Dual Cross Country Flight PIREP

[N918KT]

Yesterday, my CFI and I had a cross country flight from Queen City to Lancaster, PA and back. After I preflighted the Sportstar MAX, my CFI helped me get a weather briefing AND file my very first VFR flight plan over the phone. We took off from Queen City and we flew to Lancaster by using a mix of pilotage and direct GPS navigation. We never opened our flight plan after takeoff because we got flight following from Allentown and Reading Approach. I got a chance again to talk with ATC. So when we got to Lancaster, the tower told us to make a straight in approach. We then took off from Lancaster and used pilotage and direct GPS navigation back to Allentown Queen City Airport.

During the flight there were broken cumulus clouds so there was some turbulence. I also learned how to look out the window and look for traffic and also look for landmarks on the ground.

Overall, good flight, and I had a lot of fun!!!

[Horatio]

Congratulations! The best is yet to come - SOLO cross country!

Planning for mine in a couple of weeks.

[langj]

I remember my first solo x-country. I was so excited and nervous at the same time. About an hour in to the flight I realized its kind of boring not to have a passenger to share the experience with and talk to.

[CharlieTango]

I remember mine 30+ years ago. I first flew from Mammoth Lakes to Fresno Air Terminal and landed on the parallel taxi way mistaking it for the parallel runway.

[MrMorden]

I remember mine 30+ years ago. I first flew from Mammoth Lakes to Fresno Air Terminal and landed on the parallel taxi way mistaking it for the parallel runway.

Were there any repercussions for that?

[CharlieTango]

I remember mine 30+ years ago. I first flew from Mammoth Lakes to Fresno Air Terminal and landed on the parallel taxi way mistaking it for the parallel runway.

Were there any repercussions for that?

The controller asked me to take down his phone number and call him when I got home, and to please to taxi onto the runway at the nearby intersection and leave his airspace ASAP. Later I called and admitted that I really didn't know the difference between a taxiway and a runway.

I've landed on taxiways since but at least I knew they were taxiways.

[N918KT]

Hey, just wondering, is it possible to go on a dual cross country training flight with a CFI just to go for a $100 hamburger at a restaurant at another airport or just to land and explore the area for a little bit? You know, add some fun to your training? Or do most CFIs not allow $100 hamburgers and some fun exploring the local area on a dual cross country?

I learned that Lancaster Airport has a restaurant on the field and I think my CFI and I would go there hopefully another time if we had the time to sit down and eat I think.

Even though we didn't go to the restaurant at Lancaster, after we landed back in Queen City, Art offered to buy us both lunch at a nearby Wawas food market. It was a real treat and very thoughtful for him to do that!

[designrs]

Going places with your instructor is a great way to learn "real world flying". Beyond following the syllabus it allows you to experience many different things that happen when you go places. Navigating airports, dealing with FBO's, parking on different ramps, refueling at self-serve, different traffic patterns, other planes doing things in the traffic pattern that you may not expect, etc. I'm no CFI, but I doubt a dual cross-country prohibits stopping for lunch as long as alcohol is not consumed! While you are having lunch with your instructor you can talk about the many questions that you will have about the days events. Highly recommended!

[langj]

Call me cheap but the ideal of paying someone by the hour to have lunch with is just not my cup of tea. Some instructors may say they are off the clock during that time which then I am all for it. If I am going to pay someone by the hour I want to use that time in the most effective way possible.

[designrs]

Call me cheap but the ideal of paying someone by the hour to have lunch with is just not my cup of tea. Some instructors may say they are off the clock during that time which then I am all for it. If I am going to pay someone by the hour I want to use that time in the most effective way possible.

That is a pretty cheep way of thinking about it. It's not paying someone for lunch, it's about well-rounded training beyond the syllabus, and hopefully having lunch with a friend as well. Lunch on a packed weekend training schedule might not be possible, but there are usually plenty of other opportunities. Most instructors do not bill for this time unless you pull out the charts and books and turn it into a formal ground school. Lunch at a cross-country airport is more likely to be billed than lunch after a lesson at the home base. See how it goes. If a cross-country lunch is on the clock there will probably be a quick "eat and run" feel to it, but usually still a worthwhile quick ground school and a great overall experience. Most instructors are pretty fair people that enjoy spending time with their students. Come to think of it, I've rarely had a instructor that I did not enjoy having lunch with, and most have become true friends.

[3Dreaming]

I don't know of many CFi's that would pass up a free meal. I also don't know any who would charge the student for the time spent eating.

[drseti]

Call me cheap but the ideal of paying someone by the hour to have lunch with is just not my cup of tea.

That's precisely why I charge a flat rate per lesson for instructor time, rather than by the hour. This is a flight school policy, to which my adjunct instructors have to agree. I urge other instructors to do the same. And no, you're not being cheap.