Looking back at my logbook, I noticed that in the time between getting my license in 2007 and now, I have flown 55.1 hours. Of that time, I've only flown 1.1 hours as what the FAA calls 'solo,' which is when a pilot flies as the sole occupant in the aircraft. It's not a bad thing that I haven't flown more solo, it's just an interesting stat. To me, it just means I've been sharing the experience with people. Still, there's something to be said for putting yourself up in the air alone. It's really peaceful.
Knowing that, in addition to the weather taunting me with its clear skies and calm wind, I caved and booked some time. I didn't know where I'd go, and spent a few minutes at work plotting various places I could go, but still hadn't fully decided. Once at the airport, I asked one of the instructors for his suggestion, but his suggestion involved a longer trip and a tower. Despite my normal enjoyment in flying with ATC, today just seemed like a day to set out on my own. In the end, I settled on Bedford County (HMZ).
Bedford County Airport is just north of the town of Bedford, Pennsylvania. It's only 75nm from JYO, which makes it a shorter trip, but it's also an airport I haven't been to, out in the mountains. For some reason, the challenges of airports around mountains have always drawn me to them. That draw generally dies somewhat when I'm flying in the clouds (with a rated pilot, of course), but it's still fun provided you follow the approach correctly.
The preflight, taxi out and departure were all the normal boring stuff, with the exception of the Waco (a modern bi-plane) that came in. On the way out, I ended up flying over my grandparents' old place outside of Purcellville again, and made my way towards MRB and then HMZ. The flight was uneventful, and I talked to Washington Center (ZDC) for a few minutes until I began my descent into HMZ.
The approach into HMZ is somewhat of a challenge when landing to the northwest as there's a narrow pass to slip through that's not exactly in line with the runway. It's not extreme or difficult, but it's definitely not the standard approach. You can see it better in the video at the end of the post.
On the way back, I talked to ZDC again, along with Potomac Approach (both MULLR and ASPER), and requested the ILS 17 into JYO. Since I was flying solo, I obviously didn't put on the hood or log it, but I thought it would be a good way to get familiar with the approach and working it all on my own. I also got a chance to use ForeFlight on my iPad. It was pretty cool for the plates, but I haven't actually bought it yet, so it was slightly limited (in addition to not having an external GPS receiver).
The controller working ASPER somehow managed and agreed to work me in on the approach despite being busy, which was awesome of her. From there you know the rest. It was definitely nice to get out there on my own. Apparently, there's a requirement for the next rating I'll be going for (commercial), that requires some solo pilot in command (solo PIC) night flight, and I just knocked 0.8 of that out.
The video is in portrait because I never checked to see if I returned the camera's setting to landscape after a cross country drive I took a few weeks ago. I'm beginning to think I need to add in several checklist items so I stop screwing up the videos of my flight. At least I'm making sure to fly properly.
Hours:
Pilot in Command Cross Country (PIC XC): 1.5 - 54.7 (of 50)
Actual/Simulated Instrument (Act/Sim): 0.0 - 5.6 (of 40)
