First XC solo done (finally)

[GauzeGuy]

After all my complaining in the other thread I was able to do a short XC today. Didn't make my original trip, but did KAPA to KLIC.

Just a few thoughts.

1. The briefing? 9000 winds aloft light and variable. Like hell they were!

2. After getting settled down and trimmed for cruise, I regained my bearings and things went well on the way out. Times were way off of course since I was being shoved out there.

3. 4700 x 60 looks a heck of a lot smaller than the 7000x75 to 10000x150 runways I usually land on.

4. Its so much easier when someone else takes care of the fueling. Felt like it took forever to figure that out.

The way back wasn't so great.

The landmarks back aren't so great to begin with, my first checkpoint back in fact was based on VOR triangulation. That didn't quite work out. I was a ways away from either VOR, and of course the cruddy navs on the aircraft were picking up little to nothing. The road -- I wasn't quite flying IFR (I follow roads) -- but that fact that it disappeared at an unknown time was disconcerting.

Anyway, I continued on a general west heading, figuring that at some point I'd run across something I could use for pilotage. Seeing Denver in the distance, I knew that I was creeping up on the bravo shelf quickly, so I had to descend to under 8000 as I wasn't sure of my exact location. No sense in getting a number to call when I did land...

I ran across a major road, which really helped, then finally got close enough to Falcon VOR (the navaids in this plane suck, but there is a working VOR/DME), and then figured out the from radial and DME, which I then figured on the chart where I was. Problem solved.

Anyway, I feel as though both this solo and all the dual XC flights I've done, the dead reckoning aspect has been useless. The winds never seem to be as advertised, the times are always off. It seems like I read quite a few student pilots saying theirs are dead on. Not sure what to make of that -- am I the one who's off here, or is it just the nature of the beast?

Secondly, I'm still feeling quite a bit behind where I should be. Sure, I'm better, but it feels like the time absolutely flies (no pun intended). I was going to get a flight plan going and get flight following with Denver Approach. I was so busy addressing the basics, like "where am I" and "what I do need to do when I get there" that much else fell by the wayside.

Any suggestions on these? I realize that everyone starts from somewhere, but since I have most of the hours I need now, my checkride isn't far off and I need to get better if I'm going to get signed off for it.

 

[EppyGA]

Great job and good learning experience. Staying ahead of things will come with time. Winds aloft forecasts are notoriously bad. On the way out it would have been good to spin the E6B a couple of times to see what the winds were actually.

You'll figure out when you can slip in opening a flight plan or picking up flight following. It all takes time.

 

[HighFlyingA380]

Congrats! Sounds like your first solo xc went far better than mine. Without getting into much detain, airport closures and mechanical issues turned a roughly 2 hour planned trip into almost 8 hours. But I digress...

Yeah, don't trust winds aloft reports for much more than very basic flight planning. Once you get settled in for cruise, whip out your calculator and re-calculate your waypoint times, ETE, ETA, ground speed, and fuel required. They'll be looking for you to do that on your checkride in the first few waypoints.

4,700' X 65'?!? Wait 'till you set her down on some sloped grass 1,000' X 15'ers. (If that type of flying interests you.) Fun, but intimidating at first.

I too, was spoiled for years with not having to fill up. Actually, my first time self-fueling was about 4 months ago, and I have been flying for years. Just my luck, the fuel hose reel got jammed up, and wouldn't let out more than a few ft. of hose. Had to put 10 gallons in each tank using a Gatorade bottle. Took a while.

Some teach and learn in different ways, but I generally avoid VOR triangulation for primary checkpoints. It's great to use to double-check your progress, but not for a primary. But to each his own; whatever works for you.

Good call on descending knowing you were approaching the Bravo. Often with check-rides, they're not always looking to see if you do everything perfect, but rather how you handle those less-than-perfect situations. You showed great ADM in that situation. Bravo! (Get it? :wink2

Your instructor obviously didn't think you were behind where you should be, otherwise he wouldn't have signed you off. Don't worry, the first solo xc is always a humbling experience. (Hey, at least you didn't smack an SUV on landing. Sorry, too soon? )

 

[denverpilot]

The problem with KAPA-KLIC is that...

A) It's a relatively short leg. At 130 knots in my airplane, it's only 26 minutes. On a really long XC that might be just fine as a whole leg and a single checkpoint with some looks around to see if we're generally on course and in the right place.

B) Landmarks on a direct course line are wimpy along there.

- Everitt Field (a very nice little airport to visit with permission by the way) is easy to spot. That's a good one along the course line. (Note also that it's on a direct line south of Aurora Reservoir, making it easy on most of our excellent visibility days to see if you've already passed it.)

- Chaparral is a little harder to spot, but I'd be surprised if you haven't seen it. CFIs love to get students out near it and pointed away from it and then pull the engine and see if they know there's a private airport right behind them. (Grin.)

