Since I already plan to get an instrument rating, I decided that I needed to start building cross country time. I’ll probably do quite a few short cross countries before I do anything long. I have these ideas floating around, but I don’t know about taking a plane for that long. Anyhow, I haven’t flown since taking my wife up. The weather hasn’t been the greatest and neither has my schedule to be honest. We decided that a flight was in order, so I planned a short hop down to Cleveland. This was one of my first cross countries, but I had promised to show my wife the huge houses. I went ahead and included a brief stop at Mark Anton to the the north on the way back. I didn’t know if we would make that leg or not considering the only reason for including it was to check out a 172 that was for sale. The topic of airplane ownership has come up repeatedly and has been less than popular with family and friends. I can’t understand why. As for me, I’m just waiting for the right plane at the right time. Back to the topic at hand, as it turned out, I would not be making the flight with my wife. Instead, my brother would be accompanying me. This didn’t change much about the flight except weight and balance.
I had booked the plane for most of the day, so I was reasonably certain we had plenty of time. Unfortunately, when we arrived the weekend dispatcher was gone to lunch. We had to wait for him to get back, but after that everything was good to go. I did my (increasingly) typical orientation, safety briefing and preflight. Everything checked out. This was great. We loaded up and I started the plane, radioed for taxi, did a run-up and taxied into position at Alpha 8 for takeoff. After glossing over the before and after takeoff checklists, I handed the book to my brother and asked if he could hold it for me. I explained that I might need it once we were off the ground so he just needed to keep it handy. I waited for the landing traffic to touchdown and roll out a bit before calling ready for takeoff. After they were clear, we were cleared for takeoff. As we rolled onto the runway, I looked over and asked one last time, “are you ready?” After an affirmative response, I applied full throttle and we were off. As we reached the end of the runway a large bird flew around the front of the plane and behind us. I immediately alerted the tower of this since it could be an issue and we proceeded to fly as filed. Our course was basically runway heading, so there wasn’t much maneuvering to be done. Just a nice climb.
Once we were at altitude, I trimmed the plane for cruise and set to configuring the second radio for AWOS for our destination. We had flight following, so I wasn’t too worried about the two over-flights that would occur during our trip. I proceeded to scan for traffic and play tour guide. It was at this point, that I noticed my brother had a white-knuckled grip on the checklist book. I told him he could stash it in the side pocket if he wanted too. He explained that it gave him something to hold onto and that he’d rather keep it. I offered the yoke saying he could hold onto it if he wished, but he declined. Not that I was insistent, I just wanted to make sure he felt at ease, so I once again offered to let him take the controls saying, “it flies really easy, after all they let me have a license.”
He declined, but he did ask why it felt like we were flying sideways. I explained the effect of the wind on our flight-path and the proper use of rudder. I briefly showed him the difference between coordinated and uncoordinated flight. Then I explained how it took me about two and a half lessons to feel at ease in the plane. I did offer a bit of encouragement that we wouldn’t fall out of the sky and that we were perfectly safe. I ran through a brief explanation of emergency procedures and such before tuning in the AWOS.
I looked down and could see that we were about 15 miles out from our destination, so I cancelled flight following and began calling on the CTAF. I knew there was some activity at the field, so I maneuvered out south of the field so that I could enter on a 45 to the downwind. I radioed this intention and heard several calls in return. I realize the wind was calm and that it didn’t matter much, but one of the calls indicated the pilot wished to land opposite the direction everyone else was using. I’m not sure why. As I entered the 45 for downwind, I noticed an aircraft departing the field and turning our way. Naturally, I radioed my exact position and what I was doing and I received several calls back. The plane leveled off roughly parallel to us, but going in the opposite direction. As he passed us, he gave a rather annoyed call about whether we had heard his transmission to which I responded, “Affirmative.” I’m still curious why he chose not to extend his departure further from the field.
We were on the downwind when I heard another aircraft indicate they would be entering the downwind as well. Unfortunately, my perception that they were nearer than they were made me feel a little rushed. Also, the plane that landed opposite everyone else was now sitting in the run-up area very near the runway. I elected to land a little long and I did so very smoothly (maybe my nice landings of late weren’t all due to the plane). I elected to taxi off the runway and wait out some of the traffic, which wound up benefitting my brother who needed a bit of a rest stop…
Our trip back was largely uneventful and more relaxed than the trip down. The major exception was the aircraft that entered a GPS holding pattern over the river. His radio calls indicated we should see him as we passed over the river on our way back, but we never did. We didn’t hit anything, so I don’t assume we came anywhere near him. Once we were over Madisonville, I radioed the approach controllers and they sequenced us for landing. Unfortunately, just after we were turned back toward the field, we saw a very large speck coming from the north. As we soon learned, we probably be landing behind a heavy 757 operated by FedEx. I knew it was too much to ask not to have to mix small, light aircraft and heavy ones. I explained wake turbulence and told my brother to try and see where they touched down so we could stay above it, but it was a non-issue sort of…
We were cleared to land, but they had us “turn to the numbers” because there was a cherokee landing parallel. This was interesting as I had landed parallel numerous times before, but never had to perform any such maneuver. It was the second call that made me laugh and made me want to cry all at once: “FedEx #### heavy, cleared to land number two behind the Cessna 172.” I landed in a hurry and took the earliest turn-off available as the tower radioed, “left next taxiway, no delay on the runway, and hold short of 23 left.” I read back the instructions and showed my brother our speck (which was now quite large) as it touched down.
We taxied in and tied down the plane. He called his girlfriend and they departed for church. I left with my wife and we talked about how the flight went. I debriefed her on the escapade as we dropped off the keys at the FBO (since the flight school was closed). Later I received a text from my brother thanking me for quite an experience. I also received a call from my father concerned that my brother may have enjoyed the flight a bit too much and that he might be on the hook for lessons now. I joked that I could have just left my brother down there if he was that worried.