Your first solo - what were your feelings?

[cmpbellsjc 2,963]

My first solo was not really that unexpected although it did include a close call. I'd started my lessons when I was about 14 1/2 and had racked up about 35 hours or so before my first solo, so by that time I was more than capable. I had gotten my 3rd class a few days after I turned 16 and did my solo that Sunday.

 

The close call came on the landing before my solo. We were doing touch and go's around KAPV (Apple Valley, Ca) which at the time was just a unicom field and everyone just reported their position. When I was on base I announced my intention that I was turning base to final and heard no response from anyone else, nor did I or the IP see any other traffic, so I began my left hand turn on to final when out of the blue a Cub came right over the top of my right wing, It wasn't that close. maybe he was 100 feet away or so, but close enough that it scared the crap out of the IP. He got on the radio and screamed to the "pilot in the Cub to get his eyes out the window." We guessed that he didn't have a radio or a working one since he never reported his position. Being that we were in a C152 and had limited vertical visibility we didn't see him, although since he was in a Cub with high wings we were surprised he didn't see us low at 10 o'clock. Anyway, the Cub didn't land, he broke pattern and disappeared. When we landed the IP told me to drop him at the club and that I would be on my merry way.

 

I proceeded to taxi back and do about 5 more touch and go's, all of which were pretty uneventful and weren't nerve wracking at all since I already had so many hours. I did feel a sense of happiness that I could finally skip the instructor going forward and start flying on my own. The first few solos were mainly just sight seeing trips and a few times I buzzed my friends houses early on Sunday mornings to wake them up, lol. :Party: The last part about buzzing friends houses is not recommened, especially at 6am Sunday morning :ph34r:

 

Probably for me the most nerve wracking of my solo career was when I did my first solo three legged cross country. I was going to fly from Apple Valley to Palm Springs, Palm Springs to Blyth, Blyth to Needles, and then Needles back to Apple Valley.

 

I took off from Apple Valley about 7am and was some where over Yucca Valley when I tuned Palm Springs ATIS and took down the info. I proceeded to contact Palm Springs tower and they gave me a squawk code of which I tuned in the transponder. After a few minutes they responded back to me and asked if I was squawking the correct code which I was and they said they didn't have me on radar and gave me another code. After tuning that one they called back and said they still didn't have me on radar. They then had me report my altitude and position which at this time was over the Morongo Valley heading south and fast approaching interstate 10. They told me to fly a right hand approach and land 31R using I-10 as the downwind legs. As I was following I-10 for whatever reason I couldn't locate the airport as a reference point on my right side. I radioed the tower and told them I didn't have visual of the airport and that I would have to reverse course and fly back up I-10 and start again.The controller told me the airport was right near the "golf course" which didn't help at all since Palm Springs is littered with golf courses. On my way back up the freeway I still couldn't get a visual so they told me once I got to the I-62 junction to reverse course and head back down I-10 until I could get visual. I ended up doing this whole routine 1 more time.

 

Finally on my last time down I-10 I made visual with what was either an ATR-72 or SAAB, cant remember since it was in 1990, but I radioed the tower and told them I had visual of that a/c and they told me to go ahead and follow him in to 31R as he was cleared for 31L. It was finally at that point that I was to his 5 o'clock that I finally got visual of the airport. Once I spotted it I couldn't believe that I hadn't seen it earlier, the only thing was that by the time I saw the runway I was a little high and fast and had to slip it a little to get low and slow quick but made a pretty nice landing. When I taxied to the FBO and shut down I was a little sweaty. When I parked and went inside I was talking to a nice old man a the counter getting some change for the soda machine and told him I was doing my first solo cross country, he asked how the first leg went. After I told him I was about 40 minutes behind schedule because I had an in-op transponder and couldn't get a vector or find the airport, the old guy started to laugh and then said he had wondered why I looked to sweaty for being so early on a cool morning, lol.

