Well the time has come…the time for the cross county solo!

After plaguing my mind for nights and causing me sleep deprivation, I decided I needed to do it. I was a bit nervous because it would be my first time going over terrain and flying such a far distance alone.

When I got to my FBO I was notified that the plane had some engine roughness the prior day on the way to Santa Barbera. This didn’t help me much. I was assured the problem was fixed and ended up going around the pattern a couple of time with my CFI who gave the plane the stress test to make sure everything was on the level.

After he felt the plane would be safe for me to take on a 3 hour flight, we taxied to the FBO and I dropped him off. It was time to head out to Santa Maria via Oxnard.

I flew the altitude I normally took to Oxnard, 4,500 feet, with flight following guiding me along the way. I kept getting passed along until I reached Oxnard and made a clean landing. I requested a taxi back to the runway for takeoff and was cleared. The tower never told me to stay on that frequency so when I got to the hold short line, I switched to tower and was not getting a response. After a couple of minutes I switched back to the other frequency and made the call. Apparently, there was a plane with an IFR flight plan waiting for me to get out of the way…oops. I moved to the side so that plane could take off then was cleared to take off on my own. I still don’t recall being told to stay on the same frequency but no harm no foul.

I climbed to 6,500 feet toward the San Marcus VOR. There was an overcast layer that was over the ocean but I was still able to keep VFR minimums. It actually made for a scenic flight.

After keeping my heading for a while I was still not seeing Santa Maria. I got clearance to land but had yet to have the airport in sight. Eventually, I made visual contact and and made a straight in departure to runway 30. I parked at the transient and got a bite to eat at the same Mexican restaurant.

I was cleared for a downwind departure back to Van Nuys with flight following and made the same trip back at 5,500 feet that I had 2 times before now. Landing back at Van Nuys never felt so good.

Here is some video I took on the way back from Santa Maria along the coast of Santa Barbara.

I logged 3.5 hours and got my long solo cross country completed.