Texas to Arizona | Cessna 172 | 800 Mile Flight

a solo cross-country from San Marcos to Arizona and I enjoyed every minute of it I've already faced some complications this morning as my first attempt to leave San Marcos didn't work so well I was supposed to leave Texas at 4 a.m. get to Phoenix around noon and then load up the airplane and be back in San Marcos by about 7:00 or 8:00 that evening but during my pre takeoff checklist at 4 o'clock in the morning I found something that caused me to cancel the flight to actual idle that's running extremely rough it's a good amount of shaky even more back to idle running very rough it just sounds like it's about to die basically an old gasket on the intake manifold had blown off of one of the cylinders and it sounded like the engine wasn't firing on all four cylinders it was running very rough i sat around and waited till about 7:00 a.m. for one of the shops on the airport to open and I was finally able to get a mechanic to look at it luckily it was an easy fix and we were done within about ten minutes by the time the airplane got all fixed up there was no way I was going to be able to come back to San Marcos that evening I've been up since 2:30 in the morning and I didn't depart San Marcos until about 11:30 in the morning despite the maintenance hiccup that delayed my departure flying by myself from state to state over beautiful terrain and desolate areas of the country was one of the most enjoyable flying experiences I've had just me the airplane and the landscape all right now we can pick up our ifr clearance and ground eight zero none on one's ready to copy any clearance occasion I am on ground Roger cleared approach Stockton via rector's amuse intersection Junction direct I maintain 3,000 you expect 8,000 ones on the temperature departure departure frequency one one nine two point zero two four six five okay Scott Hawk AIDS zero none one is clear to Fort Stockton Airport via radar vectors to amuse and then direct junction and then direct climb and maintain 3,000 expect eight thousand and one zero minutes after departure departure frequency one-one-niner point zero squawk two four six five four eight zero nine nine one scout and I'm not I'm on we backtracked have a good fight town when you're ready so thank you sir all right two four six five the squawk San Marcos tower skyhawk AIDS zero nine nine one ready for IFR departure runway one seven skies remain that one so much memory one seventh of the day off to the left and three six zero ok runway one seven clear for takeoff turn left heading three six zero four eight zero nine eleven transponder altitude car Pete cold mixture rich flaps are up fuel selectors on both trips after takeoff those are all in strobe lights on and set the gyro 170 on the heading matches the compass heels down in the floor hold power fifty-five on the air speed 60 all right left to 360 up to 3000 all right 500 feet we can begin our turf she have no no one condo nelson portrait corner departure campaign on 9/11 all right entering the clouds right about fifteen hundred feet that's about right lost a departure Skyhawk in over eight two zero nine nine one just off san marcos one pot 1500 should I get zero and then I want off then approach ident I maintain a thousand ident quite and maintain eight thousand eight zero nine nine eleven alright there's 360 on the heading you're not another one radar contact two miles east of San Marcos Airport and your altitude and the caves from leaving 1,800 I'll put you checks not not one all instruments what's the purpose banana a tequila fear has Yulia forgets air Roger that thank you Cecily 9 1 ml to maintain 4,000 in your clear direct amuse intersection ok 4,000 record news 8 CR 9 all right direct amuse Pop's about 2400 departure blotter 7 3q fingers 0.8 3040 on the heading sorry is hanging off 10 departure radar contact climb and maintain one 2,000 up to one 3100 Newton I've got about six hours of traveling ahead of me but I'm ready to take it on this will be the first time I'm going interstate without another person with me I always loved sharing aviation with everyone around me but there's just something about rocketing into the sky by yourself no distractions just your own thoughts decisions and skills carrying you through the sky some would say it's crazy to take a 172 on an 800-mile trip to pick someone up and come back but it's not all about speed flying in a little airplane over beautiful terrain puts you intimately close to the scenery right in the middle of the action general aviation opens the world up to a whole new perspective and if all I cared about was speed I'd be missing the point as to why I became a pilot in the first place I explore tiny airports get to gaze at landscapes that most don't ever get to see and most importantly I embrace the miracle that I'm cruising through the air and a man-made aircraft 10,000 feet above the earth something that almost everyone in the modern world takes for granted I don't need a fancy g1000 glass cockpit or a screaming fast airplane to appreciate aviation just having a pilot's license is a great honor and privilege and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world

Channel: Aviation101

Views: 138,281

Rating: 4.9488769 out of 5

Keywords: Texas (US State), Arizona (US State), Cessna 172 (Aircraft Model), Cessna (Aircraft Manufacturer), Aircraft (Type Of Fictional Setting), Landing, Flight (Quotation Subject), Airport, Airplane, Plane, Airlines, flight, n80991, share, aviation, aopa, josh, flowers, mountains, flying, intercom, audio, atc, flight vlog

Id: 4zf3KjHU9yc

Length: 7min 43sec (463 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 14 2015