Solo Cross-Country Number TWO

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The trusty Cessna Aerobat 152

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Today I completed my second solo cross-country from Austin to Brenham (11R) then to Easterwood Field (Aggieland CLL) and back to Austin Bergstrom (AUS). From the ground the weather looked great but the winds aloft were shifty and the thermals made for some bumpy flying. I was not able to reach my primary planned altitudes on the outbound and inbound legs due to the "VFR 500 feet below" cloud requirement. My navigation logs worked pretty well with the only missed checkpoint being the TOC points (top of climbout). All the other checkpoints were hit within 3 minutes of estimated time. Measured fuel consumption matched my pre-flight calculations nicely. Shown above is the GPS track log of my flight.

Brenham Airport (11R)

College Station Airport (CLL)

All-in-all the flight went smoothly (except for the bumpy ride).
I am now finished with the solo XC requirements for the FAA Private Pilot
license!

-CT
9/24/2007

Finally....My First Real Solo Cross Country!

Well the weather, aircraft schedule, and my schedule all came together today.

I flew my first long distance (180 nm) solo cross country from Austin to Fredericksburg (T82) to Llano (AQO) and back to Austin Bergstrom. Everything went smoothly with the only glitch being that I wasn't able to get flight-following on the way to T82 due to a lower than planned assigned altitude of about 3000 feet MSL. Shown here is the GPS track log map of today's flight. (Click on it for an enlarged view). I have one more flight like today's to completely fullfill my cross-country requirements in pursuit of my FAA Private Pilot's License. Also shown here is a photo of the Fredricksburg and Llano airports (click to enlarge photo). Fredericksburg -->

LLano --

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-CDT 9/20/2007

Solo Flight to Taylor, Texas

I got up this morning and there were no clouds in the sky (sort of rare lately!) The Cessna Aerobat was available so I booked it for a flight from 10 a.m. to 12 noon. I prepared my airport and navigation information and was wheels-up around 10:45. My flight lasted exactly one hour on the Hobbs meter. Taylor is good practice for my forthcoming solo cross-country because it also has a RIGHTHAND traffic pattern on runway 17. My first stop on my cross-country will also be a righthand traffic pattern if the wind is out of the usual south. Here's my GPS track log for the flight. I used the Centex VOR for the outbound leg and dead reckoning and a little help from the GPS on the return leg. Weather was calm but hazy. Also shown is a photo of the Taylor airport T74.

-CT 9/14/2007

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SOLO Cross-Country.....coming soon

At this point I'm just waiting on the weather to cooperate! My navigation logs are filled out and ready to go. Shown here is the intended route of flight which starts at Austin Bergstrom westward to Fredericksburg (T82) where I will re-fuel. Then north to Llano (AQO) passing just east of Enchanted Rock. Touch-down in Llano. Take a short breather and prepare for the final leg back to Austin-Bergstrom.