Lesson 24

Last night I did my 2nd and final night flight. This was a cross-country trip to Salisbury. It was a nice night for it - calm winds, reported overcast at 6000 but it appeared broken, and a balmy 40 degrees for a December night.

We took off into really smooth air and proceeded on course. I had an easier time picking up landmarks, but I still struggled to manage paper and frequencies and navigation and aviation all at once. I handled all of the radio work, uneventfully except for when I checked in with the tower at Salisbury - I gave them the wrong location. But I called back and fixed that.

The night was so clear that we spotted the airport more than 20 miles out and we were even nearly lined up with the runway, so I guess you could say I had a 20-mile final approach. We did 5 stop-and-goes and returned home.

Overall this flight was much easier than my other night flight. The calm winds and good visibility helped. The landings were OK, no bounces or dropping it in.

I'm cleared for solo cross country work now.