My Student Pilot's Log
More Solo

Flights 20-21

Flight 20: Sun, Jan 21. (1.1 / 22.6 / 2.2)

Today I did another local solo. I was going to work on some ground reference maneuvers, but the air was bumpy enough that just holding an altitude +/-100 feet was enough work. Visibility was down to 9 or 10 miles, the winds were OK (8-10 knots), but the biggest problem was the clouds.

On the ground I saw blue sky with a few little clouds, but at 1000 feet the clouds and haze formed a fairly solid layer above me. (I'm not sure why the sky looked so clear from the ground.) The lowest clouds were at 1600 feet or so, which made for a fun hour of reviewing the rules to stay legal.

Most of the area I was in was Class G to 1200 feet, so I only had to remain clear of clouds, but close to that area the Class E starts at 700, where I have to stay 500 feet below clouds. A couple of miles in the other direction, the Class B (where I can't go at all) starts at 1200, and a few miles past that it starts at the surface.

About where I have to stay below 1200 to avoid Class B, the city below would probably count as a congested area, where I have to stay 1000 feet above everything. (At least we're close enough to sea level that there's not much difference between above mean sea level and above ground level.) It gets confusing, but I got an hour in with less than perfect weather without hitting anything. Confidence building and getting used to being in the air alone are the primary things I'm working on now, and today was good for those.

Flight 21: Fri, Jan 26. (1.1 / 23.7 / 3.3)

It's been windy the past couple of weeks, especially late in the afternoon when I've had a plane booked for solo time. The wind speed and direction have been shifting quickly. The wind may be 15 knots north, then 7 knots northeast, then 12 knots east within a matter of minutes.

Since our runway runs north/south, a brisk north wind is OK, but when the wind shifts it can easily create a crosswind component that exceeds the 152's limit. These conditions make the fly-or-not decision tough; I've cancelled several times already.

Today the wind was still shifting, but it was a bit less strong, so I went for another local solo flight to work on my crosswind skills. Instead of the usual north wind, it was shifting between due east and southeast (about 90 to 150 on the compass), so for the first time in my brief solo career I used runway 18.

I just happened to have a Jeppesen maneuvers booklet with me, and since I had to taxi the length of the runway to use 18, it was handy to have the guide with me to remind myself of the correct quartering tailwind taxi procedures.

The crosswind made for an interesting takeoff and landing, since I hadn't done solo crosswind work before. I was quite happy with the results; after properly entering the pattern for the less-familiar runway I managed to turn a zigzag approach into a pretty decent landing in a 10-knot crosswind, wheel side down and everything. I had to follow another plane in; he was just pulling off the runway as I made my approach. I still haven't had to do a go-around.

Glossary