First Solo XC

Today I completed my first solo cross country flight. First I should define "cross country" for those who are reading. In the Hesston College Aviation Program, cross country flight is simply any flight that is 50 nautical miles or more away from the airport of origin.

Today I flew from Newton (KEWK) to Hays (KHYS) to Hutchinson (KHUT) and then back to Newton. The preflight went as usual. Preflight for xc (cross country) flight takes a lot longer than a local flight. You need to plan for winds aloft which affects your true course, heading, ground speed, fuel burn and time to checkpoint. Basically speaking, then, you have checkpoints along the way that act as references to make sure you are tracking where you want to go. As a VFR pilot these are visual references like towns, bodies of water, highways, etc. Determining your location on your sectional chart by referencing it to the surroundings around you is called pilotage. It is a skill that is developed, as landmarks and other things used as references take a keen eye to identify.

Filing a flight plan is another thing that I have learned. Technically, as a VFR pilot, I am not required to file a flight plan. But I have been taught how to do it so that I am familiar with it once I start on my instrument rating. Once the flight plan has been filed, I am ready to fly!

Once in the air, opening the flight plan is quite easy. You tune your radio to a specific frequency and then contact FSS (Flight Service Station). They open the flight plan for you and give you any NOTAM's (Notices To Airmen) or TFR's (Temporary Flight Restrictions) in the planned area of flight and any other relevant data that you need. Once that is complete you can fly directly to your airport or you have the option of contacting a center and requesting flight following. Flight following is basically a radar service in a specific area. So I would tune to Wichita center and say something to the effect of "Wichita Center, Cessna niner six eight hotel charlie is climbing through five thousand, requesting flight following." Sometimes if they are busy it will take a while to get back so patience is needed. When they do come back, they might ask for your type aircraft and then they will tell you to squawk a certain code. Our airplanes are Cessna 172 type A which means they are equipped with a radio, a DME and a transponder with mode C (altitude encoding). Once you squawk that code into your transponder, you show up on their radar. In this way they can warn you of other traffic in the area and pretty much guide you along.

Todays flights went extremely well. I was very happy to fly today, as yesterdays flight was canceled because of high wind. I think I finally have crosswind landings down to a science. My landing at Hays was almost perfectly on the 500 ft markers, touching down on the right wheel first (there was almost a 90 degree right crosswind) followed by the left and nose wheel. Flying into Hutchinson, the controller gave me a straight in on runway 17 and that was nice I didn't have to work the pattern. Coming straight in really lets you use your distance judgment. You need to descend, but not to fast because you'll end up low on the glideslope. I hit it right on the money. It feels pretty good, getting the hang of this flying business.