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Flying since Tuesday: 2.0 dual, 4.3 solo, 6.3 total = Everything seemed perfect for today’s ‘nav 6’ solo from Barwon Heads->Hamilton (land)->Warrnambool (land) -> Barwon Heads. For once, the area forecast reported ‘Generally good conditions’ where there would have normally been reports of clouds and rain. Even the Hamilton TAF was easy to decode with 310/10 CAVOK. This was the perfect day for a solo hour building hop across the western region of Victoria. I arrived at the airport at around 12:30 and put in the latest information into the flight plan. The wind was forecast to be 350(M)/20 at 2000’. My ride for the afternoon, C172 VH-ADR was filled with 180 litres of fuel total, which would be enough for the once-again planned three hours. With everything set and checked, I was soon rolling up Runway 35 and away heading towards Hamilton on a course of around 280 degrees, set for the 78 minute trip. The route took me over Geelong Airport, past south Geelong, then over Moriac airfield before I indentified the Hamilton Highway at Wingeel. My course was roughly next to the Hamilton Highway, and I passed Cressy (making a call to overfly Lismore at 4500’), the northern shore of Lake Corangamite, and then Derrinallum at Mt. Elephant. At that point, the Highway left my track and I switched from the VTC to the Hamilton WAC. There were few landmarks from here to Hamilton apart from the obvious Grampians. I passed several bodies of water and the occasional settlement. Soon, I switched over to the Hamilton CTAF. There were two aircraft around doing circuits. I made my inbound call at 12 miles out (which was 8 minutes of flying away). I then commenced the descent into Hamilton. I overflew the airfield at 2300’ and there were two other aircraft in the circuit. I announced that I was overhead, and then spoke to an aircraft who has doing circuits at 1500’ AGL (my current height). However, he had me sighted and I could see him- I was heading to the dead side to commence a descent and he was on downwind on the live side. The circuit traffic was all using RWY 31, so I did the same. It made sense given the northerly wind. I overflew midfield crosswind and completed my circuit. When I turned base, I was number 3 for landing which is unheard of at Barwon Heads (last time was at the S&LDU fly-in). On final, there was an aircraft doing a touch and go on the ground and one aircraft half way through final approach. Once number 2 had cleared the runway, I was fine to continue my touch and go. The approach lights at Hamilton were a very nice feature- VASI I believe (it’s a IFR thing- which type of VASI I don’t know). I had only experienced them on Flight Simulator before. Soon I was over the threshold, and then the world around me was swallowed in black. As such, I misjudged the height and rounded out too high, causing a long drop and a slight bounce on landing. I powered up and did my touch and go, using only around half of the 1.4km runway. On departure, I had to watch the aircraft doing the 1500’ AGL circuits, but maintained visual separation and set course for the 22 minute trip down to Warnambool. This leg was at 3500’, and I passed my first landmark of Mt. Napier. I was able to spot and identify most other towns, and didn’t need a 1 in 60 as the heading was pretty accurate. I called Warnambool and advised of my inbound intentions- all was quiet. I was having trouble spotting the airfield, but then it suddenly appeared directly ahead. As there was no other traffic, I had to use the windsock which said southerly sea breeze had kicked in, and I was to use RWY 13. I joined the circuit, and when I called base, I had a pilot from SHARP aviation talking to me who was on his way to Essendon. He was holding while I landed. It’s easy to feel guilty making all those passengers wait for a solo student on a navex, but that’s what happened. I came down to the runway and once again had the aircraft swallowed in black. This time, I used the centreline markings to judge the height. The bump wasn’t as bad as Hamilton, but still not what I wanted. I pulled off the side of the runway, and, as I had forgotten my ASIC, I had to stay with the aircraft. It was good to have a few minutes rest from flying and to check that there was enough fuel to get home. As there was, I was soon back on my way. After a long taxi (backtrack) to the end of RWY 13 (the terminal is adjacent to RWY 31), I was soon ready to turn around and depart. I departed and set course back home. Once the aircraft levelled off at 3500’, the inflight service began with light refreshments and a bar service (one apple and a drink of water). I called my flight instructor from the air to advise that I would be back at the airport in 45 minutes. Soon, Camperdown came in to view and, being familiar with the area, I didn’t need charts and more. This would be the fourth time flying over this area, passing the southern end of Corangamite and then Lake Colac and Winchelsea. Corio Bay and Geelong were soon in view, as was the smoke of Anglesea power station, which marks the western boundary of the all-too-familiar training area. Barwon Heads was also enjoying the southerly sea breeze, and I joined the circuit and landed with another 3.4 hours of solo time on the clock. This meets and exceeds my required solo cross-country time by 0.2. It also caps off a very big week of flying. All that is left now is a revision of GFPT and flying with navaids (probably VOR in VH-ADR again). I am now taking a break from flying for a couple of weeks to let the bank account recover and to settle into tertiary education.
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