Cross country flight is all about multitasking. Not only do I have to fly the plane, I have to time the flight between checkpoints and compare that to my estimated time, use my e6b computer to calculate ground speed, and then use that to find an estimated time to my next heading. All while maintaining altitude and heading to stay on course.For the flight down to Beckley, I flew at 6500 feet altitude. The total distance is 100 nautical miles, and time enroute was 61 minutes. Some of my visual checkpoints included: Sutton Lake, Birch River, Summersville Lake and airport, and the New River Gorge.
Visibility was practically unlimited. At some point near Summersville, we could see in the distance the John Amos Power Plant in Nitro. I took a look at the map and we found that it was roughly 50 nautical miles away. We could also see windmills on top of the Appalachian mountains roughly 25 miles away. So from 6500 feet, I could see a very large portion of West Virginia.
Summersville Lake was interesting, it was almost completely dried up. You could see the mud where the lake once was, but obviously for some seasonal reason or another they have drained most of it. You could walk across some sections of the lake.
The New River Gorge looked AWESOME from above. It really is- a gorge! I always thought it was a river between two giant mountain ranges- But its more like a deep crevice cut into a large flat plateau. The keyword is flat. The area surrounding the gorge is practically flat.
Beckley airport has no control tower- but it should. It's a big airport! Two full sized runways, a terminal, and several taxiways. It was a little strange roaming free here.
This cross country was a great experience. My next flight should be my night flight which we are planning for Thursday.
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