Flight #12 - December 21, 2010
The day that I will never forget. I started off doing three landings, still with some instructor input, and then it finally clicked. The next three landings I did completely on my own. Justin didn’t need to say or do anything and it felt amazing. The weather was perfect too. The winds were calm and I didn’t have to deal with any crosswinds. After about an hour and a half, Justin asked the unexpected question… was I ready for him to get out of the airplane and go up by myself? After a second of shock, I said yes. We then taxied back to the hanger and went inside to do some paperwork. Once that was taken care of, we taxied back out to the runway, turned off the engine, and he got out. I was a bit nervous, because by time we got situated, I had at least 3 other airplanes to deal with. He stood out in the grass with a radio, while I went flying. I had to stay in the pattern so he could watch.
I’ll never forget how I felt looking at the empty seat next to me; there are really no words to describe it. Once I was clear to takeoff, I announced on the radio that I was departing the runway and pulled onto Runway 36, lined up on the centerline and applied full power. I somewhat expected to forget something due to nerves, but I didn't! I made my turns at the right time, adjusted the power as necessary, added flaps at the right times and made all the required radio calls. Now it was time for my first landing. Having Justin out there watching me, along with the other planes waiting to takeoff made me a bit nervous. I came in high but corrected it enough to make a safe landing. It went quite well, I was happy with it. As I was taxiing back to the runway to go again, Justin got on the radio and said, “Congratulations on your first solo echo victor!” (the echo victor stands for the EV in my airplane’s tail number). Wow, what a feeling that was. The second time I went up, I still came in high. I was actually too high to land comfortably/ safely so I made a radio call and did a go-around. I think my biggest mistake with the go-around was that I was a bit late on retracting the flaps and the plane kind of wobbled a bit when I finally did retract them. I managed to get back on track and came in for the final time. This landing was fantastic. I was really proud of it.
I then went and picked up Justin, who was outside the whole time (about 30 minutes). We didn’t feel like taxiing back to the hanger, so we took off and flew the pattern for a different runway that was closer to the buildings. As we were coming in to land, another airplane wasn’t paying attention and took off on the runway perpendicular to us. Justin immediately told me to climb while he contacted the pilot on the radio. It was a close call but everything ended up ok.
After getting out of the airplane, he took a picture of me standing in front of the plane. We then went inside and I got to meet my new instructor, Matt. Justin is moving away to go back to school, so it was his last day. It was quite the bittersweet moment for me.
I don’t think it really hit me that I just soloed until I started driving home. There has never been a moment in my life that I felt that level of accomplishment. Graduating high school, or college, or getting my first job, or earning my black belt… nothing compares to how it felt soloing.
Later that night I looked at my logbook and saw that Justin signed off for me to be Pilot in Command from here on out with my airplane. Wow!! So now I will need to get some solo practice in, then my new instructor and I will start reviewing maneuvers and start working towards my cross country flights.
Little fact: First solo was exactly two months to the day of my first lesson.
Flight Log to Date
Hours flown: 14.8
The day that I will never forget. I started off doing three landings, still with some instructor input, and then it finally clicked. The next three landings I did completely on my own. Justin didn’t need to say or do anything and it felt amazing. The weather was perfect too. The winds were calm and I didn’t have to deal with any crosswinds. After about an hour and a half, Justin asked the unexpected question… was I ready for him to get out of the airplane and go up by myself? After a second of shock, I said yes. We then taxied back to the hanger and went inside to do some paperwork. Once that was taken care of, we taxied back out to the runway, turned off the engine, and he got out. I was a bit nervous, because by time we got situated, I had at least 3 other airplanes to deal with. He stood out in the grass with a radio, while I went flying. I had to stay in the pattern so he could watch.
I’ll never forget how I felt looking at the empty seat next to me; there are really no words to describe it. Once I was clear to takeoff, I announced on the radio that I was departing the runway and pulled onto Runway 36, lined up on the centerline and applied full power. I somewhat expected to forget something due to nerves, but I didn't! I made my turns at the right time, adjusted the power as necessary, added flaps at the right times and made all the required radio calls. Now it was time for my first landing. Having Justin out there watching me, along with the other planes waiting to takeoff made me a bit nervous. I came in high but corrected it enough to make a safe landing. It went quite well, I was happy with it. As I was taxiing back to the runway to go again, Justin got on the radio and said, “Congratulations on your first solo echo victor!” (the echo victor stands for the EV in my airplane’s tail number). Wow, what a feeling that was. The second time I went up, I still came in high. I was actually too high to land comfortably/ safely so I made a radio call and did a go-around. I think my biggest mistake with the go-around was that I was a bit late on retracting the flaps and the plane kind of wobbled a bit when I finally did retract them. I managed to get back on track and came in for the final time. This landing was fantastic. I was really proud of it.
I then went and picked up Justin, who was outside the whole time (about 30 minutes). We didn’t feel like taxiing back to the hanger, so we took off and flew the pattern for a different runway that was closer to the buildings. As we were coming in to land, another airplane wasn’t paying attention and took off on the runway perpendicular to us. Justin immediately told me to climb while he contacted the pilot on the radio. It was a close call but everything ended up ok.
After getting out of the airplane, he took a picture of me standing in front of the plane. We then went inside and I got to meet my new instructor, Matt. Justin is moving away to go back to school, so it was his last day. It was quite the bittersweet moment for me.
I don’t think it really hit me that I just soloed until I started driving home. There has never been a moment in my life that I felt that level of accomplishment. Graduating high school, or college, or getting my first job, or earning my black belt… nothing compares to how it felt soloing.
Later that night I looked at my logbook and saw that Justin signed off for me to be Pilot in Command from here on out with my airplane. Wow!! So now I will need to get some solo practice in, then my new instructor and I will start reviewing maneuvers and start working towards my cross country flights.
Little fact: First solo was exactly two months to the day of my first lesson.
Picture of me in front of my airplane after my 1st solo
My instructor Justin and I after my 1st solo. (Photo taken by SCFS)
Flight Log to Date
Hours flown: 14.8
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