Cross Country

[flyvirgin]

Just completed my cross crounty today. enjoyed the whole experience thanks to to Atc at Bournmouth, Old suram, Exeter
Skill test next week.

[liam548]

well done. What did you find the most difficult part>?

[flyvirgin]

To be honest i didn't find it hard, its everyting that i have spent hours and hours practising. i did a test flight with my instructor with put any queries to sleep.
I planned the flight the evening before and was going over the flight in my head.
Yesterday couldn't have been a better day to go flying, you could see for miles and miles.
Good luck to any students doing their PPL its all worth it in the end.
Cheers Adam:ok:

[Lister Noble]

What did the test flight involve,was it the same route as the cross country?
Lister:)

[flyvirgin]

Yes we flew the route i was going to fly the day before.

[Lister Noble]

Well done,and good luck for the future.
Some schools do the whole thing dual before the test,others leave it up to the student to find one of the airfields for the first time
I didn't have that luxury,we went to the nearest airfield a week or so before but I had to find the further one for the first time during the exercise,which fortunatley I did!;)
Lister:)

[vanHorck]

Same here.
From Norwich first away landing was Ipswich
Qualifying triangle was Norwich- Ipswich - Bourne

Except couldn t find Bourne on the triangle.... for at least 5 minutes, pfffft lots of sweat! But did in the end.

Well done on your navigation!
Bert

[daria-ox]

Congratulations :p

I can't wait 'till my first cross country!

[flyvirgin]

Thanks for replying. Daria you will love it.

[Lister Noble]

My "triangle" was Old Buckenham,Southend,dog leg to Cambridge then home.
I had been to Cambridge once before but never to Southend.
It is quite a responsibilty for a very low hours "pilot", but confidence and character building, as they say!:)
Lister

[flyvirgin]

I think you learn so much from going solo, i just carn't belive how much my radio has improved.
What's southend like, I only live about 30 mins from there, but never flown there. did you fly near Dartford bridge (QE2).

[steveking]

Well done it's all downhill from now on. It's been 2 years since my cross country, I did Southend-Shoreham-Lydd. My instructor had took me to both airfields individually but left me to do the in between leg for the first time myself. Easy really just follow the coast, seemed a lot at the time though.

[Lister Noble]

Can't remember much about Southend except paying and getting signed off,I did not go anywhere near QE2 bridge,if I had I would have been seriously off course.:)
Lister

[steveking]

Done all my training at Southend but never went near the QE2 bridge. Now based at Damyns Hall in upminster I fly over it all the time. Nice landmark when heading home from the south.

Flyvirgin, great your radio work is going well. I remember being more nervous about the radio than flying the aircraft in the early hours.

All the best with the rest of the course.

[daria-ox]

I will definately love it! I just need to practice few more things before the instructor will let me go :E

[VectorMeOutOfHere]

I did my QXC in sept: E.Mids-Humberside-Peterborough connington. Did a land away at Humber with an instructor but was left to find peterborough on my own - they told me that was compulsory!

I enjoyed QXC more than the skills test; its a real taste of what its like when u finally get ur licenseHave fun and keep flying :ok:

[Rishy]

Despite a previous post on here about concerns I wouldn't get my QXC done before the winter I did it a couple of weeks ago and what a totally fantastic experience.

My route was Newcastle -> Solway Firth/land Carlisle -> Durham Tees Valley -> Newcastle. Had never flown Newcastle -> Carlisle solo (and it's months since I did it dual) and never past Carlisle to the coast. I used the fly-though feature on Google Earth to get an idea of what should be where. I have to say the navigation and timings were far better than I expected.

Even managed to have a bacon sandwich and brew at Carlisle. Looked out of the cafe window and caught a glimpse of my PA28 parked up. Great feeling.

My only hitch was the approach into Carlisle onto a runway I'd never landed. Strong winds made things a bit unstable so at about 200' I decided to go around. No realy drama.

Lister - I'm a little disappointed. Sure, many PPL students have a lot to learn but I now feel justified in calling myself a pilot after completing my QXC. It's something I never thought I would achieve so please, give us newbies a bit of love :ok:

6 more hours and I can do the skills test. Happy days :)

[Lister Noble]

Sorry,you've lost me there,I haven't dissed anyone have I?:confused:

I think it is a great achievment to fly solo let alone do a cross country,I don't think I said anything to put anyone down,did I?
Lister

[Rishy]

"It is quite a responsibilty for a very low hours "pilot",...."

I assumed you meant we weren't pilots until we'd passed our PPL at the very least.

Sorry, that's clearly not the case. Ah, feel the love :)

[flyvirgin]

Yessssss i passed my skill test today:D:Dclaps all round

[1800ed]

Congratulations!

I've got my practice QXC on Tuesday, then I shall book a day for the real thing. Cannot wait!

[JohnGV]

Congratulations!

Well done on the flight test. Its a relief to get that one done hey! I remember mine, i was so nervous.

So have you finished all your exams?

If so... welcome to the club!

Happy flying!

[flyvirgin]

John,
Yes i have finished all my exams, just got to send the log book off now. yipeeee

[Chequeredflag]

I too learned at East Mids Flying School, and my QXC, a few years ago now, was EMA/Turweston/Cambridge/EMA. I too had to find Cambridge all on my own, being told it was a mandatory part of the QXC to fly into an airport I had never been to before.

Was I told a fib??

[steveking]

Congratulations. You went from CXQ to skills test very quick, you must be very dedicated. It'll be interesting to hear what you get up to in the hours coming.

[flyvirgin]

Yes steve it was very quick,
But i have been taking alot of time off work i done it all in one go.
saying that i have been learning to fly a year today:O
And loving it

[steveking]

It's one of those hobbies that gets better and better. I passed 2 and half years ago now. I too had to speed my course up toward the end as a friend and I had an Ikarus C42 coming. I know I could have done my microlight course for the C42 but I was already way down the JAR PPL route. I'm now flying an RV6 which I took to Spain in the summer. There's so much to do after passing it's great. I'm now on 500hrs and still as keen as day 1. Again well done.

Where did you do the course.