"Danny Deger" wrote in message
...
Post your lost story here, so we can all laugh at them.

I was a student flying to Nashua, NH. My instructor asked me to drop him off
in Fitchburg so he could pick up another plane. As we were landing, I saw a
huge column of smoke right near the airport. One of the nearby factories was
burning.

I dropped off George, and departed on runway 34. My desired heading was 34
degrees, so I maintained runway heading. I even checked the compass a few
times and the DG, and sure enough, they read 34.

After 20 minutes or so, I didn't see anything familiar. That's when I
realized my mistake. (my course was 340, not 34). I figured I could fly
perpendicular to my intended course (124) and when the column of smoke from
Fitchburg was off my right wingtip, I could turn left to 34, and be back on
course. I did, and it worked out great.

When I returned and told my instructor about it, he congratulated me, but
said that he couldn't burn down a building every time I got lost.