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Wow. There are several really easy routes for that, and especially the Class C boundaries are highways on the northeast side. I take it no flight following either? That makes Class C trivial. Staying below Class B is really easy unless you insist on skirting the Bay (that's not the shortest...

The "and" refers to para 5, and means that the three takeoffs and landings, as well as the cross-country, must be solo.

Taxiing is NOT the easiest part of flying. That's where most accidents and incidents take place. You're close to other airplanes and obstructions, and virtually no one has the discipline to keep eyes outside while moving. The airplane is not really designed as a ground vehicle either, and can...

I was chosen in the last one just because I didn't say "hell, no." Just a consensus thing, took 30 seconds.

I just got REAL impressed by a 182P I flew out of Reno in 8000+ DA. It managed 800 FPM in those conditions, and kept 500 FPM or more all the way to the 10500 cruising altitude, at 100 MPH. DA around 13000. Service ceiling is nominally 17700. Of course, it had a nonstandard 3-blade "climb"...

Been flying any B-52s lately, Major Kong? One could have a nice weekend in Vegas with all that stuff.

Actually, I kinda enjoyed LIGHT turbulence, from the start, at least at reasonable altitudes. I still do when I get free lift. I fly around mountains a lot, and orographic lift can really make your airplane perform. Once, I climbed in a 172 at over 120 knots. Just Monday, flying around the...

Flaps are fairly likely to finish off your battery; they draw a lot of current. I'd pick a long runway and land without, or maybe extend them to max takeoff on final. No longer because they might not retract again in the event of a go-around. And extend gear with the hand pump if applicable...

It also helps for setting cross radials for some intersections. The radial will be labeled on the low chart, and may or may not be on the sectional (in general, only if the intersection is on two airways). Not everyone has a GPS, and sometimes the GPS doesn't work even if you do have it.

What kind of jet are you flying? Just SUNOL to SJC is 16 miles, which accounts for all your 8 minutes if you land at cruise speed. CCR was 37 miles from where you really had your problem (but only 15 from where you said initially), and SJC was 75 miles. You can fly 38 miles in 8 minutes...

I never did that with a seatbelt, but I did have a right-seater leave the oxygen tank strap hanging out the door once. The sound telescoped overhead somehow, and I was convinced it was a fuel cap flapping in the breeze. So, I went around and landed, overweight. On leaving the plane, we found...

Sort of. There are some things you do need a Low chart for. MEAs, MRAs, MCAs, some waypoints (not all are shown on sectionals), changeover points, distances. But I use sectionals quite a lot while flying IFR as well. They tell you where the terrain is. And, unlike Low charts, they are all...

Well, you know the student far better than anyone here, but I'd be concerned about "get-there-itis" with a plan like that. It's almost as good pedagogically to do an equivalent flight to somewhere similar, where he has no friends to distract him from the task at hand. And he'll have plenty of...

I'll bet THAT will teach you not to wear an unmodified ball cap.... I just had it happen a few days ago on approach to Reno. I flew into the wake of Mt. Rose in 20 knot winds (stupid -- I knew what the wind was doing) trying unnecessarily to stay off the extended centerlines for departing...

It's not nice to scare new pilots. The wings (and the rest of the airplane) are rated to 3.8G at maximum weight. That's a hell of a lot. For turbulence to get that nasty, you would be thrown around the cockpit, and anything loose would be flying violently. The worst turbulence I've...

People told you to go to CCR because you said you were at Travis. CCR is a VERY short flight from Travis, nowhere near as long as SJC. Now it seems you were a bit further than that. But if you really flew direct from EDU to SJC, you flew right over CCR, and it was a lot more than 5-6 minutes...

There is a problem receiving BOS VOR below 3000 feet south of that point. Before you say "I don't use that VFR," keep in mind that undercasts sometimes happen in coastal environments, and that waypoint is pretty close to shore. It's also not at all unusual to use VFR charts while IFR to know...

Sounds like someone at that FBO needs to be reminded what a recurring airworthiness directive is. The pins don't BREAK if they actually get inspected once in a while. That comment by itself is worth a call to the FSDO.

I doubt it. Sounds like a pretty modest crosswind. Some locations are more prone to bumps than others, particularly if there is some transition in the terrain nearby (like a lakeshore or forest edge). But even those end up being second nature after a bit.

Grab your plotter and find out where the arrow points. It's gonna be a VOR.... Or peek at the IFR low chart where it tells you for these particular intersections.