The "Long" Cross Country: Complete

Last Friday, the weather was "good enough" (for late Fall in WNY) to take the final cross-country flight needed as a pre-requisite to me taking the Instrument Rating checkride. So, my CFI and I took advantage, and we embarked upon the epic journey.

First, let's see a summary of the flight's path (via FlightAware.)

To recap, as mentioned in my earlier blog post, the flight had to be (per FAA) at least 250 Nautical Miles, with 3 different instrument approaches at 3 separate airports. Furthermore, the "legs" between each airport along the route had to me at least 50 NM apart. This made my planning somewhat simple, as I knew that Rochester to Griffiss to Elmira and back would give us that separation required.

Leg #1 (KROC>>>KRME)

The 1st leg was fairly smooth the whole way, we had a generous tailwind, so we arrived in a timely manner. I planned to do a VOR approach into KRME, as my 1st of 3 procedures, on the flight. VOR stands for "Very High Frequency Omnidirectional Range, and it is used as a navigational aid for pilots. A VOR approach is considered "non-precision," because it does not necessarily align with the landing runway. Here's a GoPro snippet of me flying the approach and going "missed," which simulates if I had not seen the runway by the time I reached the MDA (Minimum Decision Altitude.)

Leg #2 (KRME>>>KELM)

The 2nd leg of the long cross-country journey was were things got "interesting." And, by "interesting," I mean I had my 1st experience with WIND SHEAR. Yup, that's right! What an experience it was, as well. I actually am glad to have "felt" it. The event occurred shortly after going "missed" @ KRME. I had just leveled off at 4,000', and was on course to KELM. Obviously, the tailwind we had been gifted en route to KRME from KROC was now a headwind, and my groundspeed reflected that. I noticed that the headwind was making flight a bit bumpy, when suddenly, we were "twisted" sharply to the left by wind shear. It felt like nothing I had ever felt before while flying, and it was very brief. However, I managed to regain my correct heading and airspeed shortly after. The rest of the flight was relatively uneventful, it just took a while because of the headwind.

Once we arrived in the Elmira area, I began to execute an ILS approach (Instrument Landing System.) ILS is considered a precision approach, because it provides both vertical and lateral guidance to the runway, like a crosshair...

The approach went well, I just need to refine my operation of the nav equipment for the different types of approaches. We decided to land at Elmira and take on some fuel. This was perfect, as I could use the stretch and free FBO (airport gas station) coffee! While at KELM, I saw this unique bird on the ramp, a Fairchild SA-227. 

Operated by Ameriflight, this is one cool airplane!

Leg #3 (KRME>>>KROC)

For the last leg of our flight, the headwind remained intact. However, the flight went well despite the bumps. The best thing a pilot can do in this kind of turbulence is "ride the waves," and attempt to maintain a consistent attitude. Within a matter of time, we arrived at KROC where I began my final instrument approach, a GPS/RNAV procedure. Another precision approach, the GPS really streamlines the instrument landing process. My last approach went very smoothly, and I'm happy for this. My practice and patience with approaches is finally beginning to show, my confidence is growing.

Here's a "tracklog" of my long cross-country flight. Note the drop in airspeed after 10:30am, when we turned into the headwind from KRME>>>KELM. Interesting stuff!

As always, my friends, thanks for reading! If you like what you've seen here, please consider supporting my pilot journey via GoFundMe. Thank you!