Fist Solo!

jbrinker

jbrinker

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Jbrinker
Finally soloed today! After almost a year of work - mostly waiting for medical - and then being scrubbed due to weather a number of times - today was the day.

I guess I can reiterate nearly everything everyone said - man that plane climbed like a rocket without him in it! (And I had only about 1/4 tank fuel on each side). Landing the first time was not too bad, but again just like everyone said boy did she want to float.

Most "fun" part - on my second pattern, on final I pull the engine to idle and pull the third notch of flaps. My hands were so sweaty (it was HOT and humid today too) that I pushed the button and the flap handle slipped from my hand - And flew all the way to the floor! No flaps 50' above the runway! I contemplated going around and grabbed for the handle and pulled all the way back to third notch quickly enough that I was able to land it pretty well. Instructor noticed but just thought I hit some turbulence. I had to tell him what happened after.

Third lap around I finally had the speed slow enough and really did a nice greaser. Same back at KSYR with the instructor back in the plane and full fuel.

Oh, and he did not (thankfully) chop my shirt off :)
 
jbrinker said:
Finally soloed today! After almost a year of work - mostly waiting for medical - and then being scrubbed due to weather a number of times - today was the day.

I guess I can reiterate nearly everything everyone said - man that plane climbed like a rocket without him in it! (And I had only about 1/4 tank fuel on each side). Landing the first time was not too bad, but again just like everyone said boy did she want to float.

Most "fun" part - on my second pattern, on final I pull the engine to idle and pull the third notch of flaps. My hands were so sweaty (it was HOT and humid today too) that I pushed the button and the flap handle slipped from my hand - And flew all the way to the floor! No flaps 50' above the runway! I contemplated going around and grabbed for the handle and pulled all the way back to third notch quickly enough that I was able to land it pretty well. Instructor noticed but just thought I hit some turbulence. I had to tell him what happened after.

Third lap around I finally had the speed slow enough and really did a nice greaser. Same back at KSYR with the instructor back in the plane and full fuel.

Oh, and he did not (thankfully) chop my shirt off :)
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Did your knees shake when you got out of the airplane?
 
Fist solo? :eek: Oh boy, wait 'til eman sees that! :rofl:

IF you meant first solo, congrats. :D
 
Internet-High-Five-high-five-30662642-480-444.jpg
 
Oh man.. FIST solo. What the perfect way to screw up my first solo... Hey mods, can anyone fix the title for me :) Please!?

Surprisingly my knees were NOT shaking when I was done. Once I lifted off the first time, after about 30 seconds I just thought - "well, no one else is going to land this now but you, pal! Just do what you have trained to do (and just did 3 times a few minutes ago) and fly a pattern". And that's exactly what I did, I don't want to say it was a non event because it was almost a surreal experience, but on the other hand I just did what I trained to do and with some adjustments it seemed to work out well! I was really quite excited, and my goal was to do better on each landing and approach, which I did other than the slip of the flap handle thing!
 
Congrats!
I still remember that feeling of looking over at that empty passenger seat of that C152 right as my wheels left the ground and thinking, "It's up to me now!"
 
That first solo is unlike anything else.. your rolling down the runway and you know once you pull that stick back its all you. So many student pilots never even get to this point that its sad. Hundreds of thousands of people have taken lessons and never solo'd. CONGRATS. You may think it doesnt get any better than this at your current skill level.. but wait till you do your first solo XC, another mind blowing experience. You mentioned a year long journey due to medical.. so have you done other advanced stuff that normally comes after your first solo already in the mean time?? or better question, what comes next for you now??Your grin will last for two weeks.. and if you were lucky enough to record your solo your going to watch it ten times a day for two weeks also lol.
 
Congratulations! As I'm sure you are aware, this is a major accomplishment that very few human beings make. It's a very big deal. The hard part is over. Now stay with it and get your ticket!!

One comment - if you were flying a Cherokee, you DO NOT push the button when adding flaps. The button is only for retraction. Just pull the handle up. If some other type, then disregard.
 
jbrinker said:
Oh, and he did not (thankfully) chop my shirt off :)
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That solo shirt-tail is one of my prize possessions. Do yourself a favor and take an old t-shirt to your CFI, and have him/her write all the particulars of your solo flight on it.

You'll thank me in 30 years. ;)
 
Congratulations!

I kept my shirt too... They have a bent prop on the wall at the school that you sign and date when you solo. I opted for that instead, I liked the shirt I was wearing...
 
BalooAirService said:
... You mentioned a year long journey due to medical.. so have you done other advanced stuff that normally comes after your first solo already in the mean time?? or better question, what comes next for you now??Your grin will last for two weeks.. and if you were lucky enough to record your solo your going to watch it ten times a day for two weeks also lol.
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Unfortunately I didn't record it - but it's recorded in my brain pretty solid!

