Commercial Dual day cross country

I arrived at the airport looking forward to my VFR cross country. It's been a long time since I've done one of those, and I figured I'd need some pointers because of rusty technique. I was relieved to see that the west coast was pretty clear, and the nasty radar returns were northeast of us, and moving away. The only other weather in the area was moving northeast out of Cuba, but seemed pretty far away. I decided to go to Charlotte County, an uncontrolled field north of Fort Myers since I'd never been there before. Flightplan in hand we headed out to the airplane which was still at the maintenance center fresh out of a 100hr inspection. When we got there, the plane wasn't quite ready; while they adjusted the seats and performed a ground run, my instructor took the time to go over some of the finer points of a VFR cross country flight. We finally got the plane and taxied to the FBO ramp for fuel. Taking fuel samples is something a number of pilots get complacent about. I learned early in my training not to do so, and that lesson paid off again. Presumably because of the afternoon rain, I had to drain a significant quantity of fuel from one wing tank, and I also found water contamination in the engine. Flying over the everglades, it would not have been amusing to hear the engine sputter.

Fresh out of maintenance, the engine run went flawlessly, and we readied for takeoff. I was in full VFR mode, noting airspace limits and headings. Not that these things aren't required for IFR flight, but the focus would normally be more on radials, frequencies and intersections. We depart and request flight following. The frequency isn't busy, so we got to do pretty much as we pleased. I'm noting times, heading and distances as we pass the cement plant, antenna farm, I75 and the twin canals. I remembered why I hate VFR flying so much. It's pretty annoying having to search for checkpoints on the ground. As distinctive as some features look on the map, when you're several miles away, and looking at them at an angle, it takes a while to positively identify the checkpoint. Nevertheless, I think i did a reasonable job, as my instructor was not complaining.

The flight continued uneventfully, and I note that the Fort Myers TRACON was unusually quiet. Little did I know that it would be to my benefit later on. When we switched to the common frequency at Charlotte County, we listened as a Saratoga with an unsafe gear indication did a flyby to verify that his gear is down. After confirmation from 2 sources, the pilot attempted a landing. We wished him well and hoped for the best. A few tense moments later, he announced that he's vacating the runway, and we all breathed a sigh of relief.

We decided to do a power off 180 landing at KPGD. This is an exercise in precision control. On the downwind leg, abeam the point of intended touchdown, you cut the power and leave it at idle. You then remain close to the filed and glide to land within 100ft of that point. It's pretty much the same thing as the engine failures you need to demonstrate for the private pilot checkride, but you must touch down at the preselected spot. There are no points awarded for finesse and a smooth landing, just on speed, on centerline, and on the mark. It's pretty fun to do.

Arriving at the FBO I saw a Virgin America A319 parked at the ramp. The things you see when you don't have a camera...We relaxed for a bit and waited for nightfall to complete the second half of the requirement. The FBO is pretty nice, and my instructor and I enjoyed the comfy chairs in the lounge as we caught up on some television. Stay tuned for the return trip...