Pilot Life: Down to Richfield, First Solo Cross Country Flight

Today, I achieved another milestone in my belated flight training towards a private pilot certificate by going on my very first solo cross-country flight down to Richfield and back. This is one flight I waited several months to accomplish and needless to say, it just felt awesome to be up in the air by myself again and log some pilot-in-command time (which I haven't done since last November). I felt really good about this flight because despite the fact that it's been three weeks since I last flew a cross-country flight with my instructor, everything I re-learned back then was still fresh in my mind and I was able to recall everything I needed to utilize and remember for today's flight.

N208NH, "Wolf 02," the Katana I flew down to Richfield and back in for my first solo cross-country flight.

Last night, I wrote up my flight plan. When I got to the airport, I met with my instructor briefly so he could look at my flight plan; he approved of it, which was good enough for me. I went to a vacant classroom and called up the Flight Service Station in Cedar City to file my flight plan and pick up the standard briefing. Once that was all squared away, I got myself dispatched out, got a full load of fuel into the plan from the UVU dispatchers, and did my pre-flight. I hopped in the plane and got the engine started up. I got taxi clearance and taxied to the run-up area to check systems before continuing on towards the runway. Once I received takeoff clearance, I got airborne and headed south. I called Cedar City Radio and opened up my flight plan and leveled off at my chosen cruise altitude. I headed towards Nephi Airport, my first waypoint and made my position calls on the CTAF.

Once past Nephi, I headed towards the north end of the Sevier Reservoir, my second waypoint, where I would make a turn towards the southeast. Just south of Nephi, I ran into a little precipitation; I ensured that outside air temperature was above freezing and I made sure to stay out of any clouds. My next waypoint: Salina-Gunnison Airport, where I made my position reports on the CTAF. Once past that tiny airport, Richfield was in sight, so I began my descent and prepared for a touch-and-go landing, making CTAF position calls along the way. I set myself up at pattern altitude and entered the Richfield Airport pattern and prepared to land, downwind, base leg, final, and all. I touched down on Runway 19 and did my touch-and-go to get airborne again to fly home northbound.

After departing Richfield, my flight back towards Provo followed the same route I took in reverse order. As always, I made the appropriate radio calls whenever I was using an airport as a waypoint. Eventually, Provo came back into sight and I called up Cedar City Radio once again to close my flight plan. Once that was done, I contacted Provo Tower and received instruction in preparation for landing. I touched down on Runway 31 and taxied back to the ramp.

First solo cross-country flight complete!