Well I did another xc solo today. The flight was from 3A1 (Cullman, AL) to
CTJ (Carrollton, GA), to BHM (Birmingham, AL) and back to 3A1.

The leg to CTJ was kinda long (70 minutes) but it was relaxing. Flying to
BHM from CTJ was rather interesting. The sun was shining bright right at
me. The little sun visor in the plane really didn't help. Since I couldn't
see clearly, I really had to rely on the instruments. I was flying at 4500
until I got close to the Anniston-Talladega-St. Clair County area. Then I
climbed to 5500 since there is an info box on the sectional that says "For
Reasons of National Security Pilots Are Requested To Avoid Flight At And
Below 5000 Feet In This Area". Although I climbed to 5500 I also stayed
South of I-20 to stay clear of the Restricted area close to Anniston. (I
didn't want a couple of jets joining me for company) :).

About 30nm out from BHM, I made the necessary calls to BHM
Approach/Tower/Grd Ctl, etc. after listening to ATIS. There was heavy
traffic at BHM. A couple of planes were told to stay clear of BHM Class C.
I think they were eventually allowed to enter and land.

Departing BHM and heading to 3A1 was uneventful except that it was getting
dark. I was familiar with this leg having flown it a couple of times.

I still get a little nervous when I have to talk to Approach/Tower, etc. at
Class C airports. I guess it will just take time and more communicating
before I really get the hang of it. There is a great little book that
really helps me with this. It's called VFR Radio Procedures in The USA.
I'm sure most of you are familiar with it.

That's about it for now. As usual, any advice, constructive criticism, and
other comments are welcomed.

CareBear

<snip>

> That's about it for now. As usual, any advice, constructive criticism,
> and other comments are welcomed.
>
> CareBear
I flew to BHM for my night dual. I was on a long final when the tower asked
if I could "expedite landing". My flight instructor looked behind us and
could see the landing lights in the distance. I think it was a FedEx or UPS
cargo flight coming in behind us. I got the Warrior down and off of the
runway as fast as possible. The big boy landed while we were taxiing to the
FBO. That was a fun night....

I am not far from you, I am in Huntsville.

My first solo XC was from HUA to TCL, I went the Sunday after the
Ala-Florida game last year. There was a race going on at Talladega that day
and all of the planes trying to get in there had overloaded the system. I
listened to BHM holding people out of the area for half the flight back.

The line guy at TCL said that on gameday the jets fill up the whole parking
area at the FBO!


John

On 11/05/06 19:32, CareBear wrote:
> Well I did another xc solo today. The flight was from 3A1 (Cullman, AL) to
> CTJ (Carrollton, GA), to BHM (Birmingham, AL) and back to 3A1.
>
> The leg to CTJ was kinda long (70 minutes) but it was relaxing. Flying to
> BHM from CTJ was rather interesting. The sun was shining bright right at
> me. The little sun visor in the plane really didn't help. Since I couldn't
> see clearly, I really had to rely on the instruments. I was flying at 4500
> until I got close to the Anniston-Talladega-St. Clair County area. Then I
> climbed to 5500 since there is an info box on the sectional that says "For
> Reasons of National Security Pilots Are Requested To Avoid Flight At And
> Below 5000 Feet In This Area". Although I climbed to 5500 I also stayed
> South of I-20 to stay clear of the Restricted area close to Anniston. (I
> didn't want a couple of jets joining me for company) :).
>
> About 30nm out from BHM, I made the necessary calls to BHM
> Approach/Tower/Grd Ctl, etc. after listening to ATIS. There was heavy
> traffic at BHM. A couple of planes were told to stay clear of BHM Class C.
> I think they were eventually allowed to enter and land.
>
> Departing BHM and heading to 3A1 was uneventful except that it was getting
> dark. I was familiar with this leg having flown it a couple of times.
>
> I still get a little nervous when I have to talk to Approach/Tower, etc. at
> Class C airports. I guess it will just take time and more communicating
> before I really get the hang of it. There is a great little book that
> really helps me with this. It's called VFR Radio Procedures in The USA.
> I'm sure most of you are familiar with it.
>
> That's about it for now. As usual, any advice, constructive criticism, and
> other comments are welcomed.
>
> CareBear
>
>

Sounds like you did just fine. All the radio work definitely gets easier
with practice. When I was doing my solo cross country flights, I was
using a ANR headset that would, at times, garble the received transmissions,
making it impossible to hear what the controller says. That was a really
horrible experience. I bought a cheap, non-ANR headset and haven't had any
more problems.

