First Cross Country Solo

       Skyhaven, I had never known of its existence before. It is small airport in Rochester New Hampshire. Skyhaven, would be the destination of my first cross country solo. I looked it up on the internet. Left hand traffic. A 4000 by 100 foot runway at 322 feet above sea level. Skyhaven was to be etched into my mind. I prepared my route and showed it to Steve for approval. I do not know why he picked Skyhaven, except that I think that he wanted to challenge me, besides if I were to fly towards the Canadian Maritimes Skyhaven would be along the way.

        I left Keene on a beautiful November day. While climbing I set the compass to a predetermined 088 degrees. I looked for a familiar checkpoint, a lake in Hancock. The next checkpoint would be a lake in Antrim. I had thought that it would only take me twelve minutes to get to the lake. It would take me thirteen. So I would now correct my times. I could see Hawthorne airport to my left, with only 13 minutes into my flight.

       I tuned the radio to Manchester approach. There was a lot of talking going on this day. During a brief moment of quiet I asked for Manchester approach. I received no response. I continued to listen to Manchester. They were very busy. I looked for my third checkpoint a set of towers on the river between Manchester and Concord. If I was not in communication with Manchester I would have to stay out of their airspace.

        The towers were under the plane in another nine minutes. I would now be flying into new territory. I would have to rely on my compass heading to find unfamiliar landmarks. 088 degrees. I may have not calculated the wind correction just right as the plane had seamed to be drifting to the right. I would try 085 degrees. My next checkpoint was the small town of Northwood center. It came up in the expected six minutes. It was also a little to the left. I would be at Skyhaven in seven more minutes. Or 35 minutes into my flight.

       I scan the horizon for Skyhaven. I see several possibilities for locations that may be airports. With four minuets to go I began to aim for what looks like an airport. With two minutes to go I realize what looks like an airport is not an airport. A quick beat of the heart. Where am I? I grab the chart and begin to look around. I see the highway and a large lake. Skyhaven should be to the left. I turn my head and look. There it is, just off the wingtip. I turn the plane and announce on the Skyhaven frequency that I am five miles out to the south, inbound for landing. I receive a reply that runway 33 is the active with right traffic. I fly North of the airport and then turn into the downwind leg. The sky is empty, just me the plane and the voice from Skyhaven.

       I fly North of the airport and then turn into the downwind leg. The sky is empty, just me the plane and the voice from Skyhaven. "Skyhaven traffic Cherokee 8179 November on final runway 33" I then decide that I am way to high. I had not aborted a landing before. It was time to do what is called a go around. I applied the throttle and flew back to 1300 feet. As I turned right onto crosswind I knew why Skyhaven had right hand traffic. Big beautiful fields. A pastoral landscape lay below me. A nice place to land if I should have some sort of sudden engine problem. I cut the throttle and applied flaps. I made a call at midfield and then a call on base. This time I was going to land.

       It was a nice landing, no bumps. I taxied and parked the plane. I wanted somebody to sign my logbook. It is not required that my logbook be signed. But in the old days it was required that your logbook be signed, that would make it easy to prove that you had actually been there. I walked by a white jet. Avery nice plane. The pilot to the jet was inside the airport. He showed me where the bathroom was, very nice. The man on the radio was behind the counter. We talked about solos. He had gotten lost on one of his. He signed my log book. Reginald H Jogg, thank you.

        On my way back I would fly over the Concord VOR at 5500 feet. VORs are easy to follow. Set the needle and chase it. Of course there is skill on how well you can follow the needle. I am having fun looking down at Concord. I miss my checkpoint. Well how can you miss Concord. The flight home is easy. I am in familiar territory