PPL Qualifying Cross Country done!
When I woke up this morning and opened the blinds to see blue skies and calm winds, I very nearly wept with joy; my QXC, after no fewer than 10 wx cancellations, was finally a go.
Best laid plans…
I’d like to say that all the planning I did for the cancelled sessions made planning this one easy, but Kemble is NOTAMed closed for non-based pilots on Sundays and Mondays so I had to throw my usual route out the window. Instead I had to plan for Blackbushe > Shoreham > Turweston > Blackbushe. Two things of note for that route:
- Before takeoff I’d need to get a relayed clearance from Farnborough so I could transit their CTR down to Tongham. From memory I think I’d only done this once before, but it’s fairly standard stuff.
- I’d been asked to plan to go around Farnborough airspace on the way up to Turweston, making the already long flight from Shoreham to Turweston a 96nm, 1hr leg. Again, not unusual in the grand scheme of things, but easily my longest single flight and it made the whole QXC close to 200nm.
Planning done, I set off for the airfield nice and early. By this point I’d not flown for a month, and not done any flying other than 3 circuits since the middle of February. School currency rules meant I had to squeeze in a circuit with my instructor before he could send me on my way, and he had another student to send off for QXC and a third needing a dual lesson all at the same time. Anyway, I managed a perfectly acceptable standard landing on 07, dropped the instructor off at the pumps and topped off the fuel ready for my flight.
Leg #1: Blackbushe > Shoreham
I got my relayed clearance after completing the power checks, managed to read it all back without fumbling anything, and headed to the B1 hold for 07 ready for departure. Taking off on 07 and holding north of M3J4 doesn’t give you a whole lot of time to orient yourself and get the appropriate radio calls in. As soon as I’d bid Blackbushe farewell at the edge of the ATZ and switched to Farnborough, I could hear the ATCO calling my callsign. Turns out they wanted to cancel my hold and give me clearance to cross directly to the Tongham VRP. I thought this might have been to expedite my crossing for traffic, but there was only one other aircraft on frequency and it was nowhere near the ATZ.
The flight down to Shoreham was blissfully peaceful - or at least as peaceful as it can be with the noise maker upfront, ANC notwithstanding - even if the visibility did leave something to be desired. I got the ATIS for Shoreham just north of Littlehampton and then scooted along the coast for an overhead join for my first landing on RWY 02. I must say, I’m not sure I’ll ever tire of flying that base leg and final approach over the sea, especially on a beautiful sunny day like today. A nice crosswind landing later and my first leg was complete.
I didn’t want to spend too long on the ground at Shoreham as my route up to Turweston was going to take me quite close to Abingdon and they’d scheduled meatbombs for 12:30 BST. I nipped into the control point in the hut to pay my landing fee and get my QXC form signed. I had to stifle a laugh when the guy, seeing that the form asked them to rate my landing and general airmanship, said “Well, we can’t see your landing from in ‘ere”. Still, form completed, and I strolled back out into the sunshine to the aeroplane for leg number two.
Leg #2: Shoreham > Turweston
In order to avoid Farnborough airspace and give me some semblance of a round trip, the second leg I’d chosen was a bit… convoluted. The routing was Shoreham, to the Butser Hill Mast VRP, up to Greenham Common (thru the Odiham MATZ), then overhead Didcot Power Station, overhead Brill (-on-the-Hill, thru the Benzon MATZ) then direct Turweston. Altitude keeping on the first part of that over the windward side of the South Downs was a bit of a pig, but the rest of the journey was okay, even the two MATZ penetrations which I think were my first ever. Given I was flying close (but not too close) to Lasham I’d brought my SkyEcho along and hooked up my phone in Traffic mode; seeing the swarm of gliders on the screen and just how few of those I could pick out visually was quite sobering.
As with Shoreham, the wind direction at Turweston meant I’d be landing on a runway I’d not landed on before (09). Thankfully their circuit guidance for pilots is well-written, so the circuit was no bother and I chalked up another good landing with a short backtrack to parking. After the hour-long flight I was properly hungry; I headed inside to pay my landing fee and get myself some lunch. As with my last visit the cafe was busy, but there was plenty of outside seating and I had the plane for the rest of the day so I opted to wait. After sitting outside in the chilly easterly breeze for 5 minutes I decided it would just about have been tolerable, but a table inside had just been vacated to I rushed back inside to munch my very delicious fish finger sandwich in the warm.
Leg #3: Turweston > Blackbushe
Well fed and well rested, and after the marathon second leg, the 20-something minute flight back to Blackbushe via Stokenchurch was very ordinary. I was pleased to see Blackbushe appear in the distance after a tiring but rewarding day, and managed my best landing of the lot back on 07. Taxying back and shutting down, with my instructor waiting to congratulate me and debrief the day, I could feel the fatigue setting in. QXC done!
Wrap-up
Next up, either this week or next, is a mock test to to find out just how many basic skills I’ve all but forgotten. We’ll then use my remaining time to work on those skills before a final mock and then getting my actual test booked in. Between now and then I need to book in my PoF and AGK theory tests, but I’m happy I’m ready for those.