My long solo cross country

NealRomeoGolf

NealRomeoGolf

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Disclaimer: I checked how many words @Cajun_Flyer used in her write up and mine is shorter.;) Hope you enjoy the read.

My home base is KPIA but I used to live in Lafayette, Indiana, which is 124 nm away. I have a favorite pulled pork restaurant there and some co-workers willing to pick me up at the airport to enjoy lunch with me. So I planned my XC around that. My original instructor felt that my route (275nm in total) was too long. But since she closed her flight school and I’m with my new instructor, he had no problem with it. Champaign was a reasonable stop on the way back. Had to add in a stop first at 3MY for fuel and instructor flight planning too. On the docket for the day was KPIA to 3MY to KLAF to KCMI to KPIA. I had my sights on a great lunch and a theme to my flying – college towns!

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After getting the kids on the school bus (actually, kid, one was sick) as I usually do, I headed for the airport. Pulling up to the gate to get to the T-hangars, I see a new sign. They changed how to open the gate. No problem, they just say you have to hit ‘#’ now after your badge swipe and personal code. Did that. Nothing. Did it again. Nothing. Do it again. Nothing. You know what they say about doing things over and over expecting a different result…

So I called the ops number and the guy said he would come let me in. They changed over to a new system and ‘maybe’ since I’m a newer tenant mine wasn’t done right. Nice. I was already feeling pressure for being on time to my lunch appointment (see letter ‘E’ in the PAVE checklist) but I kept telling myself it’s better to be alive than on time.

Got to my hangar and opened it up. Constance was waiting for me. That’s my plane. Ran through the preflight and all was good. Got her out of the hangar. Did my usual taking off text to my wife. Started up, yadda yadda yadda. Got my intersection departure for 31 and was on my way. The whopping 10 nm flight to 3MY. Tower told me to stay with him until field in sight. Got the field, went to CTAF, made my calls and made my approach. Too fast and too high. Go around. Bleh. Next approach got gusty and I was being lazy on the cross wind correction. Go around. Feeling like this is really starting well. Third approach I put her down. Parked at the fuel pumps and put 26 gallons in. 3MY has cheaper gas than PIA. There was a twin with one engine running sitting a ways down the ramp. I assumed he wanted gas too. Since I didn’t want to turn the engine back on, I pulled out my tow bar and pulled it forward a bit so he could get to the pumps.

Ran into the lounge and my flight instructor was waiting so we could go through my plans. I showed him my route, talked through some what ifs and he was satisfied. Back out to the plane, a quick look over and sumped the tanks to check for water. All good. Obligatory text to the wife and a text to my lunch companions to tell them I was on my way. Was running 30 minutes or so behind and I knew I had headwinds on the way. Better to be alive than on time.

As I was about to yell “clear prop!” when starting my engine, I look back and there is a toddler running around the ramp behind me. Really? I didn’t want to be like @SixPapaCharlie and be chopping up living beings with my propeller. I unbelt and climb back out thinking I was going to give some parents a piece of my mind, but I’m really not that guy. The parents had gotten the kid and were keeping him in check. Back to the cockpit. Took off from 3MY, got flight following from Peoria Approach and climbed to 7,500. This sounds dumb, but that’s the highest I’ve ever piloted an airplane. Some of you people live at that elevation. Sorry, flat lander here. I even turned the vents off because it was so cold up there. Checked all my visual references and then turned on the iPad to play with FlyQ. The dumb iPad GPS thought I was in Africa. Not helpful. Threw the iPad to the side, put on my autopilot to track the Roberts VOR and enjoyed the scenery. Which for those of you who are Midwest challenged, looks like this.
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Peoria Approach hands me off to Chicago Center. I switch over, make my call. Nothing. Call again. Nothing. I can hear other people. I let time pass to try to avoid stepping on people. Call again. Nothing. *sigh* Flip back to Peoria Approach to make sure I got the right frequency. Sure did. Switch back. Play the call game a few more times. Squawk 7600. Decided to see if that would help. A few minutes go by and I hear Chicago Center say “N84699 if you can hear me, switch to X freq.” I switch over and call. Miracles of miracles he can hear me.

