Sunday was my scheduled long cros-country solo. I had wanted to go to\u00a0Sedona (SEZ) but was convinced by my CFI that it was a bit too far to do\u00a0in one day given the rapidly changing weather we get this time of year.<\/p>\n
Oh, was he right.<\/p>\n
Saturday night I planned a flight from Santa Fe (SAF) to Truth or Consequences (TCS). I got as far as planning out the route, noting the checkpoints and distances between each. I had a brief look at the weather (radar & TAFS) and some area forecasts but there wasn’t anything unusual or different from the previous couple of weeks. In a nut shell, the weather will be unstable throughout most of the New Mexico area on any given afternoon during the summer.<\/p>\n
I arrived at the airport at 7 am and finished the flight plans after\u00a0getting the most recent weather info. An hour later I had the fuel\u00a0calculations, ETAs, etc. I met with my instructor about 9:30 (it took\u00a0much longer for the planning than I expected…need to work on that) and\u00a0reviewed things and answered a couple of “What if…”<\/em> questions. Then I\u00a0called for a weather briefing and spent what seemed like an eternity on\u00a0the phone. They love to be thorough don’t they? The weather outlook was\u00a0for storms around SAF late in the afternoon, perhaps around 3 pm. This\u00a0would be just after my proposed return time so I didn’t think too hard\u00a0about it. The rest of the report was for various rain that may or may I had questions regarding two NOTAMS I came across dealing with\u00a0activity in two restricted areas: R-5107 F\/G and R-5109 A\/B. Neither of\u00a0those particular areas were on my VFR chart nor in the FAA facilities\u00a0directory, although the R-5107 area was outlined. The flight briefer let\u00a0me know that when that happens it’s usually because the areas start at Finally I prepped the plane, taxied and took off at 11:10 am local time.\u00a0In hindsight, much too late in the day. Five minutes later I was at 8,500\u00a0MSL and opened the first flight plan.<\/p>\n The trip down nearly followed I-25, making visual navigation quite easy.\u00a0I had setup the radios to track the SAF and Albuquerque (ABQ) VORs and\u00a0concentrated on following a turn from an SAF radial to an ABQ radial\u00a0precisely. Before that turn, however, I had to contact ABQ approach and\u00a0get permission to transition through their Class C space and request a\u00a0flight following<\/em>. I’ve only done that once prior. Nothing unusual about it and it was\u00a0refreshing to be handed off during the trip through the area. SAF does\u00a0not have radar and the mountains between it and ABQ make it impossible\u00a0for ABQ to provide coverage for that area. Once under ABQ control radar\u00a0coverage extended all the way to my first planned stop in Socorro (ONM).\u00a0The flight was going well and about 12 miles out of ONM flight-following\u00a0was terminated. I radioed my position to ONM traffic and then got\u00a0somewhat nervous as I approached.<\/p>\n The town and the airport to the south were getting quite a soaking. That\u00a0and the electrical activity in the clouds convinced me that I was about\u00a0to change plans. Though moving eastward I had enough room to turn to a\u00a0southeast course and skirt around the bad weather. It was quite\u00a0localized, perhaps 20 nm in diameter. But I didn’t feel like circling I reset the radios to track an outbound ONM radial while tuning in the\u00a0approach radial I was to use for TCS, which came into signal range a few\u00a0minutes later. (Though I don’t say it, I always ident the stations…but\u00a0there were so many on this trip it isn’t worth repeating that each time\u00a0in this report.)<\/p>\n I passed the storm and got quite a buffeting from the winds and rain on\u00a0the southern edge. I’ve experience worse turbulence but I was in a\u00a0heightened state of alertness all the same. I saw TCS ahead after\u00a0another 30 nm and radioed my position and intentions to land. AWOS gave\u00a0me the wind conditions which were confirmed by the way the plane at been Truth or Consequences Municipal Airport is like most I’ve seen so far. A\u00a0small shack for a lounge next to the parking area. But it had a restroom\u00a0and someone to chat with for a bit. I closed my flight plan and had a\u00a0look at the weather for the return flight on their computer. My return\u00a0flight would take me back up to Socorro (maybe I could get my second The weather showed that the line of showers I saw on approach were\u00a0indeed moving eastward. In fact, it started to rain as I sat in the\u00a0lounge looking at the weather. I called for a weather briefing and was\u00a0told things were clear to Socorro and definitely clear for the rest of\u00a0my return flight if I left soon<\/em>. A much older pilot was now in the\u00a0lounge talking the the gentlemen who attends the lounge (Bill Reilly in\u00a0case anyone’s flown there before). The two of them assured me that I\u00a0would be fine. I thanked them and headed back to the trusty C172 and\u00a0went through the prestart checklist. Once inside the plane it really\u00a0started to pour. I looked on in amazement as a silver high-wing Airforce\u00a0trainer (didn’t recognize the make\/model) landed on 31, turned\u00a0immediately off onto the taxiway and entered 13 midfield and departed.