As satisfying and exciting as flying solo was, planning and flying a cross country route was even more fun! So, I had originally picked Medford, but upon looking at the sectional, I thought a trip to Marshfield would be a little more interesting since I elected to fly around the Falls MOA. So, instead of a direct line route, I had a few turns in there and navigated by pilotage (landmarks on the ground) and dead reckoning. Wow, things sure do look different from several thousand feet up, but with map in hand, and GPS in the plane as a backup, we set off for a fun morning of flying. The air was quite smooth, making it very comfortable and easy to fly today. So, got to the airport around 7:45 am. Preflighted. We checked weather. Then Jack showed me how to file a flight plan, which was pretty easy. He cautioned to make sure whenever you file (and open) a flight plan, that you have only a 30 minute window after your scheduled arrival time before they start sending out the troops after you. That's an expensive mistake if you forget to close your flight plan. Filing, but failing to open your flight plan is no big deal, the plan just expires, and nobody minds. After Jack reviewed my planning, off we went, there was a Mesaba airlines Saab turbo prop that took off right before us, we turned to the northeast towards Chippewa Falls, and look to intercept highway 29, and start following that East. Navaids along the way included Stanley and Owen. Once we hit Owen, we found the railroad tracks heading southwest through town, and we turned to follow it towards the town of Spencer and into Marshfield. The airport was just outside of town, just to the southwest of town. We overflew the airport, announced our intentions of landing on runway 22, and had a very nice landing. Marshfields taxi ramps are under contruction, so we back taxied on runway 34/16 to get to parking. Very interesting taxing on a runway, felt very weird, and a bit uncomfortable.
So, stopped in the FBO, closed our flight plan, and had a quick bathroom break and got some water and coffee. Gave Laura a quick call to let her know I landed ok, then chatted a bit with the local clerk, and then finally decided to get moving back. Headed back out, checked engine oil and did a quick walk around the plane to make sure nothing had changed, a bit of an abbreviated inspection. Jack advised if you were in a larger busier airport, and you had ground personnel moving the plane, he would definitely do a complete preflight before taking off again, never know what those grounds people might bang up and neglect to tell you.
So, we back taxied again to runway 22, got ourselves spun around, did runup, and off we went. This time, we took a more direct route through the Falls MOA. It was certainly a few minutes shorter, and we were able to follow high power lines, all the way to Eau Claire. This was a very easy route to follow, and fairly easy to pick out other landmarks to judge our relative progress. However, the terrain we overflew was much more thickly wooded. There were an occaisional road and clearing in the trees, but definitely less options in the event of an engine failure. Jack wanted me to see this and appreciate the consequences of such a route. During daytime, and your equipment in good order, its not a big deal, but nighttime or into IMC, might want to think twice.
Anway, we arrived in Eau Claire, entered a long 5 mile base for runway 22. Had a little more crosswind, and again had a less-than-perfect landing. Still need to practice those a alot.
So, after taxi-back, we had a nice long debrief. We talked about the next phases of my training. Jack needs to endorse me flying solo everytime, and he said he feels very comfortable letting me fly in no wind or light winds (~5 kts), or winds directly down the runway. In fact, he was very impressed with my planning, and is confident I could have easily made the Marsfield trip solo. So, we agreed I would schedule some more lessons, and at each lesson, we'd make a determination together: If the winds were slight, I would probably do some practice solo. If the winds were a little more intense, I would probably take Jack with me and do some more crosswind practice. I also need to think about another cross country to do soon, and my solo cross country will really depend on two things: (1) my overall solo confidence, (2) improved crosswind landings. So, I expect the next 5-10 hours to consist of that, and perhaps a solo cross country after that, but the neat thing is that it sounds like its largely up to me. I need to develop my proficiency as well as my self confidence.
So, a great flight, I can't wait to do more. Another 2.0 hours in the book, I now have 21.5 hrs.
No comments:
Post a Comment