Boerne (5C1) - Aborted Long XCountry

Flew 1 1/2 hours to 5C1 via THX (Three Rivers), SAT (overflew C space) then to Boerne with the intention to landing there to drive into town to visit Mom. Aborted the landing at Boerne for numerous reasons including .. 3 hrs flying without a landing.

1) Runway looked too narrow ( turns out to be 38' !!)
2) Terraine .. not used to it .. pattern alt was 2400' .. A/P elev 1400'
3) C and MOA's all over
4) Heavy traffic in the area and I had already dropped SAT approach and was on CTAF
5) Damn radio kept cutting out (need to get this checked)
6) Came in high and wasn't properlty setup for downwind to 17 .. extended DW and turned back .. no short ( full flaps) is when I bailed .. tried to circle back but had trouble lining up

Some other issues / problems to address in future flights:
1) Forgot to open FP I had filed (despite having on my new Briefing Doc see below)
2) CRP ATIS reported 'winds calm' but in fact had a crosswind on landing .. still not a terrible landing considering I didn't allow for this
3) If this happened I need to land somewhere before returning to log this as XCountry!!

Things that went right:
1) New Briefing Doc .. typed out step by step things to do on trip up ( including opening FP ), this is a big step forward I think as it forced me to visualize each step of the flight; freq's to call; ATIS checks, Checklists, altitude & headings .. I think it really helped on the trip up and back ..
2) Approach to CRP decending from 10,500' ( I had climbed abv popcorn ) worked out well using the Rules of Thumb
3) Got some good pics over San Antonio .. using new camera w/ Zoom

My biggest takeaway are two:
1) Practice T&G's at local narrow ( 60 to 70') A/P's since I expect to be using them a lot
2) Practice setting up approaches .. steep slow turns .. to improve setup

So Padre & back - Celebration Flights

Tres and I flew to South Padre to join Lee at the TIFF fishing tournament. then flew back this morning. Flew back along the beach all the way at 1,000' - really beautiful and I had no Camera!

We were going to Mexico, but could get the insurance worked on the 172.

A Pilot I Am! Passed Checkride

I passed, its done, its over, and I can fly whenever and whereever. A sense of freedom. A sense of pride in finishing something that was hard. A sense of elitism , in joining a club of only 1%. And relief that I won't have to review the same material I've been looking at since last November, I can finally move on.

From 8:30 AM until 1:30 we covered both oral and flight tests. The oral was easy. The flight test was not. Charlie Mc Dougle, the FAA checkride pilot was very forgiving on many maneuvers. Ceilings were 1500' to 2000', so it was tricky staying VFR and leaving room for maneuvers. Clock malfunctioned, to complicate pilotage, and had trouble IDn CRP VOR.

We did fly the first two legs of cross country then he diverted me to nearest airport, right after he killed my GPS. I had not taken out the next sectional since I didn't think we would go this far north; and we were off Brownsville sect. So I'm looking for alternate without GPS or sectional. Fortunately I spotted RKP and recognized it since Tres and I had flown there to checkout the gliders one day.

He pulled throttle for emergency landing, I first selected a highway, but diverted , wires, then a dirt road, no too narrow, then a ROW I which he seemed to accept.

Of all maneuvers, I had hardest time with slow flight, turbulence made it difficult to stay on stall edge. Actually my stalls weren't very good either.

The big surprise was how well I did under the hood, even in unusual attitudes, which I was dreading.

Finally back to CRP for landings. Only did three! I shined on a short field when I was high and fast on short and used a slip to get on slope - he really liked that.

Then we taxied in, and it was over, at least my PPL . Now to begin instrument study to be ready for AFIT in September.