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From: cep@Apple.COM (Christopher Pettus)
Newsgroups: rec.aviation
Subject: First Dual Cross-Country
Message-ID: <6069@internal.Apple.COM>
Date: Mon, 08 Jan 90 16:28:17 PST
Reply-To: cep@apple.com (Christopher Pettus)
Organization: Apple Computer, Inc.
Lines: 73

Well, I did my first dual cross-country this weekend.  The original
plan was Oakland-Modesto-Byron-Oakland, but the weather pretty much put
a stop to that (Stockton was reporting 0/0 at one point, and IMC pretty
much without exception).  So, a quick replan for
Oakland-Salinas-Watsonville-Oakland.  What with planning and
getting-breakfast delays, we finally launched off Oakland at about
12:30 am, with a right downwind departure to start us going south.

First mistake: My original plan had me flying directly out of Oakland,
down along the eastern shore of the bay.  This was silly, as this puts
one straight through Hayward's ATA and down the final approach course
for 27R at Oakland.  The more sensible way would have been a left
downwind to fly along the bay, but that would have required a TCA
clearance, which I'm not signed off for.  In fact, Bay Approach offered
me a clearance which I had to decline:

Bay:    Cessna 849, cleared into the TCA on current heading.
Me:	Uh, 849, unable TCA clearance, student pilot; I'll go below at 2,800.
Bay:    OK, 849, but for your information, student pilots can enter the
	TCA, just not land at the primary airport.
Me:     849, thanks for the info.

[I know that I could have accepted the TCA clearance with my instructor
in the plane, but she had explicitly told me before the flight that I
was to plan and fly as if she wasn't there, unless I had a question.  I
didn't feel like getting into a discussion with Bay of what I was and
was not signed off for, why I was doing what I was doing, and the
recent FAR changes on a busy approach frequency.]

Finally, down to over San Jose, and turn on course again.  But ...

Second mistake: My originally planned course took me right down the
final approach course for San Jose.  After a gentle, um, admonition
from this from Bay Approach, I pulled out the plotter and plotted a
direct course to Salinas.  The balance of the trip was uneventful, and
the approach and landing at Salinas pretty routine.

Lunch at Salinas, then off to Watsonville, my first experience at an
uncontrolled field.  It was pretty busy, but everything seemed to work
pretty much as it should.  (With the exception of one homebuilt who
took the active, without announcement, as I turned base, then proceeded
to taxi the entire length of the runway and turn off at the end.
Fortunately, he cleared the runway just as I was getting ready to go
around.)  Taxi back, take off, and turn on course for home, but ...

About 10 miles out from Watsonville, my instructor calls for a
diversion to Hollister.  Glance at the chart, turn to 110, out with the
plotter, set up the course.  Except for initially mistaking Frazier
Lake for Hollister (it was pretty hazy), we arrived in good order.
There were two Mustangs in the pattern doing low approaches (some sort
of a photo opportunity), and a lot of chitchat on the CTAF: I
felt like I was crashing a private party, and it was pretty hard
getting my calls in.  The combination had me pretty disoriented: my
overflight was quite sloppy, and I missed a couple of calls as I came
in and flew the pattern.  The result was a landing that was about to be
a go-around before my instructor said, "good decision, my airplane" and
finished the landing.

Then, off again to home ... except for a simulated engine failure over
Frazier Lake.  Pretty normal soft-field landing (my first experience
with a grass runway, bump, bump), and then back off on course.  Fly up
the valley, pick up Bay Approach over South County airport, lose our
transponder over Reid-Hillview (hi, Geoff!), get it back abeam San
Jose, etc.  Except for the considerable haze and such coming back to
Oakland, the approach was pretty normal.

Gee, maybe I'll get my license after all ... :-)
-- 
Christopher Pettus                   | "I used to think the mind was
Network Connectivity Development     | the most important part of a
Apple Computer, Inc. MS 27-O/SC-1    | person.  Then I realized what
cep@apple.com   {nsc, sun}!apple!cep | part of me is telling me that."
AppleLink: PETTUS.C                  |