Did you have any particular problems with the communications that you
wanted to share?

Remember too that even if the sun is in your eyes, you are responsible
for seeing and avoiding other aircraft. This may even help you decide
whether or not it's safe to fly in a particular direction at a particular
time.

Congratulations on your third. You must be pretty close to your check
ride, aren't you? What's left?


--
Mark Hansen, PP-ASEL, Instrument Airplane
Cal Aggie Flying Farmers
Sacramento, CA

I landed in Huntsville a few weeks ago on another xc flight. As for game
day in TCL, I've had my "experience" there. See my previous xc posts.

--
CareBear

"BucFan" > wrote in message
...
> <snip>
>
>> That's about it for now. As usual, any advice, constructive criticism,
>> and other comments are welcomed.
>>
>> CareBear
> I flew to BHM for my night dual. I was on a long final when the tower
> asked if I could "expedite landing". My flight instructor looked behind
> us and could see the landing lights in the distance. I think it was a
> FedEx or UPS cargo flight coming in behind us. I got the Warrior down and
> off of the runway as fast as possible. The big boy landed while we were
> taxiing to the FBO. That was a fun night....
>
> I am not far from you, I am in Huntsville.
>
> My first solo XC was from HUA to TCL, I went the Sunday after the
> Ala-Florida game last year. There was a race going on at Talladega that
> day and all of the planes trying to get in there had overloaded the
> system. I listened to BHM holding people out of the area for half the
> flight back.
>
> The line guy at TCL said that on gameday the jets fill up the whole
> parking area at the FBO!
>
>
> John
>

"CareBear" > wrote in message
...
>I landed in Huntsville a few weeks ago on another xc flight. As for game
>day in TCL, I've had my "experience" there. See my previous xc posts.
>
> --
> CareBear

Yeah, I read that one! I had originally planned my flight for Saturday, but
the I saw the football schedule and changed it! Sounds like you made it
through OK, and I am sure it was interesting.

John

"Mark Hansen" > wrote in message
...
> On 11/05/06 19:32, CareBear wrote:
>> Well I did another xc solo today. The flight was from 3A1 (Cullman, AL)
>> to
>> CTJ (Carrollton, GA), to BHM (Birmingham, AL) and back to 3A1.
>>
>> The leg to CTJ was kinda long (70 minutes) but it was relaxing. Flying
>> to
>> BHM from CTJ was rather interesting. The sun was shining bright right at
>> me. The little sun visor in the plane really didn't help. Since I
>> couldn't
>> see clearly, I really had to rely on the instruments. I was flying at
>> 4500
>> until I got close to the Anniston-Talladega-St. Clair County area. Then
>> I
>> climbed to 5500 since there is an info box on the sectional that says
>> "For
>> Reasons of National Security Pilots Are Requested To Avoid Flight At And
>> Below 5000 Feet In This Area". Although I climbed to 5500 I also stayed
>> South of I-20 to stay clear of the Restricted area close to Anniston. (I
>> didn't want a couple of jets joining me for company) :).
>>
>> About 30nm out from BHM, I made the necessary calls to BHM
>> Approach/Tower/Grd Ctl, etc. after listening to ATIS. There was heavy
>> traffic at BHM. A couple of planes were told to stay clear of BHM Class
>> C.
>> I think they were eventually allowed to enter and land.
>>
>> Departing BHM and heading to 3A1 was uneventful except that it was
>> getting
>> dark. I was familiar with this leg having flown it a couple of times.
>>
>> I still get a little nervous when I have to talk to Approach/Tower, etc.
>> at
>> Class C airports. I guess it will just take time and more communicating
>> before I really get the hang of it. There is a great little book that
>> really helps me with this. It's called VFR Radio Procedures in The USA.
>> I'm sure most of you are familiar with it.
>>
>> That's about it for now. As usual, any advice, constructive criticism,
>> and
>> other comments are welcomed.
>>
>> CareBear
>>
>>
>
> Sounds like you did just fine. All the radio work definitely gets easier
> with practice. When I was doing my solo cross country flights, I was
> using a ANR headset that would, at times, garble the received
> transmissions,
> making it impossible to hear what the controller says. That was a really
> horrible experience. I bought a cheap, non-ANR headset and haven't had any
> more problems.
>
> Did you have any particular problems with the communications that you
> wanted to share?
>
> Remember too that even if the sun is in your eyes, you are responsible
> for seeing and avoiding other aircraft. This may even help you decide
> whether or not it's safe to fly in a particular direction at a particular
> time.
>
> Congratulations on your third. You must be pretty close to your check
> ride, aren't you? What's left?
>
>
> --
> Mark Hansen, PP-ASEL, Instrument Airplane
> Cal Aggie Flying Farmers
> Sacramento, CA

