Solo Practice

January 19, 2011

I flew solo today. I arrived at the airport at 9am and checked the weather with one of the instructors on staff. The cloud deck was around 4000ft but there were reports of clouds also being broken at 1800ft. My plan for the day was to fly out to the practice area and review maneuvers. But some maneuvers, such as stalls, require me to be at a higher altitude in case of an emergency. With clouds hanging out at 1800ft, that wouldn't be possible. So instead I stayed at the airport and practiced normal takeoffs and landings, short field takeoffs and landings, soft field takeoffs and landings, and since there was some crosswind, I practiced crosswind takeoffs and landings as well. I did ok, but definitely not as good as when the instructor is with me. Not having the extra weight really takes some getting used to!

I was up for an hour, and have now legally met the requirements of pilot-in-command time needed for the Sport Pilot Certificate (5 hours). I will still do more solo practice though. In fact, later this week I will fly solo again, and try to get out to the practice area to review the things I wasn't able to do today. I'm also meeting with one of the instructors for two hours to do oral exam preparation.

On another note, I have successfully completed my online ground school! I earned an "A" on the End-of-course test and now have authorization to take the FAA Knowledge Exam at a testing center. Before I go, I'm choosing to take a bunch of practice tests, just to be sure that I'll pass. My plan right now is to take the Exam during the last week of January.

Flight Log to Date
Hours flown: 23.3