metaruss

I flew at night for the first time last night.  Not only was it my first time flying and landing at night, but we also did the nighttime cross country.  Sink or swim.

The cross country actually went quite well.  Had a bit of snafu when we got there as I entered the downwind for the wrong runway.  Check those instruments!  Once I fixed that, getting setup for that approach was quite an interesting experience.  I would have preferred that my first night landing happen at a familiar airport.  It’s quite hard to judge height, as one would imagine, so I landed flat.

On the way back, I flew under the hood for a while.  Then he spring lost procedures on me.  I found my position and figured out where to head, but then he started asking questions that made me second guess myself.  After a bit of a panic, I confirmed my position with the VOR.  It turned out he was trying to get me to explain my plan after I got to where I wanted to go.  I interpreted his comments as hints that I was not doing it correctly.  Sink or swim.

Once we got back to the airport, my second landing was better and the rest went fine.  We had a long debrief, and discussed the next steps.  Next we have a, “stage check”, which involves a mock check ride of sorts.  If that goes well, I’ll be doing my solo cross country flights.