My final solo XC over the White Mountains (video)

Mafoo

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Mafoo
Well, I did my final solo over the weekend. I am just getting around to pulling a short video of the second leg off my iPhone. Days like this, is when I really enjoy flying!


The flight was direct between KCDA and KIZG @5500 feet. The snow covered mountain at the end of the video, is Mt Washington.

It was an awesome experience :). The video does not do it justice! (as I am sure all of you know)
 
Well, I did my final solo over the weekend. I am just getting around to pulling a short video of the second leg off my iPhone. Days like this, is when I really enjoy flying!


The flight was direct between KCDA and KIZG @5500 feet. The snow covered mountain at the end of the video, is Mt Washington.

It was an awesome experience :). The video does not do it justice! (as I am sure all of you know)


Wow, that looked really beautiful! I so wish you had the entire flight recorded... all right so you're getting very close to getting all your required hours done?
 
Wow, that looked really beautiful! I so wish you had the entire flight recorded... all right so you're getting very close to getting all your required hours done?

I only have 26.4 at the moment. I still need a little hood time (only have 1.7), and I have none of my night time stuff. I am under the impression that's all done with a CFI, right?

Then we prep for the checkride. That will leave me with a few more hours I think to get to 40, so I am going to use those hours to work on my HP and complex endorsements.

Sorry I didn't film it all. I didn't even think to film that part, until it looked way to awesome not to film for at least a few seconds with my iPhone.

I should get a go-pro or something.
 
how did you keep from getting lost while using your iphone for video instead of nav? :tinfoil:

just joking of course :D

nice vid, that is beautiful country you are flying over! i think im going to invest in a contour next spring
 
I only have 26.4 at the moment. I still need a little hood time (only have 1.7), and I have none of my night time stuff. I am under the impression that's all done with a CFI, right?
Yeah, hood and night will be done with your CFI.:yes:

I'm almost done, only have unusual attatudes left, and then checkride prep.
 
I did a solo XC to KIZG when I was a student pilot. Did you stop there or just touch and go? A wonderful and friendly airport - I flew in on a day that had high clouds and light rain showers on and off. I landed then parked and had a conversation with the folks at the FBO there (Western Maine Aviation). The owner Mary who is a DPE was having tea out on the porch of the FBO when I arrived and we chatted about flight training. I've been meaning to go back.
 
I did a solo XC to KIZG when I was a student pilot. Did you stop there or just touch and go? A wonderful and friendly airport - I flew in on a day that had high clouds and light rain showers on and off. I landed then parked and had a conversation with the folks at the FBO there (Western Maine Aviation). The owner Mary who is a DPE was having tea out on the porch of the FBO when I arrived and we chatted about flight training. I've been meaning to go back.

No. I have yet to stop at any airport I fly into. My CFI won't let me shut down the plane away from home base. Worried it won't start back up, and he will have to come get me.

So I just landed, taxied, and took off. I would have liked to have stopped, and checked the place out.

Flying over the whites is something my wife is going to want to do, so we might make another flight there.
 
No. I have yet to stop at any airport I fly into. My CFI won't let me shut down the plane away from home base. Worried it won't start back up, and he will have to come get me.

Interesting. Does this plane have starter issues? My CFI insisted that I get fuel at least once on every XC to ensure it was never an issue and to get familiarity with fueling procedures. But, I trained at a towered airport with full service gas, so I wasn't really getting that experience on normal flights. I imagine that if you train at a smaller field with self-service pumps that you are probably already used to fueling a plane.
 
Interesting. Does this plane have starter issues? My CFI insisted that I get fuel at least once on every XC to ensure it was never an issue and to get familiarity with fueling procedures. But, I trained at a towered airport with full service gas, so I wasn't really getting that experience on normal flights. I imagine that if you train at a smaller field with self-service pumps that you are probably already used to fueling a plane.

No, we have fuel service here. They just drive the truck up, and fill it up for me. (KLEB is my home base)

It's a very small school, and they only have one plane local at the moment. So if it won't start, there is no good way to come help me.

The plane just had a new starter put in it, so yea. It had a starter problem, but has been fixed.

The rest of my training (outside of the checkride) will be in my own plane, so I can stop anywhere I like :). However, I doubt I will be flying solo in it before I get my PPL.
 
