The weather was quite scuzzy, but it was good enough to allow us to make a XC Flight to VCT. It was a fun flight.

I got to the airport early only to find my CFI already there. So we went in to his office and did some Dead Reckoning. My Flight Planing skills were quite rusty as I had not done a Flight Plan since October with my first CFI. After getting both Flight Plans together we headed out to the plane to Preflight. Once that was complete we taxied down to Runway Three One. After Take Off, we established Cruse and called the FSS to activate the Flight Plan. On our Flight Plan we had the Cruse Altitude at 1,500ft because the AWOS at BYY was reporting 1,600ft Overcast. We quickly found out that 1,500ft was just barely in the Clouds so we had to go down to 1,400ft to get below them. The Cloud Layer kept coming down as we flew farther and I stayed at 1,200ft for most of the Flight. As we flew on, my CFI turned on the LORAN to show me how to use it. After playing with it for a a little while it would not Display the info, so we just flew on using VOR and Pilotage to Navigate (Remember this part). I had some trouble staying on course, but found the Airport just fine.

This is where it got interesting, as VCT is Tower Controlled, and I had never talked to ATC before. I feel sorry for the poor guy sitting in the tower having to talk to me. I botched up the Calls pretty good till I got the hang of it. lol

About 5nm out from VCT I found out that I had forgot to finish up getting the headings for the return trip. So we got what we needed by navigating from VCT to the PSX VOR, then from the PSX VOR to BYY (This is where the LORAN would have been a big help lol). I made sure I was even more strict on keeping the needles on the VOR centered up, as well as knowing where I was on the Sectional at all times than normal. I stayed dead on course the whole time, and got to BYY with no problems.

Despite the Scuzzy Weather, and messing up the Flight Plan it was a great Flight, and I would not change it if I could. A few lessons Learned, that I'm glad I got with a CFI on board.

I logged 1.8 Hours, which brings me up to 35.3 Hours.

sweet, way to go!

so do you get in trouble for botching a flight plan????

congrats on the flight!

If I really wanted to understand all the details of it, I think it would take me some serious time on GOOGLE!

Naa... We have ways of working around my small error. Many different ways to get back to home base. We could have always went back to VCT and worked it out on the ground.



It's all very basic acronyms. I'll list the ones I see for you guys (let me know if I miss something, and I'll explain it). I copied this over from an Aviation forum and did not think to edit it for nonpilot folk. lol

CFI: Certified Flight Instructor
FSS: Flight Service Station
BYY: Bay City Airport
VCT: Victoria Airport
PSX: Palacios Airport
VOR: Very High Frequency Omnidirectional Range. It's a common type of Navigation Aid used to navigate over long distances. The Instrument in the Cockpit has a needle that shows if your left or right of course.
LORAN: Long Range Navigation. Another Type of Nav Aid. This one has a digital display that shows Distance to an Airport, the Heading needed to get to said Airport, and Corrections to help you stay on course.
AWOS: Automated Weather Observation System.

Thats all I can see right now. Let me know if there is anything else that yall don't understand.

"CFI: Certified Flight Instructor
FSS: Flight Service Station
BYY: Bay City Airport
VCT: Victoria Airport
PSX: Palacios Airport
VOR: Very High Frequency Omnidirectional Range. It's a common type of Navigation Aid used to navigate over long distances. The Instrument in the Cockpit has a needle that shows if your left or right of course.
LORAN: Long Range Navigation. Another Type of Nav Aid. This one has a digital display that shows Distance to an Airport, the Heading needed to get to said Airport, and Corrections to help you stay on course.
AWOS: Automated Weather Observation System.

Thats all I can see right now. Let me know if there is anything else that yall don't understand"........WTGGGGJ !KUTGW!!

WTGGGGJ: way to go gg good job
KUTGW: keep up the good work

Nice ones! lol

Is the carp fishing around Caney Creek so bad that you need a pilots license to get away?

That and I can scout out swims better. lol

Hmmm. Bait Plane! LOL

Great Idea! My plan is to go in to Ag Flying (Crop Dusting), so I'll have a Plane that can dump say, 400 gallon hopper of Maize. lol

??? This has to do with fishing how?

It don't have anything to do with fishing. Thats why I marked the post as "OT" (Off Topic).

it doesn't but since GG is our friend and we like seeing his progress with his dream.

Good stuff Dustin , I wish more young adults had your ambition. Great career choice. Have you considered battling brush fires like in California?

are you the OT police or something

hey GG great to see the progress your making, keep up the good work