5.6 Hours Night, X/C; 2 Landings; KOUN-KIXD-KOUN
The Good - While taxing out for departure from KOUN, I was able to assist another pilot who was unfamiliar with the area activate the lights on the field and assisted in contacting OKC Approach. Night navigation to a distant, unfamiliar airport using VOR and ATC flight following was good, as well as recognition and use of the airport at night. The return approach into KOUN with calm winds was nearly 'textbook perfect', extra close attention was paid to maintain appropriate airspeeds, and the localizer was used to maintain a stable glidepath.
The Bad - Approximately 40 miles south of KIXD, AWOS indicated overcast clouds at 4,900, making a VFR descent impossible from cruise altitude of 11,500; as the skies were clear in my present position, I queried the controller for weather information and asked him to advise a decent profile to maintain VFR; the controller was unable to understand my request despite rephrasing three ways. The approach into KIXD was with calm winds, yet was still slightly unstabilized on final, resulting in a less-than-ideal landing roughness.
Questions - Sometime within the final 30 miles of arriving at KIXD, during the decent below the overcast cloud deck, radio communication was lost with Kansas City Center; should I have squawked lost comm?
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