Going X-Country

I was just reading my last posting and mentioned something about how the writing was going to be coming along, etc., etc. & blah, blah, blah. I may have mislead here because the writing has really been non-existent. In reality my x-countries have been in a holding pattern a bit due to Stan's unavailability, my unavailability and some cancelled flights due to wedding showers and, oh, what's that? Yes, Stan forgot to show up to one of the lessons!

I neglected to write about the last x-country I flew with Stan that was pretty exciting and beyond the limits of the Bay Area and allll of the flying I do in the vicinity of SQL. By the way a x-country is defined as flight of +50 nautical miles or more. Nice to get out and, well, stretch me wings a bit. We flew to Columbia this last May. Columbia is an old gold mining town in the Sierra Foothills. I can tell you that I spent more time planning for this flight than the length of time the flight actually took. I had to determine weather which includes weather and temperatures at San Carlos, Columbia and the weather aloft in between the two airports. I figured out our course headings, time en route and fuel burn (to-ing and fro-ing) and wrote it down on my flight planner pages. Stan and I briefed and then headed out to the plane which I already had preflighted. I called for a right downwind departure and we hopped across the Bay to Coyote Hills and turned East to a direct heading straight out to Columbia.

I used different types of basic navigation techniques. One called pilotage (used in the 1920's by airmail pilots) requires that you note distinct landmarks along your route from ones you noted on your aeronautical charts like lakes, reservoirs and mountains. We are really lucky to have very distinct land marks in N. Cal with big mountains and large bodies of water like oceans. Dead reckoning allows you to navigate by using elapsed time, true speed, wind direction and compass heading. I was surprised by how accurate these techniques turned out to be. We are also really lucky to have GPS. If the GPS is working and you know how to use it properly YOU CANNOT GET LOST.

When we left San Carlos we called up Oakland Flight Service Station on 122.5 and opened my VFR flight plan., pretty easy. I then learned how to get what's called 'flight following'. You call up Norcal Approach on a certain frequency, 135.65 in this instance and tell them who you are, where and what altitude you are and where you are going. They issue you a special transponder code and become your fairy godmother. The look out for other aircraft that are in the area along your route and will advise you of where they are and how you can avoid them, verrrry cool. This all went well and we sped along with a nice 10 knot tailwind at about 120 knots and were up to 5,500 ft in no time. We cruised on a heading toward a VOR station called Manteca VOR which is a radio navaid. If you tune into a VOR there is an instrument on your panel with a needle that centers when you set your course indicator on one of the radials going out around the VOR station in 360 degree increments. Set the course for 090, for example, and then turn the plane until the needle is centered and you will be on a heading towards that station and you will know where you are. There is even a to/from feature that lets you know when you have passed over the station. Lot's of ways NOT to get lost.... and I'm pretty sure I will find them (ways of getting lost) eventually. It all looks different when you are in the air.

We flew for about 35 minutes when we got close to Columbia and even though I had the GPS working I was really trying to navigate by the dead r. and pilotage. I got one of the bodies of water wrong that I marked as a way point when we were approaching Columbia. What can I say, they aren't labeled like they are on the charts. Then I looked at the GPS and got back on course. Loving the GPS. We made it in and I cut the 45 degree to a downwind too short so I went around and landed, sort of pretty well. This is an airport that does not have a tower so you have to announce who you are and what your stated intentions ar for landing. You sincerely hope that other pilots are doing the same.... sometimes they don't as we found out when we took off again. Another plane decided to take off in the opposite direction of the runway we were about to take off from, basically head on.... niiiiice! But I was looking and we missed him.

We cruised back and it was pretty easy with Mt. Diablo looming 100 miles in front of me I just had to aim for it and scoot to the left a little to make it back in to the Bay Area and back to San Carlos. My attempt at calling up Norcal Approach leaving Columbia was awful and I managed to embarrass my instructor by announcing what a rookie idiot I am to all pilots in the area including the major carriers. These guys are generally on Norcal Approach before being handed over to Oakland tower or SF tower, etc. Stan got pretty hot and lectured me a bit on practicing in my head what I'm going to say before I depress the mic button. If you ever see me in my car and my lips are moving odds are I am not singing along to my car radio however practicing what I am going to say to Norcal Approach or some other facility. Smooth sailing across the California Central Valley however and into the Bay Area with what I would consider a very nice landing back at home base, SQL.


Russ