Lille -> Geneva

 The next morning, I depart south. I'm going to make my way down to the Alps and see some dramatic mountains, but first I must fly across northern and central France.

The cloud cover I flew through has overtaken me during the night, and once again I find myself climbing into the grey murk of overcast rainclouds. This is a 400 mile trip, at an average speed of about 160mph over the ground (there's a tail wind, luckily...) so that's about 2 1/2 hours, in zero visibility.

This is the point where I wonder if I'm being stupid. What's the point if I can't see anything? But I remember the lesson I learned - the unexpected wonder of the red sunset over Lille the night before - and plough on. Through the grey soup.

I take the time to try to work out more about the navigation system, and make some progress. I learn why the autopilot tried to kill me over Birmingham, and how to set it up for the correct mode for climbing, cruising, following waypoints, and even how to select an automatic instrument approach for an airport.

At one point I descend to see if the cloud base has risen at all. It hasn't. I break out about 500 feet above a farm, with hedges and trees racing past the cockpit windows. In front of me, the ground rises into the mist. Back up we go...

Eventually we arrive at Lake Geneva. I was expecting a beautiful view of the lake and the hills around it, but it's all just grey. Luckily the cloud is a bit higher over the lake on the approach into the airport, so I have 2,000 feet through which I can actually see the water. But the airport end of the lake is... a bank of fog. Can't see the airport at all.

So, I put the knowledge I've just gained to use. I type in the airport code, select an approach pattern from the menu, and proudly pick up the landing guide signal - which tells me whether I'm too far left, right up or down from the ideal glide path down to the runway. And when I'm less than half a mile out, the clouds thin and YES! The runway's right there!

I AM VICTORIOUS!

I set the plane down, hoping the weather will clear for the next leg.