first solo cross country flight-got lost

Back when airplane rental was $5/hour? :)

No - 1987. I just had the opportunity to learn right. I think it was $45 per hour solo, but I am not sure as I didn't have to pay money - line boy route. Come to think of it, I probably would have been better off financially working at McDonalds and paying for it - not sure the trade always worked evenly - but I had lots of fun and learned stuff.
 
This reminds me of one of my cross-country flights after I became a private pilot....

About halfway to my destination, I had planned a course change at a certain visual checkpoint. Just outside that landmark, the coffee and cola I drank that morning tried to make it's way out with a vengeance. Having another 30 minutes to go, it seemed prudent to take action. I happened to be in the process of using the "lav" on my rented Cessna 152 (use your imagination - any widemouthed bottle will do) when I crossed over my checkpoint. In my distraction, I failed to make the turn. I don't remember how far off course I was when I realized it, but let's just say it was a good learning experience.

Fortunately, there were plenty of VORs in the area, and I made my way to destination without incident. I was a little late to lunch with a friend.... to this day, he believes my tardiness was due to headwinds.
 
I got lost on one of my early cross countries too. I ended up well west of the field. I ended up just confessing to approach I wasn't sure where the field was and they gave me vector.

Just remember your lost procedures and the three C's if you get really or think you are about to bust someone's airspace. CLIMB CALL CONFESS.

Learn from it and move on...just a normal part of training.

Don't forget to tell ATC your a student pilot. They are much more understanding and helpful and usually will the extra step to help out.
 
I never got "lost" during my solo cross countries. I did however slowly turn to the north toward CLE on my way back home without noticing the change in heading. Not sure what I was thinking. Good thing I had flight following as they noticed me heading toward the Class B and asked me to verify my heading. I didn't stray far enough off course to be lost, but had I decided to not contact ATC I would have been wondering why there was a very large lake ahead of me.
 
As you can tell, it happens to everyone. I too got lost/disoriented on a few occasions during my training. Just remember one thing....Your only job as PIC of any aircraft is to get the airplane on the ground in one piece, with everyone in it alive. If you get lost and have to land somewhere else, then you've done good. Use anything/everything/everyone you can to help you figure out your next move if you're lost....it's one skill you'll use until you retire...

You just experienced something good very early in your flying career. I can guarantee you'll take from this one flight and use it every time you get into an airplane from now on.
 
almost happened to me on my first solo XC. Nav radios failed, and I was trying to find a small airport to meet up with. Luckily I was under RFD's TRSA so they direected me to 44c.

My advice? Don't stop at a small airport surrounded by trees in the middle of bumphuk Illinois haha

That would be bumphuk Wisconsin, btw. ;)

The place is hard to find, we had a CFI land a glider in a field (2 miles from the airport ((44C))) on its ferry flight over. We still nag on him about it. lol

On my initial solo XC, I decided to go over somemore "middle of nowhere" terrain in the winter, with the only checkpoints being towns of about 300 people, if that for most of the route. :rolleyes:

I sure had that "lost" feeling, but I ended up right on time and place in the end.
 
That would be bumphuk Wisconsin, btw. ;)

The place is hard to find, we had a CFI land a glider in a field (2 miles from the airport ((44C))) on its ferry flight over. We still nag on him about it. lol

On my initial solo XC, I decided to go over somemore "middle of nowhere" terrain in the winter, with the only checkpoints being towns of about 300 people, if that for most of the route. :rolleyes:

I sure had that "lost" feeling, but I ended up right on time and place in the end.

illinois/wisconsin borderline

you know what i mean haha

still up for some touch and goes at ORD on saturday?
 
Got lost on the return leg of my second XC. Fortunately there was a VOR not too far from the field. Dial it up, center the needle, turn to heading, and I reacclimated myself pretty quickly. This was a 1965 Piper Cherokee, so no GPS.
 
Got lost on the return leg of my second XC. Fortunately there was a VOR not too far from the field. Dial it up, center the needle, turn to heading, and I reacclimated myself pretty quickly. This was a 1965 Piper Cherokee, so no GPS.

I was in a '72 C150 on mine. Just had a single NAV/COM if memory serves me right. The school only had one single engine airplane with a GPS/COM in it, ironically it was the oldest 172 in the fleet. I think it was an Apollo GX-50 if memory serves me right. I didn't fly another airplane equipped with a GPS until I flew a G1000 equipped 172 about a month and a half ago.
 
I was in a '72 C150 on mine. Just had a single NAV/COM if memory serves me right. The school only had one single engine airplane with a GPS/COM in it, ironically it was the oldest 172 in the fleet. I think it was an Apollo GX-50 if memory serves me right. I didn't fly another airplane equipped with a GPS until I flew a G1000 equipped 172 about a month and a half ago.

