Solo Complete!

"TheRealBicycleBuck" (therealbicyclebuck)
01/15/2019 at 21:35 • Filed to: None

You read that right, Oppo. I’m now legal to hop in a plane and take it out all by myself. I’m a big boy now!

My instructor and I went out around 4:30. The skies were overcast, but visibility was 10 nm, the ceiling was at 6,000' and the winds were calm. This was the first time I’d ever landed without wind, so the first landing threw me off and was a bit harder than I expected. That was all it took for me to figure out what I needed to adjust. The next landing was soft, the third was light as a feather. That’s when my instructor asked me to drop him off and sent me out on my own.

It was getting late in the afternoon and the sun was setting, so I was working the pattern as fast as I could to get the required three landings in before someone told me to quit flying. They turned on the runway lights after I took off the third time and my last landing was officially in the dark.

One of the ground school instructors is a former FAA examiner. He told me that he was watching and complimented my landings. That was just icing on the cake!

Now we’re on to cross-country work!

DISCUSSION (36)

WilliamsSW > TheRealBicycleBuck
01/15/2019 at 21:39

Congratulations! Did they rip off your shirt?

That was a very proud moment for me - much excitement!

wafflesnfalafel > TheRealBicycleBuck
01/15/2019 at 21:41

facw > TheRealBicycleBuck
01/15/2019 at 21:42

Good stuff, I never made it that far .

Snuze: Needs another Swede > TheRealBicycleBuck
01/15/2019 at 21:46

Congratulations! That is a monumental achievement and something to be proud of!

I did a few lessons years a go but never made it to the solo phase. Maybe one day I’ll get back to it...

shop-teacher > TheRealBicycleBuck
01/15/2019 at 21:49

That's freaking awesome! Nice work!

Future Heap Owner > TheRealBicycleBuck
01/15/2019 at 21:55

Congrats, man! Well done!

TheRealBicycleBuck > WilliamsSW
01/15/2019 at 21:59

My instructor took a big pair of scissors to the back, put the date, my name, and a really bad drawing of the plane on it, then stuck it on the wall of fame. :)

TheRealBicycleBuck > facw
01/15/2019 at 21:59

Go back! Finish it up! It’s worth it!

TheRealBicycleBuck > wafflesnfalafel
01/15/2019 at 22:01

I had a go-around on 35L on Sunday. That’s the side the tower is on. The jokes about getting permission to fly by the tower were unending. :D

TheRealBicycleBuck > Snuze: Needs another Swede
01/15/2019 at 22:01

Go back! You can do it!

f86sabre > TheRealBicycleBuck
01/15/2019 at 22:02

Well done! That is a huge accomplishment.

Keep your cross countries simple and leave ample time. I had to abandon a landing at a windy coastal airport and ended up getting back home after dark. My instructor gave me a good natured hard time about that.

TheRealBicycleBuck > f86sabre
01/15/2019 at 22:06

That’s good advice. I was feeling pretty down about it after not soloing last weekend. Now I’m fired up and looking forward to the next phase!

facw > TheRealBicycleBuck
01/15/2019 at 22:07

I should have, but I think it’s been far too long, I’d have to be starting fresh, and while it was really fun, I don’t think I’d do it as a job (I might be interested in doing autonomous aircraft programming, and I think being a licensed pilot with a CS degree could be a good match there), and I can’t justify the expense just for fun (especially because I’d like to live in a major city, where it would be even more expensive).

The thing I really regret is that one of the reasons I left is that my instructor left, and they set me up with a guy who I really didn’t like, who was also the senior person at the flying club. I should have just gone to the head instructor and asked to have lessons with someone else, but as a teenager it was sort of an intimidating experience and I just sort of stopped instead.

TheRealBicycleBuck > facw
01/15/2019 at 22:15

I had one flight with my first flight instructor. I realized that it wasn’t a match and selected another. That one was picked up by an airline after four lessons together. Now I’m on my third and I think it’s a match.

I have years of experience with R/C and a few years with “drones.” I think that experience has translated well to flying the real thing.

I won’t be doing it for a living, but my son might. We plan to start his training over the summer.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > TheRealBicycleBuck
01/15/2019 at 22:22

Well done man! If you ever come to Nova Scotia, there is a small municipal / private field like....5 km from my house, come visit! :P

In seriousness, that’s awesome and congrats! A skill and embellishment many of us never get the chance to have! :)