My solo cross country is Sunday.

My solo cross country is when I really started to feel like a pilot. Enjoy!
 
I hope the XC is going well! Have fun, relax, and enjoy the flight. You trained for this, you’ve got this!
 
As others have already said --- have fun!! I think my solo xc was the first time I felt like a real pilot. It's you, the aircraft and all of your planning and knowledge up there. Really makes you feel free and it is so satisfying. Best feeling was on the leg home when I got handed off to tower (oh, get flight following for sure...) and I recognized the guy's voice and it felt like home. I think I had a grin ear to ear the whole way back knowing that I was able to do something such few can do.

Anyway, you got this! Your planning is good, you have the skills, your CFI knows you are able to do it...... just have fun and try to remember it!
 
Sport Pilot said:
Got it.

Get CFI signatures.

Monitor and close out VFR flight plans.

If it doesn’t feel right, Go-arounds are encouraged.

and most importantly, have fun.
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Back in the day, my CFI required me to get a signature of someone at the destination airports. I never looked into whether that was a requirement per 14 CFR part 91, but it was his requirement at the least.
 
Kenny Phillips said:
Back in the day, my CFI required me to get a signature of someone at the destination airports. I never looked into whether that was a requirement per 14 CFR part 91, but it was his requirement at the least.
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Nope - maybe they took it out but I recall the same in 84. When I got back to it a couple years ago it never came up and I just did full stop and taxi back and on to the next leg.

Enjoy, as others have said, it's when you really start to get to be pilot and make decisions.
 
I had to divert on my xc. They were rolling out red xs on one of my destination airports. They had a second runway, but the x wind was too severe. (I did try, though).

I went to a nearby airport that was "familiar" and was afraid it would "blow" the requirement.

It did not. I got congratulated for my discernment.


How did yours go today?
 
Kenny Phillips said:
Back in the day, my CFI required me to get a signature of someone at the destination airports. I never looked into whether that was a requirement per 14 CFR part 91, but it was his requirement at the least.
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It’s not, but it is a sign of major trust issues with the CFI.
 
Kenny Phillips said:
Back in the day, my CFI required me to get a signature of someone at the destination airports.
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I just picked up business cards in case anyone asked me where I was, but that was 26-27 years ago.

In current times, most everyone has a cell phone with a camera so pictures should work.
 
I’m hoping for an update too. Night has fallen on our half of the country, so I’m sure he’s grounded by now.
 
So here’s what happened.


Woke up at 5:30 am to drive 2.5 hours to the airport. Ceiling was at 400 AGL at 9am, 1,000 AGL at 10am, 1,400 AGL at 11am, and then it happened… 2,300 AGL at 12:30…GO NOW!


Before I took off, my girlfriend drove from the airport to meet me at my first stop. When I arrived at my first leg, I could see her as I flew final. I landed and taxied past her as she was waving.


Now to my next leg.


I followed highway I-57 toward Salem airport which was my second leg. As I flew, I looked down at all the tiny cars on the highway searching for my girlfriend’s car. Not a chance.


Now back to my home airport.


Landed at my home airport, taxied back to the hanger, turned off the engine, and, for some reason, I just felt different. I have landed so many times before and just got out, put the plane away, and went home. But this feeling was different.


What is the feeling? I do not look at pilots the same. I do not look at my rental airplane the same. I do not look at weather reports, the sky, atmospheric conditions, or anything else related to aviation the same.


I have a new appreciation for aviation.


I LOVE IT!

5AF5E8E6-75B0-4CE6-8F19-37F63B377355.png 6081A452-8D5E-40B5-B777-13CCE95B68C6.jpeg
 
Sport Pilot said:
So here’s what happened.


Woke up at 5:30 am to drive 2.5 hours to the airport. Ceiling was at 400 AGL at 9am, 1,000 AGL at 10am, 1,400 AGL at 11am, and then it happened… 2,300 AGL at 12:30…GO NOW!


Before I took off, my girlfriend drove from the airport to meet me at my first stop. When I arrived at my first leg, I could see her as I flew final. I landed and taxied past her as she was waving.


Now to my next leg.


I followed highway I-57 toward Salem airport which was my second leg. As I flew, I looked down at all the tiny cars on the highway searching for my girlfriend’s car. Not a chance.