I keep on trucking (or flying) and start to see the lower level clouds that had been forecast over by the IL/IN line. Leave 7.5 for 5.5. Still not good enough. Down to 3.5 and now we ride the bumps. Get handed to Champaign Approach. Then as I start to get closer to Lafayette, approach tells me that due to my low altitude, Grissom Approach can’t take me. Frequency changed approved, good day. Oy. So I continue to make my way, looking for the field at Lafayette. I think I see it. Yeah, that’s it. How far away am I? 10? 15? Call the tower. “Lafayette Tower, Archer 84699 is about 10 to the west inbound to land.” “Archer 84699 roger, make left base for runway 5 and call 3 miles out.” So I keep moseying along. “Archer 84699, Lafayette Tower, where are you again?” “Oh I don’t know, maybe now I’m 10 out? I’ve got the field in sight.” “Archer 84699 roger, don’t have you but continue to make your way in.” I hear a few other traffic calls. “Archer 84699, I still don’t have you. Where are you?” “Coming up on the Wabash River now.” “Archer 84699, ok, I still don’t have you.” At this point I start questioning that I really have the right airport. Could I have deviated far enough south that I’m at Frankfort?? Runway layout didn’t match. I know I’m in the right spot. Eventually the tower finds me and I make a long base and final into runway 5. There was a conga line of Purdue aircraft waiting for me. Seems the tower didn’t want to let people takeoff until he knew where I was. I felt bad for making them wait. I’ll call closer to the field next time. I suck at telling how far I am from something.

My landing was ok at Lafayette. Really didn’t want to have to go around with all the other aircraft that were buzzing around there. Busy place. Parked the plane, fuel guys topped me off and I met my co-worker waiting in the parking lot. Grabbed some awesome pulled pork and chatted with co-workers.

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And here’s my attempt at being like Cajun. Boiler Up! And yes, that’s a Purdue hat. At least I got the building. I suck at selfies.

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Next leg was to be the shortest distance and also had the best tail wind. I had been watching the METAR at Champaign and the last one was winds gusting to 22 knots. Ugh. I checked some others around there and the gusts weren’t in their reports. Hopefully it was calming back down. Started up the plane and prepared to taxi out of the tight parking spot the line guys had put me in. Aircraft wouldn’t budge. Parking brake wasn’t on. Chocks! I’m not used to going places and parking out on a line. It has always been hangar to hangar for me. Turned off the engine and jumped out to pull the chocks. Hopefully nobody noticed my gaffe. Got back in and started back up. Got my runup done and got my taxi instructions from Ground. I’m also not used to crossing active runways to get to another one. Although my home Class C has that issue too, I’ve never had to do it. Both KLAF and KCMI have it. Kept telling myself not to cause a runway incursion. Taxied to runway 5 and called for my takeoff. Got a no delay takeoff and scolded myself for not being fully ready to takeoff when I called (close that window!). Got out of there thinking the tower controllers never want to see me again. Had to stay at 3,000 due to clouds. Bumpy. And there were Purdue aircraft buzzing everywhere. Holy cow. When I was over Danville I called up Champaign approach. He told me “vectors for 14L approach.” Winds were 070 at 12 gusting 20. No thanks. I asked for runway 4 and he said no problem. I know he was trying to be helpful and give me a more convenient runway, but I’m a wimp. If there is a runway into the wind, I’m taking it. Plus that would’ve violated my signed off crosswind limitation from my CFI. Did right traffic for runway 4 and put her down. I asked for a parking spot where I could just leave the engine running. Welcome to Champaign, home of the Fighting Illini.

