Here's my write-up from today....
I've been preparing for my Hazelton Solo trip, and today happened to be the day. I called Abe at the airport to see what the availability was for today or tomorrow to make the trip. He wanted to have the plane back in time for the VF Cadets to have their lessons on Wednesday,.. so, that meant I had to take off work if I wanted to get this trip in this week. So,. quick look at the weather, a check-in with my department mangager, and next thing I knew I was calling Abe telling him to get good ole-48392 ready and I'll be there at 1pm. Called Flight Service and got my breifing. Things were looking great to the north, but a lower ceiling was moving in from the south, with broken clouds at 4700, overcast at 8000, expected to have scattered/broken clouds at 5000 after 1700 Z. Visibility was good, and winds at 3000 feet were 15 knots from the south,.. giving me a good Tailwind on the way up, but a headwind on the return leg.
I arrived, and talked with Abe about the conditions. He had the plane topped off and ready, so I began my preflight. Felt more real today, being a pilot and having the full responsibility for everything to go right,... I continued to arrange the information I needed in the cockpit and mounted my Yoke Clip. Good startup and runup, everything was looking good. I taxied back runway 9 and held at the end, double checking everything before I departed. Made my calls on the radio, and off I went, barreling down the runway in my aluminum can looking for 60 Knots.... Smooth Takeoff, good extended centerline,... climbing out to 1000 feet.
I turned north to heading of 348 Degrees, and continued climbing for 3000. Leveled off at 3000, I easily see the Green Lane Res but I'm closer than I should be,... so I adjust slightly to the left. Shortly after I see Butter Valley Golf Course off my nose (had to dip it a little to see it). Right on course, parallel with Butter Valley's Runway, or so I thought.
Next checkpoint was Doe Mountain Ski area,... hmm,... should be here any second now..... looking left,.. looking right,... I see the small town of Alburtis to my right,... hmm,.. should it be that far right?
I'll continue on my heading to my next checkpoint, not that far away. Continuing, I shortly found myself slightly out of place. I saw an airport to my left, a few miles out, on the edge of a town. To my right, I could easily make out the city of Allentown,... so I'm between them, which is good, but not where I'm supposed to be. I've drifted left of my intended course. I decided to circle the town to my left, as it has an airport and a big water tower, so maybe there will be a name on one of them. Sure enough,.. Kutztown University!! How did Heck did I get all the way over here?!!
Man, what a mess,.. I followed the highway east, looking for my interchange and the East Texas VOR,.. found them after a minute, I wasn't that far off,.. but good thing I stopped to circle and verify my position, cause it would have made a mess if I didn't.
(Lesson No. 1 - Know where you are, don't go to far without double checking your position)
Set myself up on my heading, and thought about the winds,.. I need to compensate more to the East,... heading up to the next checkpoint, I nail it,.. Rte 309 crossing the mountain with a nice radio tower marking the crossing point. Good,.. I have about a 10 degree crab angle in, should be good now. Continued to my next checkpoint without a problem, passing Arner Meml (22N) airport out my right window. I could now see Hazelton in the Distance, beyond my next checkpoint. Listened into AWOS, winds variable between 170 and 200 at 8,.. Peak gust 14. Hmm,.. back to the Hazelton Frequency,.. no one was flying in the pattern or landing there. (Keep in mind, my Cessna 152 only has the original radio, with one Comm) I overflew the numbers of 28, and was surprised to see that the airport is just South of a large drop off the mountain. Turned downwind for 10, and could feel the wind pushing me out,... turned base,... then final,.... flaps at 20 degrees and a good established crab, 30 degrees flaps, power mostly out,... Flare,... and touchdown. Good landing, little high on the flare. I floated a little bit due to the power, but the wind was bumpy, so I felt more comfortable this way. I think I touched down at the white precision bars,.. farther than I wanted, but it was a safe landing. Taxied in, and then back down. There were a bunch of guys working on some Ag-Wagon type aircraft, looks like for Forestry applications, and a few business jets. Stopped on the taxiway at the hold short, and shuffled things around for my return trip.
On the way back, I was going to use the East Texas VOR, to the Pottstown VOR, and get flight following from Allentown. Checking my Frequency lists, and setting the radial in the CDI, I then taxied back on RY 10 to the end. Took off on RY 10 with a crab to the south to maintain runway heading,... reached 1000 feet and turned into the wind still climbing. After reaching 3000,... you can feel the headwind and it was much bumpier this direction. Updrafts,... Down drafts,.. it was keeping me busy. I found 3500 a little better, and leaned out the engine. Allentown Approach was pleasant and gave me a squalk for Flight Following. There wasn't much traffic around today, just a plane here or there. A Bonanza and I were given traffic alerts by Allentown, and we each saw each other. He was heading to the Northeast, and crossed in front of me at 3000 feet or so, a few miles ahead. Soon, I started tracking the Pottstown VOR, and then I canceled flight following when I saw the Green Lane Resovour a few miles directly off to my left. They let me squalk VFR and told me to have a good day,... Boy, I was! This was great.
Over the prison, I called Perkiomen and reported 3 mile to the North,.. hmm,.. something's not right. Oops,.. I was still on Pottstown-Limerick's frequency (122.7) as I was checking which runway they were using. Winds were Variable at 5 Knots.
(Lesson No. 2 - FRET --> Frequency, Runway, Entry to Pattern, Throttle) Switched over to 122.8, called up Perkiomen for a Downwind entry for Runway 9. Came around, made a nice full stall landing on the centerline! Better than at Hazelton, but the winds here were pretty direct and calmer. Pulled up to the tanks and shut down,.. Abe gave me a thumbs Up from the hangar, and I began to cleanup the cockpit from my stuff.
Abe and I then chatted for a few minutes, which was cool, cause he can seem a little rough around the edges every once in a while, but today he was the greatest Airport Manager in the world, letting me go Flyin! I gave a PIREP to another pilot who was about to depart to Syracuse, NY. He decided to go back in and file an IFR flight plan on DUATs, since I cruised back at 3000 with cloud bases at 3900-4500 feet.
Checked the tanks with my fuel guage, 6.5 Gal Usable in the Left, 6.0 Gal Usable in the right. + 1.5 Unusable = 14.0 Gallons remaining. I checked them with my guage when I was preflighting, and we had 12 Gal Usable per tank usable, or 25.5 Total. Burned 11.5 Gallons on this trip,.. little higher than I calculated at 9.8 Gallons, but I was running a higher throttle on the return leg into that headwind. 1.7 Hrs on the Hobbs,
all PILOT IN COMMAND 
Actually, It wasn't quite that bad, but the first landing I did go from Left, to the right just near those planes tied down, and then landed with the left wheel nearly on the grass off the left side again. Next two landings were much better. I stayed to the left of center and by the time I touched down I was on the centerline or just to the right. I crabbed much longer on those two, which made me feel much better about the winds. Those gusts could really throw you just when you thought you are comfortable.
The 6 Coupe must be nice too, cause I love the way the 3 handles.
My instructor wasn't around, and the winds were to much for them to let me fly solo this weekend. Saturday was really nice, but winds 350 @12,... 2 knots over my crosswind signoff. Today I tried a 2pm timeslot, but the clouds rolled in last night and even though the winds were 080 @ 8 (so I would use RY9) the ceiling was 2200-2500 feet. Wings was reporting winds 070-090 @11 G 16. So no go decision was made, and we cleaned the house.
