My First Solo X-Country

[CareBear]

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

[A Lieberma]

"CareBear" > wrote in
:

> I will admit that I was a little nervous but I maintained my cool :)

Good job CareBear,

I always overfly TCL on my way from KMBO to KEKY.

Allen

[Vaughn Simon]

"CareBear" > wrote in message
...
> I was parked between two Lear
> Jets. I went into the FBO to get my logbook signed which took about five
> minutes.

That (getting your logbook signed at destinations) hasn't been a
requirement for decades. 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

[Christopher Range]

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. 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.

I bet if the QB's and coaching staff for Alabama and, Mississippi knew
that a devout college football fan, was out flying, instead of watching
the game, they would be angry.
>
> 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 :)

Just because it may have looked like 'an ant among giants', I bet you
stil felt good about your accomplishment.

To say 'Congratulations' is not enough. I think it
is......SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS!!!!!!(M ary Poppins)

That is a terrific accomplishment.

Christopher

[tony roberts]

That's an important aviation milestone - hopefully the first of many.
Conbgratulations! Onward and upward :)

Tony

--

Tony Roberts
PP-ASEL
VFR OTT
Night
Cessna 172H C-GICE

[Morgans[_2_]]

"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.

Sounds like you had a good flight.

By the way, "most" people in here appreciate it when you include the airport's
name (like; HKY (Hickory NC), for example) in your posts, so that people all the
way across the country can get a mental picture of your trip. Few will take the
time to look it up, I guess.

I thought you might want to know, since I think you are kinda' new. :)
--
Jim in NC

[Jay Honeck]

> 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.

Way to go, CareBear!

Keep pushing toward getting that ticket, pull it all the way to the end
-- and I guarantee you that someday you'll re-read that sentence,
above, and blush.

:-)

In the meantime, hang out here, and ask lots of questions. You'll pick
up a few good pointers.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Ben Jackson]

On 2006-10-22, Vaughn Simon > wrote:
> When I made my solo cross country, I never got out of the airplane.

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.

--
Ben Jackson AD7GD
>
http://www.ben.com/

[kontiki]

Congratulations on that first XC. Sounds like you did a fine job.

[Kingfish]

Jay Honeck 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.
>
> Way to go, CareBear!
>
> Keep pushing toward getting that ticket, pull it all the way to the end
> -- and I guarantee you that someday you'll re-read that sentence,
> above, and blush.
>

LOL that's what I was thinking, but couldn't articulate it in such a
way so not to sound snotty : ) Nicely done, Jay...

[[email protected]]

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!
;-)

[CareBear]

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

Again thanks,

--
CareBear

[mike regish]

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
>
>
>
>
>
>

[mike regish]

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
>
>
>

[[email protected]]

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

[Vaughn Simon]

"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

[tjd]

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.

[CareBear]

"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

[flyncatfish]

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.

[Wade Hasbrouck]

"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

[Wade Hasbrouck]

"B A R R Y" > wrote in message
...
> On Sat, 21 Oct 2006 19:02:31 -0500, "CareBear" >
> wrote:
>
>>
>>I will admit that I was a little nervous but I maintained my cool :)
>
>
> Congrats! See you up there!
>
> BTW, never apologize for flying a small aircraft. Everybody flew them
> at one time or another, and I still do! <G>
>

The president of my flying club is a 747 captain, and I think he enjoys
flying the 172s and the 182 we have more than he does the 747. :-)

[GeorgeC]

I was talking to a jet jockey at the FBO the other day. He was waiting for a
client and I was waiting for the rent a plane place to open. He said "You know
it's a funny thing. All the guys flying small airplanes wish they were flying
big ones" as he waved towards his airplane. "And all the guys flying big ones
wish they were flying small ones" as waived toward the 172's.

On Mon, 23 Oct 2006 16:24:09 -0700, "Wade Hasbrouck"
> wrote:

>
>"B A R R Y" > wrote in message
...
>> On Sat, 21 Oct 2006 19:02:31 -0500, "CareBear" >
>> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>I will admit that I was a little nervous but I maintained my cool :)
>>
>>
>> Congrats! See you up there!
>>
>> BTW, never apologize for flying a small aircraft. Everybody flew them
>> at one time or another, and I still do! <G>
>>
>
>The president of my flying club is a 747 captain, and I think he enjoys
>flying the 172s and the 182 we have more than he does the 747. :-)

GeorgeC

[Timmay]

Good job on the solo x/c. That's what flying's all about, GOING
SOMEWHERE! Good luck with the rest of your training...it just keeps
getting better!

[B A R R Y[_1_]]

Timmay wrote:
> Good job on the solo x/c. That's what flying's all about, GOING
> SOMEWHERE! Good luck with the rest of your training...it just keeps
> getting better!
>


I always enjoy first solo X-country posts.

The first time that distant field comes into view, as well as the first
time the home field appears on the horizon, is such an awesome feeling!

[Tom[_1_]]

I agree with Barry. The first solo posts are always a pleasure to read.
Congratulations on yours.

Tom


B A R R Y wrote:
> Timmay wrote:
> > Good job on the solo x/c. That's what flying's all about, GOING
> > SOMEWHERE! Good luck with the rest of your training...it just keeps
> > getting better!
> >
>
>
> I always enjoy first solo X-country posts.
>
> The first time that distant field comes into view, as well as the first
> time the home field appears on the horizon, is such an awesome feeling!