Now back to my home airport.


Landed at my home airport, taxied back to the hanger, turned off the engine, and, for some reason, I just felt different. I have landed so many times before and just got out, put the plane away, and went home. But this feeling was different.


What is the feeling? I do not look at pilots the same. I do not look at my rental airplane the same. I do not look at weather reports, the sky, atmospheric conditions, or anything else related to aviation the same.


I have a new appreciation for aviation.


I LOVE IT!

View attachment 78817 View attachment 78818 View attachment 78817
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Congratulations!!
 
Congratulations! Huge accomplishment.
 
Congratulations! That’s the feeling of becoming a real pilot!
 
I have been flying for over 40 years, with 5000 hours and some time in a 30 different planes, from hang gliders to gliders to very high performance ones. Iv flown all over the U S, some of Canada, lots of Caribbean and landed a Tiger Moth at Duxford, not counting going to Oshkosh every year. But in its own way learning from 0 to private has its own charm, its all new and its a skill and a freedom we have here that many residents of other countries don't dream of. Do it safely, and start planning your trip to Osh this year. Congrats, P S ask her to teach you how to put on that shoulder harness!
PS no. 2 Its such a feeling of accomplishment, really most anyone can be a pilot, but so many don't even bother.
I used to be a ski racer, long ago in my distant memory. I wasn't very good at it, being very aware of the frailties of the human body at 70 mph on a mountain side, and Hey I'm from Texas. But just standing in the starting gate, knowing I could do it and had the chance that maybe a few thousand people in world do, felt good.
 
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Salty,
That is exactly how the trip went. I was bounced, pushed, and thrown all around. But I was determined to make the next checkpoint.
 
I keep waiting for @EdFred to come on here and complain about that "preferred" pattern entry at H96.
 
Just c
Sport Pilot said:
Thank you everyone.

Below is the PLANNED FLIGHT PATH vs. ACTUAL FLIGHT PATH.

View attachment 78832 View attachment 78833
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What did you use to track your ground track so you could post it on here? In my spare time before I started flying running was my thing and I currently use my garmin forerunner watch to track the ground track of my flights. It works at about 80% of what I want. I don't get actual elevation recorded and if I do any tight maneuvers like steep turns it doesn't track me effectively so the track looks all kinds of wonky. I have flightplan go on my phone but haven't ever remembered to turn on the breadcrumbs feature so I'm not even sure if it would work like your graphic shows.
 
I keep waiting for @EdFred to come on here and complain about that "preferred" pattern entry at H96.
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I was on a heading of 180 and turned a bit to the right. Then I flew right over the field at 2,000 MSL. While descending to 1,500 MSL , I completed a teardrop entry at a 45 to enter the traffic pattern. Once on downwind, I made the final adjustments for landing on 18.

As you can see from the graph, this is the exact approach procedure that I completed. I hope I did the right procedure.

EED5E019-7F5A-4B06-B7F1-F9CC9EA0B732.png
 
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What did you use to track your ground track so you could post it on here?
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I use CloudAHoy. It tracks everything about your flight.

I just posted a small sample of what CloudAHoy can show.

Here is the same flight with CloudAHoy options.1FC3D396-2296-491D-A3E7-D3BDA343517A.png 4B9DD8EA-FE22-416F-9D41-64CBAC9DDE74.png74B3D496-45CC-4054-809A-0BD61EA13A04.png937DAF19-867A-4A3F-9C95-32D6F1A61DAB.png9E6C66A8-1527-43E0-8065-EF56071EA32C.pngBB763B75-9014-4801-8F6F-C14BF74E52D8.png08B6FABB-2775-43FF-979E-C5891B425175.png
 
Sport Pilot said:
I use CloudAHoy. It tracks everything about your flight.

I just posted a small sample of what CloudAHoy can show.

Here is the same flight with CloudAHoy options.View attachment 78840 View attachment 78841View attachment 78842View attachment 78843View attachment 78844View attachment 78845View attachment 78846
Click to expand...

I used Cloud Ahoy for a while until they went subscription. I was done with my training at that point and didn't see the point in paying for it. That said, it did have a nice set of features. Now I use the recording feature in ForeFlight if I remember to turn it on...
 
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