AvGas

Today was my first cross-country flight…KSQL-F72-KSQL. Flying to new/different places is harder than it sounds. The “aviate-navigate-comminicate” tenet of flying safely really rings true when it comes to flying to a new destination in complex airspace. The San Francisco Bay Area, at least in my opinion, has some of the most complex airspace in the country…and when coupled with a new destination, poses a real challenge to the student pilot. Needless to say, my pilotage and dead reckoning were pretty good, and I was able to find F72 (Franklin) easily. However, my lack of piloting at non-towered airports became quite obvious when I semi-botched my radio calls (practice makes perfect…and I need the practice at non-towered airports), and had a bit of trouble with entering the pattern correctly for runway 18. This, coupled with the fact that there were 3 ultralights crossing the runway as I turned final threw me off a bit. Still, I was able to make my landing just fine and get back into the air for a direct route back to SQL.All in all a valuable learning experience. Next time out is radio (VOR) navigation to KOAR.

I am working on transitioning to the Cessna 172SP…for a couple of reasons:

This said, today was my first time out in the 172SP. I went up today with Lorne Lawry and flew N236SP from KSQL to KHAF. In 5 months of flight training this was the first time that Half Moon Bay wasn’t socked in, and it was a nice change and some new learning at an untowered airport. We did the requisite high work (need to work on steep turns…still), and then did a number of T&G at KHAF. My landings in the 172SP were fine…the only thing that I had trouble with was the push/pull style throttle and mixture, but by the end of the flight they were feeling more natural. My impressions of the 172SP compared to the Archer are:

Other than those things, and not having to worry about carburator icing, it was pretty similar.Back out for more practice on Saturday in the 172SP, and Sunday for our first cross-country (if weather permits) to F72 (Franklin, CA).