I've got a couple of dual lessons left. Then it's time to prepare for the
checkride. I've already completed my Written. As for communication, I'm
using a DC H10-13.4 headset I got off eBay. They are pretty good and
comfortable. I occasionally do get garbled communications.

--
CareBear

"CareBear" > wrote:

>The leg to CTJ was kinda long (70 minutes) but it was relaxing. Flying to
>BHM from CTJ was rather interesting. The sun was shining bright right at
>me. The little sun visor in the plane really didn't help. Since I couldn't
>see clearly, I really had to rely on the instruments. I was flying at 4500
>until I got close to the Anniston-Talladega-St. Clair County area. Then I
>climbed to 5500'.........

Note the deletion of unneeded text. Was 5500' the proper VFR
altitude for your direction?

Did you depart later than planned or was there no need to complete the
flight during daylight hours?

Ron Lee

"Ron Lee" > wrote in message
...
> "CareBear" > wrote:
>
>>The leg to CTJ was kinda long (70 minutes) but it was relaxing. Flying to
>>BHM from CTJ was rather interesting. The sun was shining bright right at
>>me. The little sun visor in the plane really didn't help. Since I
>>couldn't
>>see clearly, I really had to rely on the instruments. I was flying at
>>4500
>>until I got close to the Anniston-Talladega-St. Clair County area. Then I
>>climbed to 5500'.........
>
> Note the deletion of unneeded text. Was 5500' the proper VFR
> altitude for your direction?
>
> Did you depart later than planned or was there no need to complete the
> flight during daylight hours?
>
> Ron Lee

Ron, thanks for pointing out my typing errors. It should have been 6500
feet. The flight did indeed depart later than was planned. My CFI was in
the air with another student when my flight was to have started.

--
CareBear

CareBear wrote:
> The leg to CTJ was kinda long (70 minutes) but it was relaxing. Flying to
> BHM from CTJ was rather interesting. The sun was shining bright right at
> me. The little sun visor in the plane really didn't help. Since I couldn't
> see clearly, I really had to rely on the instruments.


Let me make a suggestion which has really helped me over the years when flying
into the sun. Order one of those sunshades from Sporty's or where ever... one
of those sheets of green plastic film that just sticks to the windshield where
ever you need it. You can stick it and peel it a million times without wearing
it out. Back in the old days, they were about $5. You might even be able to
find one in an auto supply store. It's a lot more practical for the pilot than
the driver, since our headings are constant and the sun isn't going to be moving
all over your windshield.

I used to be a courier pilot with a route that caused me to fly early in the
morning and then again around sunset five days a week. I'd have gone blind with
all the squinting if I hadn't gotten one of these.



--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN
mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com

CareBear wrote:
>> Note the deletion of unneeded text.
>
> Ron, thanks for pointing out my typing errors. It should have been 6500
> feet. The flight did indeed depart later than was planned. My CFI was in
> the air with another student when my flight was to have started.


Uh... I think he was suggesting you trim your quotations a little tighter.
Quotations are supposed to give you a point of reference for the answer... not
be an archive of the thread.

Just a thought. You're hardly unique in this....




--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN
mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com

Mortimer Schnerd, RN wrote:
> CareBear wrote:
>> The leg to CTJ was kinda long (70 minutes) but it was relaxing. Flying to
>> BHM from CTJ was rather interesting. The sun was shining bright right at
>> me. The little sun visor in the plane really didn't help. Since I couldn't
>> see clearly, I really had to rely on the instruments.
>
>
> Let me make a suggestion which has really helped me over the years when flying
> into the sun. Order one of those sunshades from Sporty's or where ever... one
> of those sheets of green plastic film that just sticks to the windshield where
> ever you need it.

I'll second those stick-on visors. Our plane doesn't have visors, so we
really need them.

I also keep a baseball cap in my flight bag. The bill pulled down low
over my eyes is very helpful in direct sun.

