Boy, I sure miss this...

It's hard to believe that it was almost 10 years ago that I completed my first solo cross country flight as a student pilot. Boy was that a milestone in my life. Imagine, having not only the authority to take someone's airplane all around Ohio by myself, but also the talent to do so. I mentioned in my last flying entry that the first solo around the pattern was a once-in-a-lifetime thing. Well it was. However, multiply that by 3 pattern landings each at two different airports -- Zanesville, Ohio (ZZV) and Athens, Ohio (UNI) and a total of 4.2 hours of flying and you might come close to knowing what this was like. I chose those two airports because, as you know, I grew up in Zanesville and always wanted to fly there, and I went to college in Athens at Ohio University. Zanesville Municipal Airport used to be a stop for the old Allegheny Airlines which later became Lake Central which later was absorbed into a new airline called U.S. Airlines. I had an uncle who used to fly for the Navy during WWII. Later in his life he got his wings back and owned a Bonanza. He flew into Zanesville every once in a while and one time he took Pam and me up for a ride. That was one of those things that served to heighten my desire for wings. Anyway, back to the cross country solo.

After Trent (my CFI) reviewed my flight plan, listened in on the weather briefing I got from Dayton, and went over emergency procedures with me one more time, I took off from Sidney (I12) and headed east. Now I can't say for sure that I was the most excited pilot in the area that morning or not, bit I know Trent was excited for me ( he was also excited because he was the one who unleashed me and if anything went wrong, it was his butt). But also, I think the airplane was excited for me. You see, a good pilot talks to his plane as he is doing pre-flight. At least I read that somewhere. So, as I climbed all over it that morning, I said how excited I was the two of us were going to get away from pattern work and get out into the wild, blue, yonder.

I was about 15 minutes out of Sidney when I had to make my first decision. Since I had already decided to avoid any controlled airspace, I had to figure out if I wanted to go north of Columbus or South to avoid the Class-C airspace of Port Columbus. I chose north because there was a big, easy to see lake north of the city which, if properly navigated, would keep me away from anyone in the Columbus tower. Since the prevailing winds were out of the southwest, I would get a little northerly push anyway. That would help with fuel economy too. Once past Columbus, I kept a close eye on the chart to see if there were any other easily recognizable landmarks. One that popped up right away was the big basket at the Longaberger Headquarters. This is a huge, multi-story building that is shaped like one of their baskets. This indicated I was getting close to Newark. The next big natural feature was Dillon Lake. Once I saw that, I knew I was right on track. The Zanesville airport would be up ahead just a bit. I made contact with Zanesville flight opns. and was cleared for pattern operations and landing. Since it used to handle commercial traffic, Zanesville's runway was huge -- or so it seemed in this little plane. I taxied to a tie down spot and then went in to complete my required duties -- sign in at the pilot's "guest book" (this proved that I was really there), tell them what a nice airport they had (this is a time honored pilot thing, and it is also good PR), get my log book signed off by the person manning the desk, and then go to the bathroom. About 15 minutes later, I was back in the plane requesting permission to take off. On to the second leg of this epic flight, and south to Athens.

One nice thing about flying from Sidney to Zanesville was all the farm fields en route. They served as a reassuring reminder that if anything went totally wrong, I had plenty of places to land and get help. The second leg -- Zanesville to Athens -- was not so reassuring. You see, that is all hill country and lots of forest land. There were open fields, but they usually didn't have any approach lanes and were hilly with lots of BIG rocks and creeks. No problem. Just fly the plane. I stayed on course and pretty soon I saw the dome of the Convocation Center which meant I was getting near Athens. Once I landed, I did the same routine as in Zanesville, except that the airport manager came out to meet me. He said I was to call Trent. Great!! Now what. Trent wondered how the flight had gone so far and said I should not waste any time getting back because he thought the weather was going to get dicey and I could lose my ceiling before too long. So off I went.

On the way back, I had another decision to make. I could fly straight west below Dayton and WPAFB and above Cincinnati and then turn north and hightail it to Sidney. That was my original plan that bright sunny morning. But it seemed like a long way to go now with the weather getting crappy at home. So I took the straight line approach back to I12. In doing this I would have to stay a bit south of Columbus, but also stay away from Wilmington and the Air National Guard flight training ranges in that area. I was a pretty good navigator with a map, so that was the route I chose. There was only one time where I wanted to pull over and ask directions. But then I remembered real men don't pull over and ask for no stinking directions (especially in an airplane), so I would just find my own way. And then I remembered what Trent told me about those big water towers -- you know, the ones with the city names on them. He said they were build like that for pilots in the old days, before new-fangled navigation devices. He also said something about them being handy for rookies on cross country flights. Ahaa!! , said the rookie. I thought I knew where I was, so I dropped down about a thousand feet, circled the tower once and discovered I was absolutely right on!! Hooah. From there it was a little hop over Springfield and north up the east side of I-75 to Sidney.

Trent was right. The weather was closing down quickly and visibility was crapping out. If I hadn't been almost over the airport, I would have missed it the first time. Anyway, I was back and that milestone was completed and logged in the book. What an absolutely GREAT experience.!!

"The air up there in the clouds is very pure and fine, bracing and delicious. And why shouldn't it be? - it is the same the angels breathe." (Mark Twain)

Hooah