Well learned my lesson the hard way.

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Legiox

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Did first solo cross country today. Only traveled about 51nm. Nothing to big. Cruising at 4,500 on approach to airport. Leaned my mixture out some (not much) to compensate for alittle engine roughness. Well long story short i forgot to enrich the mixture. When i was landing for a touch and go, i hit the runway and gave full power...engine stopped and i had to taxi off runway and wait about 15 min to get it restarted. Glad it turned out ok :)

Was alittle nervous the flight up to the airport. Was trying to pay attention to washington center freq i was on. Make sure i knew where i was suppose to be on the map, and scan for traffic. Not riching the mixture again could of been a bad day.

Next time i will put a sticky pad in cockpit to remember to check.
 
Like i said, there was some things i missed. Was mainly nervous and you know when your nervous you might miss things you never do. I started to relax more on the way back. First time solo cross country. Came back alive and didn't do anything stupid or FAA violation is good in my book. Will remember it now though:)

We all have to start somewhere. Lessons learned that is all.
 
Here is a little mnemonic that some pilots use: GUMP or GUMPS. You can say it to yourself when you are on downwind, and on final. It stands for:

G=Gas (on switchable tanks, put it to fullest tank, or as POH recommends)
U=Undercarriage (landing gear down and locked)
M=Mixture (as rich as you want it to be for your density altitude)
P=Propeller control set for go-around (on constant-speed propellers)
(S) = seatbelts secure, switches set (fuel pump, etc.)

Even if you fly a fixed-gear, fixed-pitch airplane for now, it is good to get into the habbit of saying this. Because someday, you may learn to fly a more complex airplane, and you will already be used to doing this.
 
Be careful about enrichening the mixture at high density altitudes. People have bit the big one flooding out their engine in the pattern by going full rich.

Normally, landing in a cruise-lean condition should not result in an engine stoppage from a lean condition, particularly if the engine wasn't aggressively leaned in the first place (OP said it was just leaned enough to stop roughness.) I'm wondering if there wasn't something else going on with the engine.
 
I agree with Sac Arrow - questions, questions, I have questions...
Let me be the 47th to say to you - CHECKLIST
Nothing wrong with GUMP either

My idle thought is that the accelerator pump is inop...
Might have the mekanik check that...

denny-o
 
Congrats on your first solomcross country. Sounds like you were very careful and managed fine. Every time we fly we learn something.... Good for you.
 
Well I bet you won't make that mistake again. All in all it sounds like a pretty good lesson. Just be sure to use a checklist next time! :)
 
You don't have to wait until you're in the pattern, or about to enter the pattern to do this stuff. No law says you can't go full rich 3 or 5 miles out when you do a position report. Get it out of the way, then concentrate on flying the airplane.
 
Dr. O said:
I agree with Sac Arrow - questions, questions, I have questions...
Let me be the 47th to say to you - CHECKLIST
Nothing wrong with GUMP either

My idle thought is that the accelerator pump is inop...
Might have the mekanik check that...

denny-o
Click to expand...

Good point but maybe not even that. Cherokee 140's are notorious for having an overly agressive accelerator pump. A rapid throttle movement can cause the engine to sputter. I've done it myself.

OP, what are you flying?
 
Landing Checklist outside the pattern.

You need eyeballs out in the pattern.

GUMPS on final. Because everyone forgets things from time to time.
 
I did exactly the same thing on my first cross country solo with identical results. It's a lesson I will never forget. We had been doing so much work on the manuevers, that we were full rich almost all the time. We hadn't done a lot of flying where I had to touch the mixture. Then, when I did my cross country, I dutifully used my check list, and leaned the engine for cruise flight, but got distracted trying to set up for a landing at an unfamiliar airport. It never even crossed my mind as I got lowere and lowere, and the engine started getting quieter and quieter.

Lesson learned-- pre-landing checklist, especially at an unfamiliar airport! Don't forget the mixture.
 
My first solo XC I stopped and got out to check fuel (calculate burn rate) and then couldn't get it restarted! Nerves are something else...
 
My first experience with this happened on my PPL Checkride. We were on approach to landing in a Cessna 150 on a simulated engine out, and he said, "OK, your landing would be possible. Now go around." I shoved the throttle forward, and there was nothing. The mixture was rich, but there was still no engine response. I was ready to let it settle onto the runway, when the engine finally came to life, and we climbed out.

In talking about it afterwards, the DPE said that if I had advanced the throttle a bit more slowly and evenly, the engine would have probably responded better. This was in February in Pennsylvania, and outside temperatures were in the 30s.

My take away from that experience was to advance the throttles more gently, in all kinds of temperatures, whether on take-off, or during a go around.
 
I've definitely had similar mistakes. That being said, a touch and go may not be the best for training. So much to remember in a short time. I am a new pilot and don't do them.
 
+whatever we're up to on the checklist!! When going full throttle push it in easy.
 
Legiox said:
Like i said, there was some things i missed. Was mainly nervous and you know when your nervous you might miss things you never do. I started to relax more on the way back. First time solo cross country. Came back alive and didn't do anything stupid or FAA violation is good in my book. Will remember it now though:)

We all have to start somewhere. Lessons learned that is all.
Click to expand...

We all make mistakes. Lord knows I've made more than I care to remember. Some involving bent airplanes. :redface:

But when experienced pilots give good advice, take it, and don't make the same expensive mistakes we have made. ;)

Rather than killing the engine, lets just say you had your first engine out at a very low altitude. ;)
 
A little lean and the engine stopped?

I'd be a wee bit worried about that. That should not have stopped the engine.
 
