The weather finally cooperated, and I did my solo x/c to Palm Springs (PSP) today. What a great flight! Got very organized, stayed very calm. Made two minor mistakes right away. First was that I took my hand off the throttle to write down the time off, and didn’t tighten the throttle lock. By the time I noticed it backing off, I was at about 50% power. No wonder the climb rate was so lousy. Next, I forgot to open my flight plan. Filed it, just never opened it. Since the plan was not to crash, no real harm done.

Headed direct to the Pomona VOR, then along the 10 freeway to just past Ontario. A bit south from there to Banning (BNG), and through the pass to PSP. There is a large area of windmills at the east end of the pass, so I thought that would be neat to see. It was, until I realized why they put them there – it’s ALWAYS windy in that area. Got thrown around a bit, but nothing too major. Made a nice landing at PSP and grabbed a bite to eat. The ride out was even more turbulent, as the days heat wore on. Once past BNG, it smoothed right out.

Great trip. Hit every checkpoint, was never lost for a second – even when ATC vectored me around some Ontario traffic. Times were right on (arrival was within 1 minute of plan!) and I felt in control at all times. Can’t wait to do another one. Kent suggested I head to Tehachapi for my next one – a small uncontrolled airport tucked away in some mountains near Mojave.

Getting close to finishing up now. I’ll take the written some time this week or early next week, and am still studying for the oral. As far as flying goes, I have the long x/c to do, 2.3 hours of hood time (including unusual attitude recovery – I’m sure Kent can hardly wait), and 6 more night landings to do. I need to practice soft and short field procedures a bit more, and some other maneuvers (turns around a point and S turns in particular) before I’ll feel ready for the checkride.

Closed escrow on our new house this week, and moved in over the weekend. Couldn’t fly at all since the night x/c, so I went out midday and flew around the pattern. Good warm up before our x/c to Bakersfield. This one I did pretty much all alone, with Kent just observing. Spotted all of my landmarks, kept my workload low, and stayed on top of the checklists. Spotted the airport in plenty of time and slipped it in for landing. I have a tendency to come in too high (which is better than too low, if you ask me) and have to lose a bunch of altitude in a hurry. I’ll work on that.

Had a nice dinner, then headed back via GPS for the first time. Wow – talk about EASY! You basically program the route into the handheld, and follow it on the screen. This was a fairly old Garmin GPS 90, and it had LOADS of features. The newer ones do a WHOLE lot more. Going to an airshow in Pomona this weekend, so I’ll do so shopping. Probably no buying, but shopping.

After we finished, Kent said I was ready for a solo x/c. I asked what I should plan, and we decided on either Hemet/Ryan or Palm Springs. After looking at the chart, I think I would rather to Palm Springs, just because the route is not so complicated. I’ll plan that and try to knock it out next week. Probably one more after that, then a long (>150 miles) cross country. Still studying like mad for the written and oral!

Decided to just go ahead and finish up the night time while we waited to schedule another day cross country. I planned a trip to Santa Barbara (SBA), using easily recognizable landmarks. Turns out that picking a lake as a checkpoint at night doesn’t work real good – they are pretty DARK. We headed out around 9:00, towards the Fillmore VOR. Turns out you CAN see that at night – they put a light on top of it. The coastline, towns and airports (those with beacons anyway) all make fine checkpoints. I spotted the beacon at Santa Barbara 20 miles out.

Landed, taxied back for takeoff and came home. Great flight! Kent decided that we’d do one more dual cross country (to Apple Valley, next week) and then he’d cut me loose for a solo cross country. In the meantime, I’m studying every night for the written, and going through a book on acing the oral as well. I’m still probably 6 weeks or more away from a checkride, but I want to be prepared.

Tonight we decided to get in some night and hood time. Got airborne and was amazed by how beautiful it is at night. After about 3 minutes of marveling at the beauty, Kent had me put on the hood. Very interesting. It basically takes all of your concentration to keep the plane straight and level. We flew to Camarillo (CMA), landed and then took off to head back. Stayed under the hood for the whole time, even flew the ILS approach into Van Nuys. Great lesson – can’t wait to fly more at night.

For the second x/c, I had planned a flight from Van Nuys to Santa Maria (SMX), but when I got in the plane, Kent wanted me to divert to New Cuyama (L00) instead. I calculated the new heading and leg time, and off we went.

This time the plan was for me to do all of the navigating myself, with Kent just letting me make mistakes. Fortunately there would be none of that. The wind was a bit stronger than expected, so our times were behind a bit – but uniformly so. I hit all of the checkpoints, and used VOR’s for last legs. Once I spotted L00, I got in the pattern and made a reasonable crosswind landing on the narrowest runway I have ever seen. We parked the plane, and headed to Burger Barn (I’m guessing the ONLY restaurant in town) for a quick bite. The flight back we planned to go north past Mount Pinos, then straight south following I5 back to VNY. We even diverted to look at other airports on the way. All in all, a great trip and I learned a lot. One more dual, and I’ll do a solo x/c!

Today I did my first dual cross country with Kent. It was also my brother’s 21st birthday, so I thought I’d take him along as well. I planned a trip from Van Nuys (VNY) to Big Bear (L35) via the Pomona VOR (POM). Kent and I had gone over the planning earlier in the week, so that was all nailed down. We debriefed over breakfast at a nearby restaurant, called for a weather briefing and filed a flight plan. Then it was off to the airport for preflight, including what to do about fuel. With the three of us aboard, we were too heavy to carry full fuel. Turns out there was enough out of the tanks to go.

The first problem was that the tower had us fly out a ways before we could start our own navigation, which threw me off a bit, but nothing major. Next was my airspeed. When you plan to climb out at 80 knots, you really NEED to climb out at 80 knots. This REALLY did some damage to the plan, since it took us longer (and therefore more distance) to climb to cruising altitude. The rest of the ride was uneventful, with location of all checkpoints and a solid landing at Big Bear. We reviewed over coffee, and then planned to come home the same way. A bit of fuel and some clean windows, and we headed back. Takeoff performance was a solid 100 foot per minute climb. Density altitude is not something to be taken lightly. The flight back was as planned, hitting all checkpoints even in haze.

All in all, a great learning experience. We’ll plan another soon to keep up the pace, and then get ready for my solo cross countries!

2.2 hours/ 41.7 /3.0