake VOR basically creates a straight line between the two airports. With that said, I did not need the VOR. Successfully, talked to both McGuire and Atlantic City on my way down. Only small issue was the weather lied. Clouds were supposed to be broken at 5000 and were more like scattered to broken at 2500 to 3000 feet. But on that route, I need to stay below 3000 anyway to stay under the shelf for Philly. I had wanted to be more like 2800, but ended up doing between 2000 and 2500 for my clearances.

Now have a night xc to get done, one more hour of hood work, and then polish things up. CFI also wants me to do an airport tour of central NJ with him, so he can show me all the places that the examiner may take me or divert me too. Hours I am now officially 0.3 short of the 40 hour minimum.

There is no 40 hour min. There are mins for xcountry, for night and for dual etc. You will need at least 3-hrs for your night xcountry with 10 full stop landings. And you will do two more hours for the other stuff you mentioned. If you are smart, you will brush up flying solo takeoffs, landings, and steep turns before you take the checkride, adding another few hours.

 

[jordane93]

There is no 40 hour min. There are mins for xcountry, for night and for dual etc. You will need at least 3-hrs for your night xcountry with 10 full stop landings. And you will do two more hours for the other stuff you mentioned. If you are smart, you will brush up flying solo takeoffs, landings, and steep turns before you take the checkride, adding another few hours.

I'm pretty sure he is talking about the minimum 40 hours required for the PP test.

 

[drotto]

Drotto,
Who you flying with at robbinsville? Looking to start my training back up and was looking at different places. How is it over there? my original cfi is to far away now.

Air Mods is out of Robbinsville. Very nice people, prices are competitive or even a little lower than average for the area. Most of the CFIs seem good, I like the two that I have used so far (one moved on as is common). They fly mainly older Pipers (Warriors and Archers), but do have a Mooney, Senica, Aztec, and a few other planes. Nothing flashy and they are a little old school in some respects. A few of the planes have actually gotten new interiors in the past year and are really nice on the inside. They are very flexible and somewhat on the informal side. They will work with your schedule, which is good for the recreation crowd. They do allow block payments which gives you some additional discounts on prices. It is an uncontrolled airport which is a minus to learning the radio, but a plus for pattern work and getting more reps in in a short period.

As for the 40 hours, yes I meant the minimum hours to get a PPL, not the various minimums for the different "types" of flying. I also have my long xc to do a dry run on and then to solo it. I fully plan on doing solo work for the various maneuvers, as well as flying with a different CFI once or twice before my check ride.

 

[dcotton]

Congratulations!!

 

[dukeblue219]

There is no 40 hour min.

What? 61.109:
(a) For an airplane single-engine rating. Except as provided in paragraph (k) of this section, a person who applies for a private pilot certificate with an airplane category and single-engine class rating must log at least 40 hours of flight time

You will need at least 3-hrs for your night xcountry with 10 full stop landings.

Sort of. You need 3 hours of night. You need a night cross-country of at least 100 miles total distance. You need 10 full stop TO/Landings. I didn't want anyone confused into think you need a 3 hour night XC.