Long Cross-Country

Last Tuesday, it was perfect flying conditions! A big H on the weather map had camped out over the state of Ohio, and I was going flying again! I thought that September was supposed to have this really incredible flying weather, but it was fairly rainy and stormy this September. Anyhoo....it was nice last Tuesday and I was taking a REAL trip in the 172!



My trip was from Coshocton (I40) to Findlay(FDY) to Fort Wayne(FWA) to Piqua (I17) to Holmes County(10G) to Coshocton (I40). I logged 4.4hours, flew 385 miles, and burned 31 gallons for a fuel burn of only 7gal/hr. It was really fun. Like, REALLY REALLY fun. Did I mention it was fun? Planning and successfully executing a flight of that duration to locations that I hadn't been to before was really satisfying.

My first leg of the trip, from I40 to the FDY VOR started out well. After the fog cleared to 7 miles visibility, my CFI approved my departure. After climbing the short distance to 2500ft, there were some light clouds above and then they cleared up. The visibility was great. Just outstanding and after I passed Mansifled, it was really neat to see all the Ohio farmland....aka 12,000ft emergency landing strips. I flew over the new four-lane US30 under construction, and watched all the earth movers frantically transferrring piles of dirt from one pace to another. In the picture below, you can see the roadbed under construction and some bridges half-way through construction.
Continuing on, I found my waypoints right on time, and turned right over the Findlay (FDY) VOR. Look at all those suckers driving up & down I-75. Been there. Done that. So glad I'm in the air.

On to Fort Wayne! Part of my flight planning involved a little Google Earth to help out with visual landmarks around the class C airspace. It was really helpful to pick up landmarks and buildings and to get a picture of what the final approach would be into FWA. Thanks, Google!


FWA approach controllers were great. I'm just a student stumbling over my radio calls after practicing them five times out loud, and they were really helpful. I didn’t have any problems at FWA, other than that the tower did not give me clear taxi directions, and they didn't like the taxiway turnoff that I chose. So, the call came out...

“Ahh..Cessna 06G....can you turn around and head back across the runway onto C-3?”

“Sure, no problem.....can you give me progressive taxi instructions?”

After taxiing back, I took off runway 23 and headed for the ol' homestead. I had picked St. Mary's Lake as a waypoint, and it was a very visible one. It just kept getting bigger and bigger, and I terminated my radar contact with FWA departure so I could get a closer look. I'm told that this lake is only about 10ft deep, and there are places in the middle, where you can get out of the boat and stand in waist-deep water. Aren't Ohio lakes awesome? Between St. Mary's and Buckeye Lake, I think that we've really got some tourist destination lakes to rival the Boundary Waters in MN.
I refueled in Piqua, and evacuated my bowels. I arrived at Piqua just before noon and the airport was dead. Just after lunch it was like the whole airport was swarming with people. There were a couple of planes in the pattern (Warrior & Cherokee) and somebody pulled their Stearman Bi-Plane out for a flight. I think that Hartzell Propeller must take lunch at 12:00PM...and that everybody is just itching to fly all day. I considered buzzing my old office at Goodrich Wheels & Brakes in Troy to wake my old co-workers from their chinese-food induced slumber, but what's that antidote for Antiauthority? The rules apply to me? Me? You can see the photo of Echo Hills Golf Course below, where I lost many a golf ball during my days in Piqua. Also, I overflew my first home, the apartments that I occupied immediately after graduation. It seems like forever ago, but there they were, just sitting on the ground, soaking up the rays.


I flew back at 5500ft, with an indicated 105mph airspeed, but an indicated 115kts groundspeed. It was a nice tailwind all the way back home. It was a great flight and a great experience...made me itch for the next time that I can get out in the 172 and REALLY go somewhere. Maybe I'll take a trial run up to Oshkosh to get ready for next year!