- Coming up on I-70 itself is a good checkpoint. It's impossible to miss even if you are north or south of intended course by then. Not a whole lot of time left before landing in LIC at that point.

Of course, as you know but I'll explain for those playing along, the charted Byers VOR has been down for at least three chart cycles or more. I have no idea why it's even on the chart still. (Unless its been fixed by now... I'm not going to go look at NOTAMs...)

Alternate longer route and a good way to get "unlost" out there... The road out of Elizabeth goes to Limon. Hard to mess that up.

Pick some crossing things for timing. Can see Castle Rock outbound and in, and then Elizabeth outbound. Inbound, Castle Rock puts you on a ten mile "final" for 35R.

Of course, everyone IFR on a Visual approach is also going to be there over CASSE, so keep eyes peeled. The ILS starts up at 9000 but comes down from there, so eyeballs out. People practicing are out there VFR too.

30 minutes for the whole flight keeps you pretty busy. It's not very far. Pick something on the horizon on course and hold it and its pretty hard to miss Limon. Especially with the big bend in I-70 showing the way.

Head on out I-70 to Goodland, KS KGLD sometime. That's a better "long" XC and probably gives a better feel for a typical longer trip than KLIC.

 

[murphey]

Byers has been decomissioned, don't understand why it's still on all the charts (including WingX and ForeFlight...)

While still in learning mode it never hurts to call for flight following and explain you're a student pilot. You'd be surprised how much help you'll get, perhaps even cleared into Class B. They'll even ask you about the route you're taking (hint hint - you're not going where you think you're going and they can see it on the radar)

If worse comes to worse, follow I-70 to E-470 (the joy of an airplane - no need to pay for the toll road) which takes you right to Aurora Res, which is a reporting point for the approach to 28.

There's always the golf balls at Buckley AFB. The controllers there are really helpful - gives them something to do since they don't have that much flight traffic. Ad the golf balls are a great navigational aid.

The more you fly with a map in hand, the more you'll be able to follow along and realize things on the map are really out there on the ground. It's just amazing how good those maps are. (*grins*)

 

[Z06_Mir]

Congrats! My first solo XC was pretty good, my second though... not so much. I mean it wasn't bad, but like you I had a few issues with timing, checkpoints and not being completely sure of my location. Add in an airmet Tango and I had quite a ride. A solo XC doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to be safe and a good learning experience. I can safely say I learned much more in my solo XC's than I did on my first and second solo flights. There is a reason they send you solo before you get a license. Congrats again, it's so rewarding to go somewhere all by yourself in an airplane!


PS. My school didn't teach anything about fueling or going to FBOs either. I worked the line for many years though, so I wouldn't have learned much anyway... but I've always wondered how people who've never done it do on their first flight to an FBO where they need fuel.

 

[jspilot]

Secondly, I'm still feeling quite a bit behind where I should be. Sure, I'm better, but it feels like the time absolutely flies (no pun intended). I was going to get a flight plan going and get flight following with Denver Approach. I was so busy addressing the basics, like "where am I" and "what I do need to do when I get there" that much else fell by the wayside.

Any suggestions on these? I realize that everyone starts from somewhere, but since I have most of the hours I need now, my checkride isn't far off and I need to get better if I'm going to get signed off for it.

I'll offer up a suggestion that may help with knowing where you are and the like. Ask for flight following as soon as possible after takeoff. You can even ask for flight following before takeoff at class delta airports. I fly in heavily congested airspace and always fly with flight following because it is just safer. If you call for flight following after take off, ATC will give you a position report based on where they are picking up your signal from. That would have helped with your workload because you could have had their help in figuring out where you were. Also, with the bravo airspace you certainly would get a call from ATC if you were about to fly through that if you were using Flight following. I'd really strongly encourage giving it a shot next XC. You may find it makes some of the workload a little easier.

 

[GauzeGuy]

Congrats! Sounds like your first solo xc went far better than mine. Without getting into much detain, airport closures and mechanical issues turned a roughly 2 hour planned trip into almost 8 hours. But I digress...

Thanks! Doesn't sounds like fun at all. Even though the aircraft I fly aren't perfect at all, I've been lucky to have caught anything of significance during the preflight (aside from a low voltage indicator when in the pattern).

Yeah, don't trust winds aloft reports for much more than very basic flight planning. Once you get settled in for cruise, whip out your calculator and re-calculate your waypoint times, ETE, ETA, ground speed, and fuel required. They'll be looking for you to do that on your checkride in the first few waypoints.

That is something I really haven't gotten into at all. Maybe I should hop in the sim for a bit and practice getting calculations done quickly so I have that additional information.

Some teach and learn in different ways, but I generally avoid VOR triangulation for primary checkpoints. It's great to use to double-check your progress, but not for a primary. But to each his own; whatever works for you.

