After a week of delays and three post-ponements I got to squeeze in my final cross-country as the sun went down. Even today there were some hold-ups at the school that put the flight in jeopardy: first, nobody liked the wind conditions (17kts, gusting 25) and I don't have an endorsement for that strong of winds, plus I did not have an official instructor's endorsement to perform this particular cross-country. After some phone calls and a nod from the school's owner I was on my way, an hour behind schedule.
I took off at 5:25 and contacted Montgomery FSS to open my flight plan to Austin-Bergstrom, followed by a stop in Brenham, and finally the return home. The air was smooth and I seemed to have a tailwind on each leg of the trip. Over Elgin I contacted Austin Approach Control to get permission to enter their airspace and land at AUS. This was the first time I've dealt with Class C airspace, and for the first time in flight I did not feel confident in what I was doing. I worked my way through the procedures and radio lingo, and I guess I did it right because I touched down and got out of there without the Air National Guard being scrambled. As I came in on runway 17L, I watched a Southwest 737 land next to me on the parallel runway, 17R. After leaving the Austin airspace I headed back east, made a touch and go at Brenham, then flew another 20 mintutes north to College Station. Two hour flight.
Logbook: 29.5 hrs
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