Cross-Country 8/6/08

Today was awesome!!! I spent the last two days planning a dual cross country from BTF to KNB that I would complete this morning. I was really hesitant when I was planning my flight because of rain showers and thunderstorms. But after getting the weather briefing from Flight Service I made a "go" decision. We departed Bountiful at about 1220 Z (6:20 AM) and climbed to 7500 and opened our flight plan. We headed around the class B and started our pilotage/dead reckoning navigation. Everything was perfect! The air was smooth, great visibility, no traffic all the way to Kanab. We flew along and talked about aviation, and enjoyed the spectacular Utah scenery. We made a position report at Richfield airport and they let us know once again about possible "mountain obscuration," and that VFR flight was "not recommended." My instructor laughed and said if there is one tiny cloud against a mountain they call it obscuration. And that was exactly what it was. We joked and continued on our way. Kanab came up faster than I anticipated so I hurriedly ran through the checklist and entered the pattern. We landed perfectly and taxied for fuel. The airport manager came and greeted us and filled us up. We used the restroom, payed the bill, and were airborne again. My route that I planned back was using radio navigation (ADF and VOR's). I picked possibly the ugliest route home but it was fine. I learned valuable knowledge about VOR navigation. We finally got back to the Wasatch Front and we called for a transition through Bravo airspace which was granted and we descended to land at BTF. It was not the best landing in the world but we got down. I did it! I was really happy and my instructor commented on what a great job I did planning the flight! I added up the total damages for todays flight...$610.00. But...it was worth it! :)