July 6, 201213 yr Well Done Alec, remember to climb back in "solo" ASAP, I presume you will have to do a few hours solo landings before you move to next phase. Anthony O'Brien
July 6, 201213 yr Congratulations Alec :Applause: . You will never forget that first solo flight... just you and plane on your own. Dr Zane Gard Sr Staff Reviewer AVSIM Private Pilot ASEL since 1986 IFR 2010 AOPA 00915027 American Mensa 100314888
July 6, 201213 yr I remember looking over at the right seat when I was turning crosswind and thought "Holy ____, nobody's there!" I thought I should be scared but I was kind of glad he wasn't cuz he liked to yell...a bit. LOL. Anyway, I guess it turned out okay cuz I'm still here and they could reuse the airplane afterward. B) Gregg Seipp "A good landing is when you can walk away from the airplane. A great landing is when you can reuse it." i9 64GB RAM, GTX-5090
July 7, 201213 yr Instructors like to make you think that, it's somewhat traditional for instructors to feign disinterest when they let a student go for a solo, but trust me, he was watching it. Al Not for me, it meant lunchtime! I loved solo time because of the peace and quite I got in my office. Chris Miller
July 7, 201213 yr True. In fact, come to think of it, I'm pretty sure my insrtuctor went to the toilet when I got sent off on my first solo. And if that is true, then he would not have seen my landing, because on that airfield, the toilet was bloody miles away. LOL Al Alan Bradbury Check out my youtube flight sim videos: Here
July 7, 201213 yr Author First, thanks for the nice words! He really wasn't watching my Landing, I know because he kind of got into a discussion with a douchbag who though he should have made his flight despite the shortage of instructor at the day he had scheduled his first flight, and when it ended and the guy went aways I was already taxing back to the Hangar, glad he saw me because there was an airplane with both engines started in the middle of the way, and I didn't know if there was enough space for me go taxi through. I don't think there will be more solo flights for some time now, next flight looks so cool, it's a flight to Santos Dumont, many of you probably know this airport by now, specially if you fly the PMDG737NGX, since it's one of the shortest runway a 737-800 operates nowadays. Alexis Mefano
July 7, 201213 yr Keep on studying and flying. When I was a student I would go out for a short time a couple months and go around the pattern 3 times. Stay fresh and it will save you a lot money in the end. Chris Miller
July 7, 201213 yr Santos Dumont Woh...4340 feet. I bet they calculate their fuel pretty precisely. I wonder what restrictions they fly with in terms of load and all. I did see a C5 (empty) land at a 5125 foot runway a few times. Blew some of the runway light covers off when it took off. Gregg Seipp "A good landing is when you can walk away from the airplane. A great landing is when you can reuse it." i9 64GB RAM, GTX-5090
July 7, 201213 yr At my school we follow up on first solo with five hours in the circuit (pattern) before going cross country. Anthony O'Brien
July 8, 201213 yr Author Yeah there's going to be a LOT of circuit before I start cross country. I think 10 flight hours, learning different techniquies like no flap landing, 360 approach, and many others I don't know yet Alexis Mefano
July 9, 201213 yr Author Nice PC spec Alec................my ambition!! Thanks! Yeah, I;ve always taken computer specs seriously. This is been the first time I could make a machine picking every component then way I wanted. It's amazing, looking forward for trying it with X-Plane, since there's no such thing as a PC able to run FSX maxed out! Alexis Mefano
July 9, 201213 yr I keep leading new things about landings in RL that no home simulator I have used has captured yet. On Saturday I was performing a short field landing in 32C weather with gusty direct crosswinds of around 8G12. All went well right into the flare when I caught a strong gust that lifted me into a monster balloon of at least 5 feet. I never had that happen before. The landing was pooched and had it been a real short field, I would have had to go around. At this field it is not uncommon to have the two socks point in opposite directions at either end if the runway. then there were the effects of the thermals all around the airport that would prevent me from descending at a normal rate on long final and then suck me into the ground on short final. I think that judging these landings comes with experience and a lot if the information you can use to perform the task is not visual. You really need to be in touch with the aircraft and processing all the cues. The flight sim tends to be a little too predictable even with an add on like FSRealWx. (I believe that is the name of the add on). I benefited a lot from reinforcing procedure in the sim. Remember to bug your headings, run though your checklists and flows, develop a methodical scan of your instruments. Fly at appropriate airports for your manuevers. choose appropriate runways and enter the pattern correctly. Say your radio calls OUT LOUD to yourself. remember to correct for wind while in the pattern, etc. remembering these sorts of things will save you time and money and it doesn't matter what sim you are using! PS passed my PPL checkride yesterday. :)
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