Flight# 44 - Long Solo Cross Country

Finally the radar showed that fog had cleared up along the route. So, I started on my long cross country trip (KGIF - KOCF - KGNV - KGIF) around 11:00 am.This trip is around 240 miles. Since I already traveled this route with Bill before, there was nothing to it. It was lunch time by the time I landed at Ocala. Taxied to the FBO thinking that I could eat lunch at the restaurant. But, it was closed because of Easter. Taxied back to the runway and took off for Gainesville. Tune the Nav radio to Gators VOR frequency and center the needle and it tells you which direction to head to. It is that easy. Tower cleared me for Runway 25. Taxied to the GA ramp and got it refueled and headed back to Winter Haven.

It was a good thing I requested Flight following on the way back. I initially planned on traveling at 5,500 ft but, beyond 4,500 ft it was very hazy. So, I asked the controller if I could descend to 3,500 ft. While doing that, she advised about another plane at 12 O' clock at 4,600 ft. I was at 4,100 ft at that time. I may not have noticed it if not for the controller. Whew!

Because I was traveling at 3,500 ft, the ride was bumpy all the way back. There was also a lot of cross wind. I had to crab 15 degrees to the left to go the desired heading due to the easterly wind. I landed safely back on Runway 5 around 3:45 pm.

The Hobbs time of this flight was 3.2 hours. Cumulative Hobbs time: 51.6 hours.