Forty Miles West

I finally flew my cross-country yesterday morning. It wasn't my best cross-country, but it was mostly okay. I made 3 landings in the course of the flight, and 2 of them were pretty bad. I think I was just really tensed up, and it caused me to over-control the plane in the flare. Also, on the last leg of my flight, I encountered some cumulus clouds. Flying under cumulus clouds is like saying, "I sure do love flying through turbulence." Not a great idea. So I flew around the clouds, which put me about 40 miles off-course and resulted in my spontaneously selecting a new course home. What's remarkable, and I truly praise God for this, is that there was only a very brief period where I didn't know where I was. Despite flying over unpopulated, rocky terrain with very few obvious landmarks, I was able to figure out where I was and successfully choose a path that took me safely back to the college. That's an amazing thing! Thank-you to everyone who was (and is) praying for me. Your prayers were answered.

Now I only have one cross-country left before I can finish commercial stage 1. Unfortunately, it's a doozie of a flight, under-flying Phoenix's airspace and landing at a large, towered airport with 3 parallel runways. On the bright side, I don't have to deal with it until next Friday at the earliest.