\u00a0The rain then let up enough for me to take off. It wasn’t as clear to Then I saw the dark clouds ahead. I thought of turning to the east and\u00a0flying a direct route to the break in the Sandias but remembered the\u00a0massive R-5107 area to my right (the part that is on the VFR chart). I\u00a0thought of who I should call to request permission to fly through it and\u00a0realized I didn’t have a clue. FSS came to mind and I could at least get\u00a0the info from them. Then I thought to turn back to TCS and just wait it\u00a0out. I turned to the west to get a better view and saw that TCS was a\u00a0no-go as well. To the north, west and south I was \u00a0blocked by\u00a0thunderstorms. The one break I did spot was to my immediate west where\u00a0there was currently no rain and bright sunshine on the other side of\u00a0this font. I reduced RPM from 2650 to 2500 and dropped to 8500′ since\u00a0the clouds above looked within the 500′ minimum. There was a lot lightning in\u00a0the clouds to my right (north) as I passed and I kept thinking to myself\u00a0how much more comfortable I would feel with a faster plane at that Having passed the worst of the storms I made a large 10 nm loop to the\u00a0west and back to the east and north where the path to Socorro was now\u00a0clear with only the normal afternoon puffy clouds around 11,000′. I\u00a0climbed back to 9500 feet and saw ONM was only 5 nm ahead – no time to\u00a0get my mind set for a full-stop landing there and I didn’t feel like I tuned into the 0E0 traffic and listed to a collection of gliders call\u00a0out their positions and intent to land. I was still about 20 nm out but\u00a0it was nice to hear the wind conditions and runway in use. Nothing\u00a0unusual about my landing at 0E0. I made it a full stop to fulfill the I took off from Moriarty and made the 38 nm flight to SAF. The area\u00a0halfway between the two airports is the southeast practice area for SAF\u00a0and I had no trouble visually finding my way. At 14 nm out I called SAF\u00a0ATC and \u00a0announce my intent to make a left downwind to the active\u00a0runway, 20. ATC concurred and reported light rain just east of the\u00a0field. I saw the clouds – much too dark for light rain. And I saw –\u00a0again – a lot of electrical activity in those clouds. “I’ve seen more\u00a0bad weather on this trip than I have during my first year in Santa Fe,”<\/em>\u00a0I said to myself.\u00a0Since I had to pass through this cloud to make the left downwind I A lot changes in 15 minutes. Coming into a straight approach for the\u00a0downwind I received word from the tower that winds had shifted, the rain\u00a0clouds were just about over the airport and would I mind moving from the\u00a0downwind for 20 to a downwind for 28. What’s one more right turn? \u00a0I\u00a0made the change and mentally set up for this (first time using 28 at SAF\u00a0after all this training) and approached for an amazingly calm landing.\u00a0Gusts picked up severely during the taxiing to parking – requiring a\u00a0full stop at one point as the plane suddenly cut to the west despite a\u00a0full right rudder and throttle at idle.<\/p>\n “Cessna 4 uniform echo you seemed to have stopped on the taxiway, is\u00a0there a problem?”<\/em><\/p>\n “4 uniform echo…isn’t going where I want it”<\/em><\/p>\n “Roger 4 uniform echo proceed when able.”<\/em><\/p>\n There was a jet cleared to taxi as soon as I passed by, hence towers\u00a0concern at my having stopped. All the training and knowledge of taxiing\u00a0into head and tail winds paid off. I kept my eye on the rotating\u00a0windsock and manged to crawl back to the parking area without losing\u00a0control of the plane.<\/p>\n I was greeted by some of the flight school crew and my CFI, who weren’t\u00a0there to greet me so much as to get the plane tied down as quickly as\u00a0possible. Normally parking and tie-down are my responsibility. From the\u00a0time I shut off the engine to getting out of the plane it had started to\u00a0rain, heavily, and the winds were gusty like nothing I’ve experience in\u00a0a plane before. I remembered to keep a firm grip on the door as I\u00a0stepped out otherwise the wind would have taken it off I’m certain.<\/p>\n Because I landed 30 minutes past what I had planned for, FSS had called\u00a0the tower before I phoned in to close out and the tower informed them\u00a0that I had arrived already. I then had a chat with my CFI on the days\u00a0experience and I let him know of the weather I had seen\/avoided as well\u00a0as the stuff I flew through. He drove home the point of why I should I neglected to ask him about who I should call if I want permission to\u00a0fly through a restricted area. I need to find this out so if you know…<\/p>\n I’m sure it’s in the facilities directory. I’ll take a look tonight.<\/p>\n I was told to start gearing up for the checkride, meaning practice my\u00a0flight maneuvers (it’s been a while) and various landings. The next dual\u00a0instruction will be night flights and instrument training. I’ll keep you\u00a0posted as always.