I have already done two dual XC's, and a LOT of pattern work at KSYR and KFZY, and most of the other stuff a beginning pilot would have worked on (slow flight, stalls, turns around a point, the different landing and takeoff types, etc). I still have to do all my under-the-hood work, night flight, and all my solo XCs. Since getting the medical my instructor has been hardcore on getting me perfect in the pattern so I can solo and start working on my solo requirements.

I've got quite a bit of work to do still, but have done quite a bit already. It's kind of a strange progression, but I think it will all come together.

pburger said:
Congratulations! As I'm sure you are aware, this is a major accomplishment that very few human beings make. It's a very big deal. The hard part is over. Now stay with it and get your ticket!!

One comment - if you were flying a Cherokee, you DO NOT push the button when adding flaps. The button is only for retraction. Just pull the handle up. If some other type, then disregard.
Click to expand...

Yeah - I know many people who have started and never finished. I'm not going to give up. I have to admit this - over the past week I was having second thoughts. I had been on lessons 3 times and not been able to solo when I was, I felt, ready. My landings weren't consistent enough, or the weather didn't cooperate. I was really feeling like "why bother". Then yesterday was a PERFECT weather day and I thought - what the heck am I thinking? Call the instructor and see if you can go again in the morning. And today was a good (not perfect) day, and I was "On" - and he soloed me. Now I'm energized again, and can at least see the finish line up there on the horizon someplace :)

As for the flap handle - I don't think I've ever pushed the button when ADDING flaps before. I don't know why I did. But combine that and a very sweaty hand, and BAM - zero flaps at 75mph 50' (well maybe a bit more...) above the ground... Funny thing was my instructor said it really didn't look like much since I recovered it quickly and landed "very well" according to him... I was ****ting bricks.
 
jbrinker said:
Oh man.. FIST solo. What the perfect way to screw up my first solo... Hey mods, can anyone fix the title for me :) Please!?

Surprisingly my knees were NOT shaking when I was done. Once I lifted off the first time, after about 30 seconds I just thought - "well, no one else is going to land this now but you, pal! Just do what you have trained to do (and just did 3 times a few minutes ago) and fly a pattern". And that's exactly what I did, I don't want to say it was a non event because it was almost a surreal experience, but on the other hand I just did what I trained to do and with some adjustments it seemed to work out well! I was really quite excited, and my goal was to do better on each landing and approach, which I did other than the slip of the flap handle thing!
Click to expand...


First off, congrats!!! What a great accomplishment.

Also, I think you can edit the subject line of your post without a mod. But it's kinda funny, so I say keep it ;)
 
jbrinker said:
Oh man.. FIST solo. What the perfect way to screw up my first solo... Hey mods, can anyone fix the title for me :) Please!?

Surprisingly my knees were NOT shaking when I was done. Once I lifted off the first time, after about 30 seconds I just thought - "well, no one else is going to land this now but you, pal! Just do what you have trained to do (and just did 3 times a few minutes ago) and fly a pattern". And that's exactly what I did, I don't want to say it was a non event because it was almost a surreal experience, but on the other hand I just did what I trained to do and with some adjustments it seemed to work out well! I was really quite excited, and my goal was to do better on each landing and approach, which I did other than the slip of the flap handle thing!
Click to expand...
Congrats! Did you find that you were more relaxed than you expected? I did.

By the way, you can edit the title yourself, look for 'thread tools' at the top.
 
exncsurfer said:
Congrats! Did you find that you were more relaxed than you expected? I did.

By the way, you can edit the title yourself, look for 'thread tools' at the top.
Click to expand...

No! Don't change it now! :yikes: :fingerwag:
 
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Congratulations, a day you'll never forget!
 
Congrats! I am not far ahead of you. Great confidence booster. I found solo cross-country to be another "what am I doing" moment, but I've done it twice as of this morning and the second time was not nearly as tense.
 
Congrats! Enjoy those XC solos. You'll learn a lot on your own too.
 
Congrats!!

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
 
Congratulations. I am on a similar journey with a medical issue and hope to be where you are at by December.
 
Wrench978 said:
Yeah, you really gotta get a good grip on your johnson...
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:D

Wade said:
Congratulations. I am on a similar journey with a medical issue and hope to be where you are at by December.
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Wade - good luck to you and keep plodding along. When I started this journey I figured I'd have my PPL by now, that whole medical thing was a real education... Thank God for Dr. B, or I'd probably be on round 3 or 4 with the FAA and still not issued. I had hoped to be done with PPL this fall, still might make it if I can devote enough time.
 
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