 

Fortunately, the flights to the next two airports went well and I didn't have any issue finding them. I will say this about the whole experience, I was pretty excited about the whole trip and the fact that I would be flying solo for the better part of a whole day (seemed like it would be a blast), but after sitting in an old 152 for 7 hours with the seat springs digging into my butt, cruising thru the desert at a whopping 100kts with nothing interesting to see and listening to a small tape deck with 2 mix tapes I brought, I was nothing more than happy to finally land at Apple Valley and get out of that a/c.

 

If I had only had FSX or FS9 back then with MegaScenery SoCal installed to practice the route before hand it would have probably saved me a bunch of time on the first leg. :lol:

[Skysurfer7 34]

All I remember was my instructor jumping out, as I advanced the throttle I was tensed but very concentrated, when I was airborne I felt relived & thinking "boy! I'm really doing this, flying by myself, what a joy", did 3 touch & go's:) thats all.

[ron6468 1]

Back in the 60's, I solo'd in my 9th hour. They don't do that anymore. After a few T&G's the instructor told me to pull on to the taxiway, he got out and simply said "its all yours ..... ".

I can still recall the entire event. I was very methodical, did exactly what I had been taught and found the entire experience very "matter of fact" except for the part where my heart rate was 3 x normal.

It went perfect and the very next time I showed up for a lesson, he let me take it up and around for 1/2 hour on my own. I was hooked. It was a C150.

[WR269 367]

This one is a classic....

 

 

http://vatpac.org/forums/showthread.php?15012-How-to-enjoy-your-first-solo-flight&daysprune=365

[avgaskoolaid 292]

This one is a classic....

 

 

http://vatpac.org/fo...t&daysprune=365

Lol! I guess that flying in Australia has its own unique set of challenges...

 

My instructor told me that a few years back there was a similar encounter at my airport between a deer and a SAAB 340. Unfortunately, the pilot did not see it coming, and deer and propellers do not mix well. No people were hurt, though, as the plane was simply taxiing at low speed.

[Helen_P 60]

Great post - I am doing my solo the week after next (on 14 hours) !

 

Really excited, but a tad nervous of course (entirely a good thing in my view; to have no nerves whatsoever would worry me and complacency is not useful in this setting!).

 

Some very useful pointers in this thread; especially around the differences in performance once the instructor has left the plane - I'm embarrassed to say that I had not even considered that! .... I learn in a DA-20, a very light airplane any way, so without my instructor, I can imagine quite a difference (not that I'm insinuating he's overweight of course!) :smile:

[betelgeuse 41]

I remember mine. Lovely summer evening. Hazy sun over an inland lough. Dead calm. I did a few circuits and the CFO said to drop him off at the GA terminal. It took me a few seconds to get his drift - at first I thought he'd been 'caught short'. So, I doddled back there in the Warrior and let him out. Climbing out, he said, just one circuit, runway 35, and come straight back.....

 

I did my training at an international airport - a small one - but there was a steady flow of 757s, 737s, and turboprops. To get to runway 35 I had to negotiate a route across the main apron in between these. The GA planes were always held up there but this time, I was cleared right across to the hold.

 

I lined up, and by now, I was hot, very hot. The aircraft was not the one I'd done most of my flying in and I didn't like it much. It used too much oil. With that uncomfortable thought in my mind I opened the throttle. And then I was aloft. Wow! What a thrill! It was unbelievable. The lake below was glittering, the sun to my left easing down over mountains. The engine was steady, 70 knots, 300 ft, flaps up, circuit height, trimmed for 100 knots, turned downwind, called tower, landing checks, etc. And before I knew it I was turning finals. The 'final' thrill took the form of a British Airways 757 waiting patiently at the hold as I puttered in. Just after I landed, he came through on the ground frequency (rules were flexible then) and said, " I understand congratulations are due". You could have knocked me down with a feather. I walked on air for days after.

