First Dual Cross Country

Yesterday my instructor and I went on my first dual cross country in his flying megaphone (Cessna 140). This cross country accomplished several things - the cross country, night flying, and night landings.

I was supposed to chart a course to Santa Maria, CA (SMX) and back from SNS. I picked SNS-PRB-SBP-SMX. The return route was the same.

My instructor and I had gone over creating a flight plan a couple of times. However, doing it all alone was rough. The part that I found most challenging was trying to remember all the IAS, CAS, TAS, TC, TH, MH etc. and the conversions from one to the other. After many hours refreshing my knowledge of those topics, I finally gave up on doing them. I just charted the course on the sectionals, calculated distances, and went to the airport with the rest of the navigation log empty.

My instructor and I then sat for an hour and he guided me through completing it. It was so simple! However, I have to say that I would much rather a computer program build me a flight plan. With today's technology, my time is probably better spent paying attention to weather conditions than worrying about headings. I might be wrong, but I will have to see what conventional wisdom around SNS is.

Anyway, because we were leaving late in the afternoon, the idea was to make the return leg a night cross country. This was going to be exciting!

My instructor called Flight Services to file the flight plan as I made notes on how it was done. It seemed pretty straightforward. I also made a note to myself not to be shy to ask for clarifications.

Once the preflight was done and the tanks topped up, we were asked to taxi to runway 26. I found that I was having a much easier time taxiing the airplane this time. This was going to be fun!

The take off wasn't as nice as I wanted it to be and gave me one anxious moment when it looked like I would be flying towards the tower. But that was corrected quickly and I quickly trimmed the airplane for best rate of climb.

I turned around to fly south to PRB. The course was very easy to follow - all I had to do was follow 101 all the way south, and keep to the valley. We called to open our flight plan and then called Norcal for flight following. No hitches there.

As we were getting closer to PRB, I knew we would be going close to a couple of restricted areas. The plan was to follow the road from south of King City which would take around the edge of those areas. My instructor told me to keep to the left of the road to give us a comfortable margin. As we were going through calculating time and distance using land marks, I let the airplane cross the road and get to the right side, very close to the restricted area. My instructor very firmly said, "I am serious about keeping clear of the restricted area. You could get yourself shot down there at worst, or our flying certificates stripped. Always aviate, navigate and communicate in that order".

I dropped my maps and E6B and got the plane back clear of the restricted area.

When I was above PRB, I turned towards SBP. The sun was setting this time over the ocean and my instructor called a time out from the navigation to look at it. It was absolutely beautiful. There was some turbulence on this leg which was manageable. Once over SBP, I changed course towards SMX, the last leg. This leg had a lot more turbulence. Once I started my descent, I also saw that there was a big updraft because of which, try as I might, I couldn't get the airplane down!

I got SMX in sight and Oakland center (to which I had transitioned from Norcal) asked me to call the tower. I was asked to get on a right pattern to runway 30. It was dark by this time and this was also my first night landing. To compensate for the updraft, I had lowered the nose more to get us down quicker, but once I had gotten below 2000 feet, the updraft had disappeared and I had descended to below the pattern altitude which was 1300 feet. I was at 1100 feet. Tower called and asked me to get back to pattern altitude which I did. I should have kept a closer watch on the altimeter.

I was jittery at this point not because it was night, but because it was an unfamiliar airport. Moreover, like most student pilots, I don't like right patterns as I can't see the runway very well. As a result, I got on to final a little bit too high, but nothing that a slip couldn't correct. The landing again was nothing to write home about. Suffice to say that I didn't land with the nose pointing straight down the runway.

The plan was to run to the restroom, fill up on fuel and head back to SNS. The return flight we estimated would take about 30 mins more than the journey coming down because of a stiff headwind for most of the way.

This was going to be my first night take off, and it was from the same runway 30. We called flight services to close our flight plan and reopen one for the return journey. The navigation this time would be purely by magnetic heading and by reference to the runway.

I took off more cleanly this time and headed to SBP. The big surprise for me was how much easier it was to navigate when it was dark. Though I couldn't see any landmark, the highway and the airports in the distance with the beacons were all visible easily. It was also very easy to make out the shape of the highway with the lights along it which helped when looking on the sectional. I opened the flight plan and got flight following with no problems.

The night flight was pure joy. The Cessna 140 has little skylights and the stars were absolutely brilliant. I could see the navigation lights of other planes in the distance, and the occasional shooting star. The return flight for me was very peaceful and relaxing. This was probably because I knew what to expect, and the route was the same. An occasional check of altitude, heading and the engine indicators was all that was required to keep the Cessna going straight.

The return trip was uneventful. As I got closer to SNS, I knew the tower would be closed so I announced myself on the same frequency. Runway 31 would be the best option with the wind. I was also flying straight towards it on a 70 mile final.

I assumed that the runway lights would be on, but couldn't see any runway at where I knew the airport to be. I knew about pilot controlled runway lights, but I forgot that SNS had them. My instructor asked me to click the TX button seven time. And boy was it a sight! Runway 31 lit up like a Christmas tree! I felt very important indeed. A few more clicks to get the brightness to medium, and we were all set.

I used flaps this time since I was coming in very fast. I cut power and gently descended. A little bit more power to get me over the threshold, and then I was over the runway. Down, down and with the descent rate, I got the plane into landing pitch and touched down at home.

What a trip!