CareBear wrote:

Good for you. They are fun.

> The leg to CTJ was kinda long (70 minutes) but it was relaxing. Flying to
> BHM from CTJ was rather interesting. The sun was shining bright right at
> me. The little sun visor in the plane really didn't help. Since I couldn't
> see clearly, I really had to rely on the instruments.

A couple of things here. I wear a baseball cap pulled down low. And get
a good pair of glasses. But most importantly, let ATC be your eyes. You
didn't say if you had dialed into ATC for VFR flight following. That is
key. You've got to look out of the plane, you have to see. It is really
important. Fender benders at 4500' make the newspaper. And that is quite
bad! :^)

That call sounds like ...
"Podunk Approach N12345"
they come back.
"Podunk Approach N12345 VFR from Kabc to Kxyz at [say altitude]
requesting flight following."

Short and sweet.

Then dial in the xpdr code and you are good to go. Always acknowledge
the calls back.

>
> I still get a little nervous when I have to talk to Approach/Tower, etc. at
> Class C airports. I guess it will just take time and more communicating
> before I really get the hang of it. There is a great little book that
> really helps me with this. It's called VFR Radio Procedures in The USA.
> I'm sure most of you are familiar with it.

You'll learn to say more in less over time. It starts to sound like
"Podunk Approach N12345 inbound with Charlie"

And that's it. It is daunting at first. You don't want to sound like a
dope but people in this biz are pretty cool. They know. We've all been
there.

KC

"CareBear" > wrote:
> Flying to BHM from CTJ was rather interesting. The sun was shining
> bright right at me. The little sun visor in the plane really didn't
> help.

Late in the afternoon if you're flying west, sun glare can be a real
problem. The solution is to not fly right into the sun. Change course 20
degrees so you're not looking right at the sun. It'll take you a little
longer to get there, but that's better than being blind.

And, as another poster pointed out, getting flight following is always a
good idea.

"Mortimer Schnerd, RN" <mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com> wrote in message
...
> CareBear wrote:
>> The leg to CTJ was kinda long (70 minutes) but it was relaxing. Flying
>> to
>> BHM from CTJ was rather interesting. The sun was shining bright right at
>> me. The little sun visor in the plane really didn't help. Since I
>> couldn't
>> see clearly, I really had to rely on the instruments.
>
>
> Let me make a suggestion which has really helped me over the years when
> flying into the sun. Order one of those sunshades from Sporty's or where
> ever... one of those sheets of green plastic film that just sticks to the
> windshield where ever you need it. You can stick it and peel it a million
> times without wearing it out. Back in the old days, they were about $5.
> You might even be able to find one in an auto supply store. It's a lot
> more practical for the pilot than the driver, since our headings are
> constant and the sun isn't going to be moving all over your windshield.
>
> I used to be a courier pilot with a route that caused me to fly early in
> the morning and then again around sunset five days a week. I'd have gone
> blind with all the squinting if I hadn't gotten one of these.
>
>
>
> --
> Mortimer Schnerd, RN
> mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com
>

Sounds like a good suggestion. I'll order the sunshade. Thanks!

--
CareBear

"B A R R Y" > wrote in message
. com...
> Mortimer Schnerd, RN wrote:
>> CareBear wrote:
>>> The leg to CTJ was kinda long (70 minutes) but it was relaxing. Flying
>>> to
>>> BHM from CTJ was rather interesting. The sun was shining bright right
>>> at
>>> me. The little sun visor in the plane really didn't help. Since I
>>> couldn't
>>> see clearly, I really had to rely on the instruments.
>>
>>
>> Let me make a suggestion which has really helped me over the years when
>> flying into the sun. Order one of those sunshades from Sporty's or where
>> ever... one of those sheets of green plastic film that just sticks to the
>> windshield where ever you need it.
>
> I'll second those stick-on visors. Our plane doesn't have visors, so we
> really need them.
>
> I also keep a baseball cap in my flight bag. The bill pulled down low
> over my eyes is very helpful in direct sun.

Another good suggestion. I've got a few baseball caps laying around.
Thanks!

--
CareBear

"CareBear" > wrote in
:

> Another good suggestion. I've got a few baseball caps laying around.
> Thanks!

May seem silly, but the hood for your IFR work will help just as well, keep
it low enough to block the sun but not your vision to the outside world.

Allen