Congrats on the xc solo!

What was your starting altitude? If you're only going 51nm I don't see a reason to get to a high altitude. You only need to be at even + 500 when you're planning to be higher than 3000 AGL and only going 51nm it seems unnecessary to climb so much just for that. If you're climbing to maintain radio contact with FF I suppose that's a great reason. But I'm only a student pilot too.
 
This brings me back to the time when I used to take one hour or more paranoically flight planning a 50 nm cross country and got nervous landing solo.
 
Live and learn. We've all done stupid things from time to time. A quick GUMP check on downwind and again on final should do the trick.
 
I don't think I forgot to enrich before, but I definitely tried to go around with carb heat still on.
 
Thanks for the kind words guys/gals. Much appreciated!! My extreme solo is coming up next. Total flight time (without calculating winds aloft/dep/app/pattern maneuvers) is about 2hrs 19min. I'm really going to hit it hard tonight and hopefully get a good flight plan up.

Thanks again guys. I'm going to tape the checklist on the instrument panel to make sure i always see it....lol j/k
 
I don't think I've done a single touch and go since I was training. I've done a couple go-arounds, but that's another story. If I've taken all that time and expense to get somewhere, I usually want to get out and have a look around.
 
steingar said:
I don't think I've done a single touch and go since I was training. I've done a couple go-arounds, but that's another story. If I've taken all that time and expense to get somewhere, I usually want to get out and have a look around.
Click to expand...

Wow. I try to do pattern work every few (or six) months. It's sorta fun to make it challenging, e.g. see how long the nose can be kept up, see how quickly the plane can drop from pattern to short final, power-off 180, various flap settings, etc. Crosswinds and gusty days are good practice too. Normal landings tend to be a bit boring so I don't do so well at those...

Oh, for the original poster, GUMPS is good. Call it all out including Mixture: Deferred (or Enriched) and Prop: Fixed. It doesn't take long but it helps you review the condition of the aircraft in an organized fashion. It works if you take it serious.
 
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Clark1961 said:
Wow. I try to do pattern work every few (or six) months. It's sorta fun to make it challenging, e.g. see how long the nose can be kept up, see how quickly the plane can drop from pattern to short final, power-off 180, various flap settings, etc. Crosswinds and gusty days are good practice too. Normal landings tend to be a bit boring so I don't do so well at those...
Click to expand...

I do all sorts of fun things in landings, but they never really get boring. You are likely a far better pilot than I.

Clark1961 said:
Oh, for the original poster, GUMPS is good. Call it all out including Mixture: Deferred (or Enriched) and Prop: Fixed. It doesn't take long but it helps you review the condition of the aircraft in an organized fashion. It works if you take it serious.
Click to expand...

Gotta agree with all that.
 
steingar said:
You are likely a far better pilot than I.
Click to expand...

I seriously doubt that. I watched you make a very good decision one day and we all know that good decisions make good pilots.
 
Legiox said:
I'm going to tape the checklist on the instrument panel to make sure i always see it....lol j/k
Click to expand...
I keep mine on the kneeboard. Gene Witt suggested printing in-flight checklists on a laminated card and hang it on a string around the neck.
 
Here is a little mnemonic that some pilots use: GUMP or GUMPS. You can say it to yourself when you are on downwind, and on final. It stands for:

G=Gas (on switchable tanks, put it to fullest tank, or as POH recommends)
U=Undercarriage (landing gear down and locked)
M=Mixture (as rich as you want it to be for your density altitude)
P=Propeller control set for go-around (on constant-speed propellers)
(S) = seatbelts secure, switches set (fuel pump, etc.)
Click to expand...

I got taught BUMFISH
Brakes,pressure
Undercarriage ,down fixed
Master,Mags,Mixture
Fuel, pump on, best tank, sufficient for go round
Instruments ,in the green
Secure, harness's
Hatches doors locked

Also had reds, blues and greens cowls as a final check on the more sophisticated jiggers
 
I'm still trying to figure out why a student pilot would want to do a touch and go on a cross country...

:confused:

I'm with Michael -- why not stop, get out, look around?
 
dmccormack said:
I'm still trying to figure out why a student pilot would want to do a touch and go on a cross country...

:confused:

I'm with Michael -- why not stop, get out, look around?
Click to expand...

And just enjoy that YOU FLEW A PLANE all by your lonesome to this new airport that's not your home strip!

Congrats on the first XC!! Have fun with your long XC, take the crew car, get lunch/breakfast/iced tea at one of the stops! You earned it. (and you can recheck the wx for the trip back while on the ground)
 
Clark1961 said:
Wow. I try to do pattern work every few (or six) months. It's sorta fun to make it challenging, e.g. see how long the nose can be kept up, see how quickly the plane can drop from pattern to short final, power-off 180, various flap settings, etc. Crosswinds and gusty days are good practice too. Normal landings tend to be a bit boring so I don't do so well at those...

.
Click to expand...

Clark, who says you need to do touch and goes for pattern work? My home airport prohibits them (3400')

Additional Remarks

-* TWY ONLY 20 FT WIDE. LARGE ARCT CONSIDER BACK-TAXI.
-* NO TGL, ALL FULL STOP LDGS.
Click to expand...
 
metalman said:
I got taught BUMFISH:

Brakes,pressure
Undercarriage ,down fixed
Master,Mags,Mixture
Fuel, pump on, best tank, sufficient for go round
Instruments ,in the green
Secure, harness's
Hatches doors locked
Click to expand...

When you say BUMFISH, all I get is this:

1296515634.jpg
 
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