Flight 3 of 5 · Approximately 1.5 hours

Beaumont Hotel

The fun reward flight. A bucket-list Kansas pilgrimage: fly southeast to the grass strip at the Beaumont Hotel, taxi down Main Street, and stop for coffee. Light avionics drills along the way — Direct-To from memory, synthetic vision on approach, ADS-B weather, and in-flight flight-plan editing.

B
Brenda· Pilot in Command
C
Chris· Right seat · Radios & avionics
What's in this playbook
  1. Before you go — aircraft, house rules, safety
  2. Phase 1 · Night-before brief
  3. Phase 2 · Cold cockpit & preflight
  4. Phase 3 · Avionics power-up & setup
  5. Phase 4 · Taxi & run-up
  6. Phase 5 · Departure
  7. Phase 6 · En route drills
  8. Phase 7 · Arrival setup
  9. Phase 8 · Pattern & landing (grass)
  10. Phase 9 · Main Street
  11. Phase 10 · Return & shutdown
  12. Debrief checklist
  13. Quick reference card
Route
1K1→ 07S→ 1K1
Distance
~70 NM round trip
Time
~1.5 hours with a stop
Conditions
Good VFR — check winds and grass condition; big-sky, low-traffic country
Builds
Direct-To from memory, synthetic vision on approach, ADS-B weather, in-flight flight-plan editing
Crew note
This is the fun reward flight. Bucket-list Kansas — pilots taxi down Main Street to the hotel. Keep it relaxed and let the avionics drills be light.

Before you goBrief the airplane

Repeated on every flight page so you can brief one sortie standalone.

Verify everything · this is a study aid
Verify all frequencies, airspace, and fuel against current charts, NOTAMs, and ForeFlight. These are study/briefing aids, not flight plans. Fly with your CFI — Chris is a student pilot.
Aircraft
N199RF — 1979 Cessna 182Q · Continental O-470 (carbureted) · constant-speed prop
Base
1K1 Stearman Field, Benton KS · field elev 1,364 ft · KICT Class C just to the west
Panel
G3X Touch (PFD + EIS) · GTN 750Xi (GPS / NAV1 / COM1) · GTR 205 (COM2) · GFC 500 AP w/ GMC 507 · GI 275 standby · GMA 350c audio · GTX 345R (ADS-B In/Out) · CIES fuel senders
COM1 is not COM2
COM1 and COM2 are independent radios tuned at different physical locations. COM1 lives on the GTN 750Xi. COM2 is the separate GTR 205 box. Tuning COM2 means reaching for a different unit — and you pick which one you transmit on at the GMA 350c audio panel. This was the recurring point of confusion. Always know which radio is hot before you key the mic.
House rules · every flight
1Phase 1
Night-before brief
The evening before · Both of you
2Phase 2
Cold cockpit & preflight
~15 minutes
  1. Standard preflight.
  2. Soft/short-field review since it's grass — have the soft-field takeoff and landing technique fresh.
  3. Enter fuel-on-board into the GTN.
3Phase 3
Avionics power-up & setup
~5 minutes
  1. Boot up, confirm GPS + ADS-B.
  2. DRILL — Direct-To from memory: without looking at the bezel, press Direct-To → type 07S → Enter → Activate. Build the muscle memory.
  3. Pull up ADS-B weather (FIS-B): check METARs for surrounding fields on the GTN map overlay before you go.
4Phase 4
Taxi & run-up
~8 minutes
  1. Standard run-up, cycle the prop.
5Phase 5
Departure
~5 minutes
  1. Self-announce on CTAF:
Brenda · COM1 · Stearman CTAF
"Stearman traffic, Skylane Nine-Niner-Romeo-Foxtrot departing runway [XX], southeast-bound, Stearman."
  1. Climb out: pitch for speed.
  2. Level at a comfortable cruise — low enough to enjoy the scenery, high enough to be safe over the terrain.
6Phase 6
En route drills
The relaxed leg
  1. In-flight flight-plan editing: add an intermediate waypoint between 1K1 and 07S on the GTN, watch the route redraw, then delete it. Practice doing this without breaking the active leg.
  2. Keep scanning ADS-B traffic.
Quiet ≠ empty
NORDO / non-announcing aircraft are real out here — don't let a quiet frequency lull the scan.
7Phase 7
Arrival setup
~10 minutes
  1. Switch COM1 to the 07S CTAF Verify07S Beaumont CTAF___.___ well out, and start listening.
  2. G3X synthetic vision: with 07S in slightly higher terrain, good syn-vis practice — confirm the picture matches what you see out the window.
  3. Self-announce inbound:
Brenda · COM1 · Beaumont CTAF
"Beaumont traffic, Skylane Nine-Niner-Romeo-Foxtrot, [distance/direction] miles, inbound for landing [runway], Beaumont."
8Phase 8
Pattern & landing (grass)
~5 minutes
  1. Prop full forward by midfield downwind.
  2. Soft-field landing — carry a touch of power into the flare, hold the nosewheel off, let the mains settle into the grass gently; back pressure stays in through rollout.
  3. Announce each leg on CTAF — downwind, base, final.
9Phase 9
Main Street
The one you tell people about
  1. Taxi to the hotel per local custom.
  2. Shut down, coffee, enjoy it.
10Phase 10
Return & shutdown
~45 minutes home
  1. Soft-field takeoff off the grass.
  2. Direct-To 1K1 from memory again.
  3. Self-announce inbound to Stearman, land, taxi in, shut down.

After you landDebrief checklist

Answer these out loud to each other while it's fresh. Best flown twice — fly it, debrief, then swap seats.

ReferenceQuick reference card

Look every frequency up on the current chart and the GTN — that's the drill. Write them in.

Frequencies

N199RF V-speeds (verify POH)

Airport quick reference

Next flight
Flight 4: Salt Plains & Salty Sandwiches (Hutchinson XC). ~100 NM round trip to KHUT for fuel and lunch — fuel planning on the GTN, EIS deep monitoring, your first GFC 500 autopilot engagement, and top-of-descent math.