Sunday, January 14, 2018

At 5:30 AM it got real.... Solo time:

That's when I woke up and realized that today was the day that I solo;

First time in a week that I could fly (the eather in NW Indiana isn't always cooperative in winter)
It was cold (-5 F) and calm. Like perfectly calm.

So at 7 AM they unlocked the doors and I preflighted the plane. The last user had overtightened the oil cap, but other than that, the plane was good. (I loosened it using a pair of pliers from my toolbox ...oil level was good).

Then a quick flight check with the Chief Instructor. 2 stalls, some slow flight, an engine out procedure, and a landing...then another landing. First one was flat, second one was a go around (my choice) and then a really smooth landing. Touched down as the stall horn went off, exactly where I wanted.

Taxi back to the barn, turn around, he got out, and I taxied back to the hold short line for 18.

Now it REALLY got real. No one next to me. No safety net.

and I called for departure on 18 on CTAF, and warned everyone:

"Look out above,
Watch out below:
Y'all better be ready,
Here I go. "

and with that, I did my first ever solo takeoff .
Around the pattern....
And landing.

Was OK, the second landing was better than the first, and then a third one which was ok.

Then back to the barn and parked it.

Like most first times, it went too fast...

Maybe video later if I can get it off the camera.

ETA: Can't seem to get any good clips from the GoPro, so none at this time.

And yes, I did transmit that. Figured I'd better warn everyone.


7 comments:

Christian Mountaineer said...

Congrats!!!

Ralph said...

the white silk scarf is yours! congrats!

Home on the Range said...

That's awesome! I don't know if they still do it but they used to cut off your shirttails and sign and put on the wall of the FBO. I hadn't intended to solo that day (I was waiting on the student pilot medical/cert and doc had an unexpected opening for an appointment before my lesson). I was wearing a REALLY expensive shirt and didn't want them to cut it, so I took off my bra, the side panel was autographed and on the wall it went (my instructor was a 70 something year old grandfather). The next day no one said anything but I heard one of the young CFI's going "I just got a shirt tail".

It's a day you will never forget! Congratulations!

Old NFO said...

Congrats! :-)

DTWND said...

And now the fun begins. Congratulations.

Aaron said...

Congrats! Nicely Done!

Murphy's Law said...

Good job!