This weekend I was luck enough to be able to fly up to NJ with my girls for an event in NYC with my brother and father. Most of the week was spent watching weather and trying to see if I was going to have to drive, or if flying was going to work.
This was also going to be my first XC flight in a 172SP with autopilot. Talk about living the life! That plus my new IR rating would be my first XC flying in the system. Let’s just say that I was leaning on canceling as I did not want to get sucked into “get there itis” and have any issues.
On Thursday evening I did my last online briefing before bed and saw a good window that I thought was safe. Winds were scheduled to be calm until just after 10am in DC and would remain manageable until about noon in NJ (straight down the runway). Sat looked like great weather all day for my return flight.
Packed everyone in the car early and got to the airport by 7:30 am or so, however the airplane was frosted over. Another weather brief and looks like winds should pick up around 11:00, so plenty of time to try to get the frost melted.
Turned the airplane around so the sun can melt the frost, and get the flightplan filed. (inside the FRZ, so no Foreflight filing) Finally everything was ready and we departed around 9:30 or so. Only down side was no cabin heat and I’m not a huge fan of the KLN GPS in this airplane. Autopilot however was absolutely fabulous and really made the flight easier on me.
While the flight was a little bumpy due to winds, I was glad I did it. Helped me to evaluate my minimums as I had been on the fence most of the week if I would launch. Also getting experience with different equipment is helping me make sure I understand what I want out of my airplane. Had a good (but cold) flight up and a easy flight home, even with the headwind. Can’t wait for my project to finish so I can get more adventures with my daughters!