I think DenverPilot mentioned this in a later post, but the area where I was passing through has few to no landmarks available, so largely it will be based on a VOR triangulation and time. Otherwise, I tried to use pilotage as much as possible with using the VOR/DME when able to verify location.

Your instructor obviously didn't think you were behind where you should be, otherwise he wouldn't have signed you off. Don't worry, the first solo xc is always a humbling experience. (Hey, at least you didn't smack an SUV on landing. Sorry, too soon? )

I didn't so much mean being behind in the training process, but more of a sense of being behind the aircraft / flight. Well, getting there -- just have a few things to iron out. Doing a long XC on Sunday so will have additional practice soon!

 

[GauzeGuy]

While still in learning mode it never hurts to call for flight following and explain you're a student pilot. You'd be surprised how much help you'll get, perhaps even cleared into Class B. They'll even ask you about the route you're taking (hint hint - you're not going where you think you're going and they can see it on the radar)

Gotcha. I'll have to bump that up a bit on the list of priorities then.

If worse comes to worse, follow I-70 to E-470 (the joy of an airplane - no need to pay for the toll road) which takes you right to Aurora Res, which is a reporting point for the approach to 28.

There's always the golf balls at Buckley AFB. The controllers there are really helpful - gives them something to do since they don't have that much flight traffic. Ad the golf balls are a great navigational aid.

I've used those before as well, most commonly when coming back from KFTG. Aurora res is great for getting 28 or a left base for 17L.

The more you fly with a map in hand, the more you'll be able to follow along and realize things on the map are really out there on the ground. It's just amazing how good those maps are. (*grins*)

I generally do that; only issue being in an area like where I was (between Kiowa and KLIC) there are few landmarks to work with. The other thing that happened (I think) was that I was deal with changing / looking up frequencies and managed to miss a landmark. So my scan needs to improve as well.

Going in to KLIC isn't bad since there are converging points with the roads and railroad tracks that leads right to the town, and of course all those windmills. Back the other way (back to KAPA) was more the issue.

I did know my general location -- once I hit the ridge just east of Kiowa, I know I could fly south and hit the road and railroad tracks that lead southwest to KFLY or I could fly north and I'd run into I70 and Byers / Strasburg. As it turned out, I was just a bit north of my intended path, hence the reason I missed the watertower at Kiowa.

 

[EppyGA]

Sometimes it pays to look at your route in Google Earth and see what kind of landmarks might be available for your route before you get in the air.

 

[GauzeGuy]

Sometimes it pays to look at your route in Google Earth and see what kind of landmarks might be available for your route before you get in the air.

Good idea. Hadn't thought of that.

Also, I just remembered that KDEN has a website to track noise complaints -- point being, it provides radar tracks for flights in the terminal area. I was able to find my flight back, of course it didn't track me from the runway but once I was at altitude it picked me up.

I found that I was only a couple miles off track, I just missed some of the key terrain features, that would have helped me to pinpoint my location. So, good to know that I wasn't off really, just have to maintain a better scan to maintain situational awareness.

 

[N801BH]

Congrats on a safe X/C..... You learned alot and can build on those experiences..

 

[MAKG1]

Stuff happens on solo cross country. I witnessed a precautionary landing (not mine) due to engine trouble, at an airport used as an intermediate checkpoint.

You got lost and un-lost. That ought to really help the confidence. Your experience, BTW, is very similar to mine. I had to learn what makes a good checkpoint and what doesn't, as well. I learned that a mountain peak in a range is a bad choice unless there is something on it to make it stand out (like a building or a set of radio towers). I also missed a checkpoint because of that, and had to reorient myself.

There is no question that airborne multitasking takes some getting used to. While you can tell any ATC you're a student pilot (and the AIM even suggests you do so routinely), I'd suggest doing that only if you feel you need the extra help.

Light and variable isn't the only way the winds are wrong. But you do have it worse because of the high mountains. You will get turbulence below the ridgeline, even in modest wind. And it's a high ridge.

Much of this is the point of the exercise. Now, you're a real pilot.

 

[HighFlyingA380]

There is no question that airborne multitasking takes some getting used to. While you can tell any ATC you're a student pilot (and the AIM even suggests you do so routinely), I'd suggest doing that only if you feel you need the extra help.

That's a great point. I know here, the instructors strongly encourage anyone per-private to tell them they're a student pilot at every new freq. change. I personally think it should only be used wen you need a little extra help. First, challenge yourself a bit without it, but not to the point you develop a dangerous situation. That's the best way to learn; make some mistakes, and figure out how to fix them.

 

[marcoseddi]

Congrats

 

[gallbladder]

You have made an excellent accomplishment, congratulation on your first of many X/C flights. We all know it is a different experience when you solo, but the first X/C there is nothing like it. Keep flying!

 

[Shepherd]

Two thumbs up.

Shep