Tips for Qualifying XC
 

Hey all,

I've been booked up to my QXC next week as apparently the weather looks to be very good. I'm already nervous beyond belief!

I've landed at both aerodromes I intend to visit beforehand with my instructor and all went well just one of the main concerns I have will be the radio!

I know ATC will write 'Good, Excellent, Satisfactory, Poor' on the sheet regarding your radio and landing. I aim to go for Good or Satisfactory, but I fear nerves will get the better of me and I will cock up major!

Anyone got any tips so I can make the flight and my communications go as smoothly as possible? One thing i've always struggled with is the speed at which ATC will give you airfield/landing instructions and when you have to read all the important bits back! I feel if I asked' Repeat Last' too many times it wouldn't go down too well or If I gave back 'QNH 1013' instead of '1012'.

Hope you can help! :)

Lewis

Then you must be using out of date paperwork. That requirement was removed from the form around 5 years ago. The form originally invited an assessment of the student's "airmanship" (not RT) but as the person signing probably has no relevant qualifications to make such a judgment, the requirement was removed. AOPA produced an amended Qualifying Cross Country form.

Ideally you should have completed your RT practical exam before conducting any solo navigation exercises.

That's cheating, I'd only seen one of mine beforehand!

Now I wonder ... does the instructor phone up ATC at the destination airfields and say "G-ABCD will be coming your way shortly, student on QXC, be nice to them please, like speak slowly and clearly?", or don't they?

Whopity,

Is this the revised form you are talking about? Just found it on the CAA's site, so basically, whoever's job it is, just has to write down that the student landed at the right place? Nothing else?

http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/33/SRG2105FF.pdf

Lew

Yep, that's all they can write. No longer can you find the Tea Lady and get excellents all round!

Qual XC
 

As a former ATC and junior birdman myself, I suggest, make sure in your initial contact you actually mention that you are a student pilot under going QXC, all concerned will no doubt help you achieve your goal. Good luck and happy landings.

Take it easy, and fly the way you always do. Your instructor wouldn't send you off if you weren't ready for it.

It will be fun! :)

I felt the QXC was my first real flight... Finally getting to do what I wanted the license for in the first place!

Take your GPS :E

I'm out of here

When I did my QXC almost 30 yrs ago, I was taught how to navigate properly by an instructor who knew how to navigate properly, taught how to fly the route, preapred and then went out and flew the QXC route (one leg of which was Redhill-Shoreham, via the Gatwick OH). It's as easy as that. I dont think, even with an increase in CAS, that it's any different today. Asking the 'experts' here will only confuse you, but may possibly make you a better MS Flight Simmer in the process.

jxc wrote:

Maybe this explains why we have so many CAS infringements these days?:ugh:

Do it exactly as you were trained, no tricks, no shortcuts, no experimentation - just as you were trained. It'll be fine - enjoy the longest time you've had yet in an aeroplane without anybody talking at you!

G

Using correct RT will impress them. It's "Say again" or variants of:

Say again
Say again all after
Say again all before
Say again QFE
Say again runway in use

etc. But, if you need something said again, ask as many times as you must. If you haven't got it on the 5th transmission, ask again and again. You need that information and they know you need it. Don't feel guilty, nobody will think badly of you.

Keep the radio as simple as you can. Don't talk to anyone you don't have to and don't ask for services you don't need. All that extra radio just increases the workload. Save it for another day.

Don't get stressed, just enjoy it. I expect you're doing Goodwood - Lydd - Headcorn? It's easy, it's fun, you won't have any trouble finding any of them if you do the things your instructor has taught you to. Choose good food at Goodwood, sit outside in the sunshine and watch the aircraft, don't drink too much lemonade and remember to wee before you leave. Twice.

I hope you have fun.

On one occasion after several attempts I gave up trying to understand what an American controller was trying to say to me over a lousy radio and just told them blind what I was going to do in their MATZ, and told them when I was clear of it.

A Grand Day Out!
 

If your instructor thinks you're ready, then you almost certainly are!

Therefore you have all the skills required to do QXC, and should need little by way of extra coaching.

Did mine in November, and had a great day out. It's a test, yeah, but bloody good fun too.

Enjoy. I know I did, ESPECIALLY after I had the first field in sight.

JR

LEW747
http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/33/SRG2105FF.pdf
Yes, that appears to be it!

Ok I'm back the Gps is was a joke and the words of Genghis the Engineer is spot
I had a grin on my face the whole time couldn't believe i was let loose on my own

Enjoy

Hi Lew747,

My words of wisdom would be these.

Above all avoid hurry or rush. Be organised, deliberate and orderly and don't get sidetracked by friends or other club members and waste time.

Therefore: -

1. Get to the departure aerodrome at least two hours early.

2. Take time to relax from your journey. Sit alone and to have something to eat and drink while you think about your QXC. Make a written list of all the flight planning elements you need to accomplish before you depart.

3. Prepare the aeroplane. (If she's going to 'go tech' you want to know before you do your flight planning).

4. Do your flight planning, (including 'phoning your destination as advised above,) working through the list you have made crossing off each item one by one as you do it.

5. Get your instructor to check your flight plan, brief you and authorise your flight.

Then, go and fly the trip exactly as you have planned it.

Good luck! Tell us how you get on.

Broomstick.

You will feel like a 'proper pilot' when you've done your QXC ... I know I did! Going 'solo' in the circuit was not as amazing as doing your first solo XC, then you get a real sense of achievement.

Enjoy!

As soon as you can, change to the next airfield's frequency.
Just listen, and write down the joining instructions bit by bit as you hear them given to other pilots. Perhaps you won't get all the details, but then when you call, you will be comparing all but one or two, and ticking the rest on your note.

If you cannot dream up the correct ATC lingo for a query, just put it in simple clear Engish!

I flew my entire QXC on FS2000 (as it then was) the day before, so I could get some kind of feel for the terrain, scenery etc. I also had the airport scenery add-on.