We are flying a dual cross country today to Santa Rosa, then Sacramento Executive airport and back to Livermore. I worked on the planning checklist that I had assembled for the first cross country flight a while ago. I didn’t have time to determine winds aloft which is an important miss because it has a bearing on travel time, fuel consumption and wind correction angles. My plan was to use that checklist together with a paper chart. I had an iPad with Forelight only as a backup.

Winds are from 230@8 at Livermore at the time of takeoff. I used Scaggs Island VOR and then a from heading to Santa Rosa. It was particularly hard to spot the airport because it doesn’t come into view until after crossing Petaluma. Tower cleared us for a left traffic on runway 14. I was fairly high on the approach to Santa Rosa and couldn’t come down quickly enough for the landing so I did a go around. On the second approach there was a Horizon Air commercial aircraft holding short for my landing. We taxied and got our navigational details down for Sacramento before taking off.

There were hills close to Santa Rosa on the east so it wasn’t possible to depart left crosswind. We headed straight out, built up altitude before turning east. Along the way we spotted Vacaville and Davis and it was dusk by the time we neared KSAC. The landing was after sunset. The home stretch was largely uneventful in the dark, with the flashing red lights on windmills guiding our way back home.

Three learnings today:

• situational awareness – know where you are at any point in time through dead reckoning.
• Pre-flight – pay attention to terrain and winds aloft. There were hills close by and to the east of Santa Rosa. My plan to fly due east wouldn’t have been possible without adequate altitude to clear the terrain.
• Dont trust the traffic pattern published in the AF/D. Santa Rosa was published as right traffic for Rwy 14. Tower instructs the traffic pattern.