It's a very small school, and they only have one plane local at the moment. So if it won't start, there is no good way to come help me.

The plane just had a new starter put in it, so yea. It had a starter problem, but has been fixed.

Gotcha.
 
Any particular reason you are doing these last? (I wouldnt know havent started SEL training yet)
It was just the way we made our way through the training: pre-solo requirements -> solo flight -> cross countries -> night & hood -> now we're wrapping everything up and polishing my skills (different takeoffs/landings, revisiting stalls and steep turns and all those pre-solo requirements).
 
Well, I did my final solo over the weekend. I am just getting around to pulling a short video of the second leg off my iPhone. Days like this, is when I really enjoy flying!


The flight was direct between KCDA and KIZG @5500 feet. The snow covered mountain at the end of the video, is Mt Washington.

It was an awesome experience :). The video does not do it justice! (as I am sure all of you know)

That terrain looks familiar!

I love flying to Fryeburg (IZG).

Edit: Very friendly folks at Fryeburg. I took a Grumman Tiger there for the mechanic (Ben) to do a pre-buy for my boss a few months back. I was stuck there all day, so Ben took me with him into town for lunch.

edit again: Gosh...I think it was Ben :confused:
 
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Any turbulence over Mt Washington? Went up there once as a kid. Windy. Good memories of living in N.H. Wouldn't mind retiring in that area.
 
Any turbulence over Mt Washington? Went up there once as a kid. Windy. Good memories of living in N.H. Wouldn't mind retiring in that area.

No, it was a pretty nice flight all the way around. earlier in the morning I flew south to KORE, and that one was a little bumpy.

Over the whites was by far my favorite flight to date. :)
 
They do hood even with VFR?

Yep.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilot_certification_in_the_United_States


Private pilot
The private pilot certificate is the certificate held by the majority of active pilots. It allows command of any aircraft (subject to appropriate ratings) for any non-commercial purpose, and gives almost unlimited authority to fly under visual flight rules (VFR). Passengers may be carried and flight in furtherance of a business is permitted; however, a private pilot may not be compensated in any way for services as a pilot, although passengers can pay a pro rata share of flight expenses, such as fuel or rental costs. Private pilots may also operate charity flights, subject to certain restrictions, and may participate in similar activities, such as Angel Flight, Civil Air Patrol and many others.
The requirements to obtain a private pilot certificate for "airplane, single-engine, land", or ASEL, (which is the most common certificate) are:[15]
Be at least 17 years old (16 years old for glider or balloon rating)
Be able to read, speak, write and understand the English language
Obtain at least a third class medical certificate from an Aviation Medical Examiner (except for glider or balloon)
Pass a computerized aeronautical knowledge test
Accumulate and log a specified amount of training and experience, including the following:
If training under Part 61, Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) section 61.109, requires at least 40 hours of flight time, including 20 hours of flight with an instructor and 10 hours of solo flight (i.e., by yourself), and other requirements including cross-country flight, which include
Solo requirements:
5 hours of solo cross-country time
One solo cross-country flight of at least 150 nmi (280 km) total distance, with full-stop landings at a minimum of three points and with one segment of the flight consisting of a straight-line distance of at least 50 nmi (93 km) between the takeoff and landing locations
Three solo takeoffs and landings to a full stop at an airport with an operating control tower.
Night requirements:
3 hours of night flight training
One cross-country flight of over 100 nautical miles (190 km) total distance
10 takeoffs and 10 landings to a full stop (with each landing involving a flight in the traffic pattern) at an airport
3 hours of flight training on the control and maneuvering solely by reference to instruments
3 hours of flight training for cross country flights
If training under Part 141, at least 35 hours of piloting time including 20 hours with an instructor and 5 hours of solo flight, and other requirements including cross-country and night flights
Pass an oral test and flight test administered by an FAA inspector, FAA-designated examiner, or authorized check instructor (Part 141 only)
 
Yes, I know under part 141 you are required to complete 3 hours of simulated instrument time.

It's the same requirement in Part 61.

I thought hood training, particularly unsual attitude recovery, was a lot of fun, as was night flying.

Typically, night flying is done in two shots -- one for 8 takeoffs and landings, and one for the night cross country (plus two more takeoffs and landings).
 
It's the same requirement in Part 61.