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sunday was my scheduled long cros-country solo. I had wanted to go to\u00a0Sedona (SEZ) but was convinced by my CFI that it was a bit too far to do\u00a0in one day given the rapidly...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":282,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[18,17,19,23],"class_list":["post-111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-flying","tag-aviation","tag-flying-2","tag-pilot","tag-student-pilot"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidgunter.com\/es-mx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidgunter.com\/es-mx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidgunter.com\/es-mx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidgunter.com\/es-mx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidgunter.com\/es-mx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidgunter.com\/es-mx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":284,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidgunter.com\/es-mx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111\/revisions\/284"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidgunter.com\/es-mx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidgunter.com\/es-mx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidgunter.com\/es-mx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidgunter.com\/es-mx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nnot effect the flight.<\/p>\n
\n18,000′, above the VFR space. Good to know for future reference. She had\u00a0me unfold the back flap on my chart to see where the list of restricted\u00a0areas were listed. I knew this info but played along with her. I could\u00a0hear her unfolding a chart as well so she was really into the\u00a0instruction gig. I felt as if I was talking to my grandmother. I do\u00a0appreciate the effort and the kindness shown but the phone call ended up\u00a0lasting a full 15 minutes including filing both flight plans.<\/p>\n
\nuntil it moved on either.<\/p>\n
\ntracking during the last 50 nm. Runway 13 was perfectly aligned though it\u00a0would mean either a straight-in approach or a flight completely around\u00a0the airport before entering the pattern. There was a line of rain clouds\u00a0to the west that looked like I might have enough time to circle, but\u00a0why risk it? I opted to make a wide S-turn to the left and entered the\u00a0pattern on an extended base leg. Calling my turns all the way in I\u00a0touched down on 13, responded to the FBO that I didn’t require fuel and\u00a0headed into \u00a0the lounge. \u00a0164 nm on my first leg and I needed a break.<\/p>\n
\nfull-stop landing in there) and then through a break in the Sandia\u00a0mountains to the east, up the east side of the Sandias and east of\u00a0Moriarty (0E0) to SAF.<\/p>\n
\nthe north as the weather briefer reported or perhaps \u00a0soon<\/em>\u00a0meant now<\/em>.\u00a0But I taxied onto 13 (into a moderate wind) and took off. I followed a\u00a0standard left hand pattern and announced my departure from the downwind\u00a0leg. I opened my flight plan after reaching 9500′ and made sure all the\u00a0nav aids were working.<\/p>\n
\npoint. It certainly furthered my resolve to continue on for an\u00a0instrument rating. At one point I hit a pocket of turbulence and lost\u00a0200 feet in the blink of an eye. At the bottom I noticed the rpms\u00a0briefly hit the red line so I cut power back to 2400 for some extra\u00a0safety. Fortunately that was the worst of it. The edges of a storm can\u00a0be more dangerous than flying through one – but I felt assured I was\u00a0still far enough away to have been clear of the down\/updraft change area.<\/p>\n
\nhanging in the area to see what the weather was going to do either. I\u00a0made it to my checkpoint at the ONM VOR and headed towards the other\u00a0side of the mountains to the east, where the weather was still good,\u00a0forecasted as well as visually confirmed. Finding the mountain pass was\u00a0easy – look for the lack of tall rockiness – and I made sure to keep
\nthe needle centered on the radial I was following as well. I passed just\u00a0over two small towns and a collection of mostly dry salt lakes that I\u00a0used to verify my position. Then I saw a spot where US 60 breaks away\u00a0from some parallel train tracks. This meant I should turn to the north\u00a0and follow a radial to the Moriarty VOR. Sure enough, two minutes later\u00a0the needle started to home in and I was on course.<\/p>\n
\nrequirement and taxied around and back to the entrance hold-short line.\u00a0A number of gliders were on the ground being pulled to the parking area.\u00a0I watched one glider come in for a landing – the first time I’ve seen a\u00a0glider land. Is there only one main wheel and one tail wheel on these\u00a0things? And how quiet it must be in those (after 3.5 hours of flying I
\nwasn’t too thrilled by my passive headsets any longer.<\/p>\n
\nradioed back for permission to fly to the south and head back for a\u00a0right downwind to 20. The tower concurred and I planned for the\u00a0additional 15 minutes of flying this would mean.<\/p>\n
\nhave taken off much earlier in the day but that I had made some wise\u00a0decisions.<\/p>\n