gatt wrote:

Nope, 'cause the grass strip wasn't a strip; it was a square field that
hadn't been mowed in who knows how long (from 3,000 ft.) Had it not been
for the ashpalt strip, I'd not have found it AT ALL.

Okay, I think I did misunderstand the situation. Never mind what the
checkpoint was, you missed it (and mistook something else for it). Yes,
that's a Nasty.

I just did the 100 mile non-solo commercial XC this week, and it was back to
pilotage and ded reckoning (sp?) for me. Every checkpoint consisted of
multiple features. This is something I learned during my PPL. It makes
both mistaken identification and missed checkpoints less likely.

It's important to note that even charted features are not always visible
from the angle at which you approach them (or the season/daylight at the
time of your flight). It is also very useful to make note of additional
features along the way (if there are such features {8^). This way, you
always know where you are. It's not a matter of "finding your location"
every N minutes.

- Andrew