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After my obligatory wife and CFI texts, I got all my kneeboard data in order and called up ground for departure. Got put behind a Challenger and kept my distance. This time I made sure I was ready for takeoff (plus let some time pass from the Challenger’s takeoff) and got my clearance to go. Flight back to Peoria was really uneventful. Got up to 4,500 because I didn’t think I had a big enough hole to go above the clouds. I also wasn’t sure exactly how it looked at Peoria even though they were calling scattered clouds. So I rode the thermals and bumped along. Got moved over to Peoria Approach and given a straight in for 31. Again, I know he was trying to be helpful. At that point I was lined up with 31 for a 30 mile final. Winds were 050 at 10 gusting 17. Thanks but no thanks for the tail wind landing. I asked for runway 4 and it was no problem. Besides the big birds that started buzzing around me on base, the landing was uneventful. I made it! Obligatory texts done and Constance was put away. I’m exhausted.

Peoria – home of the Bradley Braves. And yes, this whole time I’m rocking my (University of) North Texas shirt. Someone has to.

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All of my requirements for the PPL are now done except for hood work. Need 0.9. Almost done! Time for a nap…
 
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Great write-up!! A little shorter winded than I would have gone with, but the hats were definitely up to par :)

I suck at gauging distances from the airport too, btw.

That sammich looks tasty.
 
No where near enough BBQ sauce, if there's even any, on the sandwich! Nice write up though, so ya got that going for you.
 
mscard88 said:
No where near enough BBQ sauce, if there's even any, on the sandwich! Nice write up though, so ya got that going for you.
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Sorry, took the picture before sauce was added. They have half a dozen kinds that you add at your leisure.
 
Glad you chose to go on a longer-minimum-length XC! Great experience and I'm glad you found an instructor who wasn't scared to go outside the norm. Personally, I think the current Private Pilot "long XC" is way, way too short. It doesn't give the student enough of a real "getting out of the local area" experience. I encourage my students to go farther if they have any desire to. Of course, I might just be crusty since I did it in 1994 when it was a minimum of 300 miles, but I really think it should be returned to that. And your flight would have been almost perfect for that. Good job!
 
N3368K said:
Where's the slaw on that sammich? BBQ sammiches require slaw. I don't understand northerners.
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They have 3 kinds of pulled pork sandwiches. The Kansas City (pictured above), the Caroline (with slaw!) and the Baltimore. I happen to like the Kansas City. Cuz I'm a Northerner.
 
Tend to agree with ya Russ. Did mine in '75 I think and it was fun. Think each leg had to be a minimum of 100 NM. Approaching Harrisburg Capital City from the SE made it difficult to see the airport til I was almost right on top of it. Big hill SE of the airport and I was probably around 3000'.

Had a student who owned a Cub and wanted to do the 300 NM XC in it instead of the C152. Told him it'd take forever and no radio nav but he insisted. So many hours later he returns and says he wish he had taken the C152. But he did it pilotage and dead reckoning.
 
Had thought about adding Bloomington, IN in there to add Indiana University in but that would've been a super long day. That would've been 380nm.
 
Nice.

I did a longer cross country than required as well, as I had 3.5 hours of solo cross country time I needed. Went all the way to Fresno. Fun, isn't it?
 
N3368K said:
Where's the slaw on that sammich? BBQ sammiches require slaw. I don't understand northerners.
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Naa, this Georgia boy moved next door likes slaw on the plate beside the barbecue, otherwise it kills the pepper in the sauce! If there's not enough pepper, it can be fixed with an appropriate size dollop of Tabasco. Some black pepper usually makes the slaw better, too, but with it, creamy is good.
 
NealRomeoGolf said:
Sorry, took the picture before sauce was added. They have half a dozen kinds that you add at your leisure.
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Is that an onion ring in the sandwich? Interesting... My long XC was a little over 300nm, your sandwich looks better than mine did, I had a turkey sandwich, not nearly enough grease!