I thought hood training, particularly unsual attitude recovery, was a lot of fun, as was night flying.

Typically, night flying is done in two shots -- one for 8 takeoffs and landings, and one for the night cross country (plus two more takeoffs and landings).

Really? I still shiver remembering my hood time. First time I put the damn thing on, I thought I am going nuts. My butt telling me that I am turning, and attitude indicator telling me that I am not. What do I believe? My butt of course! After that was straightened out, I was asked to identify VOR radial. I kept losing it. Only then my CFI pointed out that I've been flying in circles while attempting to catch the VOR. Worked it out later, but still, it was interesting.
 
It's the same requirement in Part 61.

I thought hood training, particularly unsual attitude recovery, was a lot of fun, as was night flying.

Typically, night flying is done in two shots -- one for 8 takeoffs and landings, and one for the night cross country (plus two more takeoffs and landings).

I enjoyed it too - and that is how my night training was done as well. :yes:
 
Typically, night flying is done in two shots -- one for 8 takeoffs and landings, and one for the night cross country (plus two more takeoffs and landings).

I enjoyed it too - and that is how my night training was done as well. :yes:

Same for me as well. We stopped at two airports on the XC, so I needed seven more landings. The wind was calm and it was pretty late, so we took of on one runway, circled around to join base to the opposite runway, and landed. Turned around and went again.
 
No. I have yet to stop at any airport I fly into. My CFI won't let me shut down the plane away from home base. Worried it won't start back up, and he will have to come get me.

So I just landed, taxied, and took off. I would have liked to have stopped, and checked the place out.

Flying over the whites is something my wife is going to want to do, so we might make another flight there.
I'm not a CFI, but I think your CFI is doing you a huge disservice, both in training and in your overall learning experience.

Flying is more than just flying.

I think there is education in shutting down, alone, away from your home base. Chatting with the line folks. Getting fuel. Sauntering into the FBO like the BMOC that you are, and chatting with the folks.

It's not required, but I got a signature in my log book from someone in each FBO I hit on my solo XCs. They are great reminders of my first big flying adventures.

And finally, you also missed the opportunity to walk up to the vending machines and purchase pilot pellets. (Those orange Lance crackers with peanut butter in between them.) Yum.
 
It's not required, but I got a signature in my log book from someone in each FBO I hit on my solo XCs. They are great reminders of my first big flying adventures.

And finally, you also missed the opportunity to walk up to the vending machines and purchase pilot pellets. (Those orange Lance crackers with peanut butter in between them.) Yum.

Every pax I take up signs my log book. I picked this up from a CFIG who has somewhere along the lines of a few thousand glider flights.

Flying is also a culture and I love talking to other plane people. Just hey how are you? Mind telling me about your plane?
 
I agree, but I hope the work to get my ppl is just the tip of the iceberg! That I will have plenty of hours to fill my logbook with new friends :)
 
I'm not a CFI, but I think your CFI is doing you a huge disservice, both in training and in your overall learning experience.

Flying is more than just flying.

I think there is education in shutting down, alone, away from your home base. Chatting with the line folks. Getting fuel. Sauntering into the FBO like the BMOC that you are, and chatting with the folks..
:yeahthat:
I think one of the things that really hooked me onto flying was actually stopping on my solo XC to KHTL and smelling the North Woods, walking into the FBO, talking with the nice people there, and just grooving on the fact that I had found my way there, all by myself, in less than 1.5 hours from home.

And oh yes, the ice cream bar was yummy too. :D
 
:yeahthat:
I think one of the things that really hooked me onto flying was actually stopping on my solo XC to KHTL and smelling the North Woods, walking into the FBO, talking with the nice people there, and just grooving on the fact that I had found my way there, all by myself, in less than 1.5 hours from home.

And oh yes, the ice cream bar was yummy too. :D

Wow. Small world. My family used to vacation in the mid-1960s to the early 1970s at Johnson's Rustic Resort in Houghton Lake, MI. That would be a gas to fly there now. :D
 
Foggles are easier on the head than a hood and perfectly acceptable. Plus, you'll be one up on your IFR training.
 
You're making me homesick.

My first dual XC was ASH-Fryburg-LEB-ASH. It was not called IZG then, I'll have to grab my first logbook to see what it was.

Looked like a great day on the low hills. I learned what mountains are when I moved out west.
 
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