MARCH 1,1982, DAWNED COLD AND CLEAR WITH A LIGHT WESTERLY WIND, WHICH WAS perfect for my required long cross-country solo from Providence, Rhode Island (PVD), to Poughkeepsie, New York (POU), to Glens Falls, New York (GFL), and return to Providence. Joe Ryan, my CFI, and I walked to the weather station conveniently located on the field. After checking the weather, I plotted the 111-nautical-mile course to Poughkeepsie with wind corrections and time to checkpoints, using my trusty E6B aluminum flight computer. I preflighted my Cessna 152 while Joe cleaned the windshield (guess he wanted me to see where I was going). The first leg to Poughkeepsie was perfect, crossing each of my visual and VOR checkpoints on target and including one of two deviations that Joe had approved. A few miles north of my route was Lake Waramaug in northeast Connecticut, where I had run a 100-kilometer ultramarathon. I wanted an aerial view of the road around the lake that I had spent 8 hours and 54 minutes on. After my brief trip down memory lane, I got back on course and landed at Poughkeepsie. I had my logbook endorsed, topped off the tanks, checked the weather, and plotted the 104-nm course to Glens Falls, following the Hudson River.
展开▼