Nice write-up.
 
Great write up and some hints in there that you've got some good decision making skills started

A tip on the "judging distances" thing that will make you slap your forehead it's so simple...

You know the runway length(s) at the airport you're looking at ahead. Usually they're "about a mile" or up here at higher DA airports "about two miles" long. (5000' vs 10000')

Just look at how long the runway is and imagine how many of them you'd have to lay end to end to get to where you're at.

That'll get you about how many miles you're out.

Just make sure you know how long they are (you're supposed to know of course) and don't get tricked by a dinky 2000' one! ;)

Of course if you're using GPS toys you can get it down to tiny fractions of a mile in accuracy but the "lay the runways end to end to here" works even if the GPS is dead or the turbulence is so bad you can't read any of the danged instruments. ;)

Or if you're just plain busy flying the plane. :)

The other way of course is with a Delta, you know how far the airspace extends away from the airport and the dashed line is on the chart... Look for landmarks that would be super easy to see near the dashed line, like a big lake or a river crossing it. Or whatever. A highway. A lighted tower. Whatever works. Anything on the dashed line on your side of the airport or something right before it.

Now you know where you can't go past before calling the tower and how far you are from the landmark.

I love me some iPad and GPS for that stuff, but in the end, it's VFR and we forget to just look at the ground and match it to the chart.

Easy peasy this VFR stuff! ;)
 
Nice write up and nice job on your XC! Those are some pretty stout winds for a student pilot. Sounds like you handled them well. I remember being restricted to 10 knots and 5 knots crosswind by my CFI.
 
I recently looked at my logbook, my solo endorsement restricted me to an 8 kt crosswind.
 
denverpilot said:
Just look at how long the runway is and imagine how many of them you'd have to lay end to end to get to where you're at.
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I like that. I'll try to use that next time.

denverpilot said:
Now you know where you can't go past before calling the tower and how far you are from the landmark.
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Going back and looking at the chart, the bend in the river I used to tell him where I was is covered by the VOR wording (the VOR isn't on the field so I couldn't use my DME to tell me how far out I was). But you could of course guess where the bend is under the wording. Looks like the river is 7 miles out. I called way early. I had planned on being on flight following the whole time so didn't measure my call in distances. Will be better prepared next time.
 
Stingray Don said:
Nice write up and nice job on your XC! Those are some pretty stout winds for a student pilot. Sounds like you handled them well. I remember being restricted to 10 knots and 5 knots crosswind by my CFI.
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Thanks. I'm still not the greatest crosswind pilot, although I've had lots of practice with them at my old untowered field with one N-S runway. I was limited to 8 knot crosswind and 18 total. Each time I got to any of the airports the reported winds had calmed down somewhat (I think Champaign right before I landed was 11 knots without gusts and Peoria was 10 knots and gusting to 17 - so not busting my 18 limit). I was nervous I was going to get to Champaign and have to divert because of the limits.
 
Nice write up!

Just did my 2nd x-country with my CFI from KASH (Nashua, NH) to 7B2(Northampton, MA). Hit all my checkpoints but couldn't find the airport at first did three 360's before I found out...sure kept me humble.
 
NHWannabe said:
Nice write up!

Just did my 2nd x-country with my CFI from KASH (Nashua, NH) to 7B2(Northampton, MA). Hit all my checkpoints but couldn't find the airport at first did three 360's before I found out...sure kept me humble.
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No shame in that. Even if I spot an unfamiliar nontowered airport soon enough, I'll sometimes circle overhead at maybe 1500' above TPA to get my bearings/collect my thoughts.
 
NHWannabe said:
Nice write up!

Just did my 2nd x-country with my CFI from KASH (Nashua, NH) to 7B2(Northampton, MA). Hit all my checkpoints but couldn't find the airport at first did three 360's before I found out...sure kept me humble.
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Started my training at 7B2... beautiful airport.
 
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