My First Solo X-Country

Vaughn Simon wrote:
When I made my solo cross country, I never got out of the airplane.

Ben Jackson wrote:
Same here. For any students reading, I highly recommend actually having
something to do, even if it's a $100 hamburger, on your solo XC.

I stopped and had breakfast on my first solo X-C. Everyone thought I was
nuts and couldn't imagine why I wouldn't want to just turn right around
and come back! Ha, I thought the meal was the whole point!
;-)

Thanks for all the congrats, encouragement, and advice. I will post my next
venture soon.

Again thanks,

--
CareBear

Is full stop even required? I don't remember, but my dual XC's were mostly
TnG, which I think is a huge mistake and at the least a contributing factor
to runway incursions.

I think all dual and solo XC's should involve landing, taxiing to a ramp and
getting back to the runway.

mike

"Vaughn Simon" wrote in message
news:zRy_g.97226$QZ1.6639@bgtnsc04-
All you need is a full-stop landing at each point. When I made my solo
cross country, I never got out of the airplane.

Anyhow, congratulations on your cross country and welcome to the
group. Keep up the good work.

Vaughn

Congrats! The solo XC seems to be a major hump for a lot of student pilots.
Inknowe several who trained all the way up to the solo and then quit. There
were varying "reasons" for doing so, but I think it was mostly anxiety.

Again, congrats.

mike

"CareBear" wrote in message
...
My first solo xc flight plan was from 3A1 VUZ TCL and back to 3A1. It

I will admit that I was a little nervous but I maintained my cool
--
CareBear

mike regish wrote:
Is full stop even required? I don't remember, but my dual XC's were mostly
TnG, which I think is a huge mistake and at the least a contributing factor
to runway incursions.

I think all dual and solo XC's should involve landing, taxiing to a ramp and
getting back to the runway.

mike

I was required to stop on my dual XC, just to get fuel, as my Ercoupe
with myself and my instructor only had enough for one way : )

Linda

"mike regish" wrote in message
...
Is full stop even required?

For the required x-country solo, yes.

61.109 (a) (5) (ii) "...with full-stop landings at a minimum of three
points,..."

Vaughn

Congratulations - it certainly is a great feeling isn't it? As one of
my instructors said, it's when you start to feel like a "real pilot",
which I thought was pretty accurate

I'm confused though, was this yesterday or last weekend? I thought
Alabama was at Tennessee yesterday? Also, don't forget about the
lovely NOTAM 3/1862 which establishes TFRs around stadiums - you have
to find out when they're in effect because FSS won't necessarily tell
you...

todd.

"tjd" wrote in message
oups.com...
Congratulations - it certainly is a great feeling isn't it? As one of
my instructors said, it's when you start to feel like a "real pilot",
which I thought was pretty accurate

I'm confused though, was this yesterday or last weekend? I thought
Alabama was at Tennessee yesterday? Also, don't forget about the
lovely NOTAM 3/1862 which establishes TFRs around stadiums - you have
to find out when they're in effect because FSS won't necessarily tell
you...

todd.


Sorry for the confusion. My xc was last weekend (10/14/06).

--
CareBear

CareBear wrote:
My first solo xc flight plan was from 3A1 VUZ TCL and back to 3A1. It
was a little windy, about 5-6 knots at times.

If you had headed about 45 miles further southwest that day you could
have caught a free lunch of cajun shrimp, red potatoes and corn at 7A2
(Demopolis, AL). We had about 20 or 30 pilots in the lounge that day
with messy fingers all watching the game. About 15 or so russian yak
52's and chinese nanchangs flew in from Selma and gave us a little show
on formation flying. Every year they do their formation training
clinics at Selma in October. They are planning on coming back to
Demopolis on Saturday December 2 to open the Christmas on the River
parade with a formation fly-over. If you ever needed an excuse for a
X/C trip, well there you go They usually serve hamburgers and hot
dogs, etc., all day long in the town square and barbeque down at the
marina.

"CareBear" wrote in message
...
My first solo xc flight plan was from 3A1 VUZ TCL and back to 3A1. It
was a little windy, about 5-6 knots at times. The flight went as planned.
I departed 3A1 about 11:00am. After passing the VUZ VOR, I headed to
Tuscaloosa. It was a pleasant trip. When I arrived at TCL I had to
circle
the airport a few times. Being excited about my first solo xc, I did not
think about the football game between Alabama and Mississippi. Needless
to
say, the TCL tower was not exactly happy to see me (the controller
actually
sounded like he was pretty upset). There seemed to be Lear Jets
everywhere
with a few Bonanzas mixed in for good measure!! Some had landed and
others
were coming in to land. I finally landed. I was parked between two Lear
Jets. I went into the FBO to get my logbook signed which took about five
minutes. Boy, did I get some strange looks.

As I headed back to my airplane, I looked around at all the jets (money)
that were parked and thought, "Life must be good for some people". The
C-152 I flew looked like an ant among giants. I finally got clearance to
takeoff and was I glad. The jets were still arriving! The flight from
Tuscaloosa back to 3A1 was uneventful.

I will admit that I was a little nervous but I maintained my cool
--
CareBear



Congratulations!!! I know that nervous feeling before your first solo
x-country. Good job in conquering it. It is much easier from here on out.
:-)

Wade Hasbrouck
PP-ASEL
http://spaces.live.com/wadehas