I know what you mean. I've only recently been flying a newer 172 with the KLN-94. I really need to read up on how to use this thing. When I got checked out in the plane, the instructor just taught me about the "nearest" option. Works well, but there's so much more this unit can do.
 
Dude, this is part of training. DON'T listen to all this GPS and LORAN garbage. Learn how to pilot and dead reckon.

Yes and no...here's how I recommend you do it...and don't cheat yourself either. But if you do it this way you will be able to set off on a cross country feeling extremely confident. This depends on what kind of equipment you have on your airplane obviously.

There are four ways to navigate in an airplane, dead reckoning, pilotage, radio nav, area nav. I found it best to teach my students to use them all in that order.

Example. You take off from your departure airport, turn to a heading and start going...after that you turn to pilotage. So now you say "ok, along this course there should be a town with a river going through it just to my left" look for that. Then if you have a VOR and were using it in the planning process, tune that in to see if you're on the radial you should be on. Then, if so equipped, check the GPS.

The main purpose of solo cross countries is to learn. Eventually you should be comfortable navigating with just one kind of navigation, but you'll feel a whole lot better if you learn how to use all of them at the same time.
 
You know, it can be really tough to spot an airport, especially if you're stressed. There have been times where I know the airport should be right there but I can't see it. At night, there have been times where I should be just about entering the downwind because I'm so close the airport and I'm like, okay, where the hell is the airport. Oh, there it is.

There have been other times where in the haze I've had to overfly the airport turn around because I just couldn't see it.

Shiznit happens. Learn from it and move on. Nobody died, no metal was bent, so it's all good as long as you learn from it.
 
Just the other day at PMP there was a girl who barely made it in on her solo cross country. You can tell she was in a panic and just wanted to get the plane on the ground. She finally had the airport in site and made her way on final for 10. She had to do a go around and she was so flustered that when she came back around she was lined up for 06. Tower was cool about it and told her just continue the approach. She landed, pulled up to the FBO, and that was the end of that. A few guys calmed her down, went over he return trip flight plan with her, and next thing you know she was calling up tower to head on out.

Another time we had a guy from a flight school get really lost on a cross country. He got to the point where he almost ran out of fuel. CAP sent planes up looking for him. He eventually landed fine. He managed to find the airport by listening to the CTAF and heading in the direction it seemed to come in more clearly. How he managed that still amazes me. Especially when it's the same CTAF as airports on the other side of the state that you can hear people on from time to time. The whole time he had a GPS in the plane. He just didn't know how to use it. I'm a big advocate for knowing how to use something if it is in the plane.
 
I know what you mean. I've only recently been flying a newer 172 with the KLN-94. I really need to read up on how to use this thing. When I got checked out in the plane, the instructor just taught me about the "nearest" option. Works well, but there's so much more this unit can do.
Was this exec airs 172?
 
Dude, this is part of training. DON'T listen to all this GPS and LORAN garbage. Learn how to pilot and dead reckon. I also disagree with the familiar airport idea, are you only going to fly to airports you are familiar with once you get your cert????

It sounds like you did a good job, you found the airport. You may have had to practice your lost procedures, but you found it. Did you forget to cancel your flight plan or something? Why would they send out a search plane after only 20 minutes? That is not normal. I would imagine you made it home alright because you spent a lot more time looking at the chart and out the window at landmarks... am I right?

I should have gotten back on with the FSS and informed them of the situation but I was so preoccupied with trying to spot the airport I didn't think about it. That was probably one mistake.
 
We had a lot of guys getting lost up here during the fires in early June. Weather was marginally VFR at the field, but honestly you could only see straight down once airborne, nothing strait ahead. You had a lot of guys calling center for help.
 
So I went on my first solo cross country flight and I got almost to the airport and couldn't find it. I flew around for 20 minutes and finally found it but my instructor was freaked out and the fss apparently sent a plane looking for me. I felt pretty bad and I was pretty freaked out myself but I made it back to my home airport in the exact amount of time I was supposed to. I was pretty shaken up until yesterday but I am pretty much over it. This happen to anybody?

I got lost at my first job which was VFR from PAMR to PAGA to DCK. And I got lost in the Shageluk range between PAGA and DCK. I flew up a box canyon, and had to dump flaps in the turn to get out, scared the hell out of me, once I got out and headed south out of the hills (it was fairly low overcast for VFR) it took me a hell of a long time to get the nearest VOR. Finally I found it, and scud ran the rest of the way into Huslia, then down to Galena. It was terrifying, I learned to alwayd have an out.
 
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