Turku-Tampere

It's over now! This cross-country flight is was the last flight belonging to the PPL part of our syllabus. The aim was to fly solo to two controlled aerodromes and then head back home, and the route was to be the same that we used when flying this same flight with the instructor. So, the route today was from Malmi to Turku airport (EFTU) and from there to Tampere-Pirkkala airport. From Tampere, I would then fly back to Malmi.

The plane of choice for this trip was the Charlie Victor Yankee. Very nice, since it has the upgraded fuel tanks and I didn't have to refuel for the whole trip.

At first everything was about to end in a dissapointing way when I heard from our course leader that there would be no-one who could be our observer, since the one assigned to this task got an emergency flight gig and the replacement instructor had to leave also. Before we get our CPL licence, every solo flight has to have an assigned observer who briefs the flight before- and afterhands and is always aware of where we are and what are we doing. Well, now I was about to go home empty-handed after all the planning work but thankfully we found an observer from the mainentance staff, since one of them also happens to be a flight instructor.

Over Helsinki..

The first part of the flight went really well and easily since I've flown to Turku many times before and it is very esy to just follow the highway in case of starting to lose situational awareness. Also, the weather was extremely nice with no turbulence or thermals, and in no time I was already in the final of runway 26 landing to Turku airport. I had to make a short approach since a Flybe airliner was about to land right after me.

At EFTU, with an ATR-72 in the background.

At Turku I went to have some coffee with a school mate who was flying the same route at the same time. After that it was time to go back to our planes. "See you at Tampere!", and off we went. Except I experienced a little delay and had to gain quite a few additional block minutes waiting at the holding point. At first a pair of F/A-18 Hornets took off before me and after that there was an approaching Wizzair A320. Finally I was ready to take off. Power set, speed alive, rotate!

A nice blue lake somewhere between Turku and Tampere

The route from Turku to Tampere wasn't that familiar, since I've not flown to Tampere Airport too often. Actually this was the second time for me. This time I actually had to navigate a little although once again, there was a road to follow. Still, I think it's nice to explore the map and look for details searching for the exact location you are in. This is good practice especially when you know where you're going and have some extra mental capacity left. I made it to the airport's compulsory reporting point and had to enter a holding pattern due to IFR-traffic. After that I had to orbit in the traffic circuit for quite a while before receiving a landing clearance.

My plane & my future plane. And then there's the Ryanair B737NG.

Tampere airport was a good place for airplane spotters today. It was totally crowded with different aircraft and I was lucky to find a free parking space. In addition to five of our school's planes, there was a C402 aerial photography plane, a Rockwell Commander, a Piper Navajo, the Boeing 737, ATR-72 and the same F/A-18 Hornets from Turku. I hanged out for a while at the apron, took some pictures and then headed to my final leg back to Malmi.

Räyskälä airfield EFRY, one of my route fixes on the final leg.

The final leg was the hardest to navigate, since there was no proper landmarks to follow and I had to cross a large area of only forest and lakes. However I managed to find a tall mast, which eased things considerably. After flying for half an hour over a featureless land I found Räyskälä aerodrome, which was one of my route fixes. After that I headed to Nummela and from there back home to Malmi.

Heading back to the hangar on board an airport vehicle.

After landing and parking my plane to Malmi, I had to order a ride back to hangar. I had to park the plane to the other side of a runway since to the main apron was closed due to the Air & Motor show coming up next saturday. By the way, I will be there presenting our school.
I was very happy that I got to fly this flight in one go not having to plan it over and over again due to bad weather or other delays. From now on, we can decide ourselves where we want to go in case we have pilot in command cross-country flights assigned. I'm looking forward to visiting different places!