So, Helen, I hope when the time comes, yours is as happy and as memorable as mine. :p0504:

[tttocs 301]

Best of luck on the impending solo, Helen. You'll be ready. Remember, if you weren't, your instructor wouldnt' be stepping out of the plane - which is not to say that your should be complacent or shouldn't be excited.

 

Scott

[rgmcca 0]

I don't remember much about my first solo except that I was paying $6/hr wet, including instructor. This in a 7 year old 1949 Taylor craft I think the instructor merely jumped out and told me to take it around again. I had about 6 hours of instruction in my log at the time. Planning my first cross-country was more memorable, though it went without incident.

[Helen_P 60]

I remember mine. Lovely summer evening. Hazy sun over an inland lough. Dead calm. I did a few circuits and the CFO said to drop him off at the GA terminal. It took me a few seconds to get his drift - at first I thought he'd been 'caught short'. So, I doddled back there in the Warrior and let him out. Climbing out, he said, just one circuit, runway 35, and come straight back.....

 

I did my training at an international airport - a small one - but there was a steady flow of 757s, 737s, and turboprops. To get to runway 35 I had to negotiate a route across the main apron in between these. The GA planes were always held up there but this time, I was cleared right across to the hold.

 

I lined up, and by now, I was hot, very hot. The aircraft was not the one I'd done most of my flying in and I didn't like it much. It used too much oil. With that uncomfortable thought in my mind I opened the throttle. And then I was aloft. Wow! What a thrill! It was unbelievable. The lake below was glittering, the sun to my left easing down over mountains. The engine was steady, 70 knots, 300 ft, flaps up, circuit height, trimmed for 100 knots, turned downwind, called tower, landing checks, etc. And before I knew it I was turning finals. The 'final' thrill took the form of a British Airways 757 waiting patiently at the hold as I puttered in. Just after I landed, he came through on the ground frequency (rules were flexible then) and said, " I understand congratulations are due". You could have knocked me down with a feather. I walked on air for days after.

So, Helen, I hope when the time comes, yours is as happy and as memorable as mine. :p0504:

 

Wow, what a fantastic experience - I think the waiting 757 would definitely have got some beads of sweat on my brow!

 

I am wondering (being nosy to be more accurate), from your signature, whether this was in Iceland? ........ I spent a very happy honeymoon in Reykjavik, up on the glaciers, blue lagoon, etc. :smile: (sorry for the O/T!).

[g_precentralis 191]

Good luck Helen, and do not worry, they are all fat, its not an insult.

[Krister 51]

I remember mine. Lovely summer evening. Hazy sun over an inland lough. Dead calm. I did a few circuits and the CFO said to drop him off at the GA terminal. It took me a few seconds to get his drift - at first I thought he'd been 'caught short'. So, I doddled back there in the Warrior and let him out. Climbing out, he said, just one circuit, runway 35, and come straight back.....

 

I did my training at an international airport - a small one - but there was a steady flow of 757s, 737s, and turboprops. To get to runway 35 I had to negotiate a route across the main apron in between these. The GA planes were always held up there but this time, I was cleared right across to the hold.

 

I lined up, and by now, I was hot, very hot. The aircraft was not the one I'd done most of my flying in and I didn't like it much. It used too much oil. With that uncomfortable thought in my mind I opened the throttle. And then I was aloft. Wow! What a thrill! It was unbelievable. The lake below was glittering, the sun to my left easing down over mountains. The engine was steady, 70 knots, 300 ft, flaps up, circuit height, trimmed for 100 knots, turned downwind, called tower, landing checks, etc. And before I knew it I was turning finals. The 'final' thrill took the form of a British Airways 757 waiting patiently at the hold as I puttered in. Just after I landed, he came through on the ground frequency (rules were flexible then) and said, " I understand congratulations are due". You could have knocked me down with a feather. I walked on air for days after.

So, Helen, I hope when the time comes, yours is as happy and as memorable as mine. :p0504:

 

Doing the first solo at an airport with lots of traffic must indeed add a lot of extra tension - I can't even imagine! Me on a lonely grass strip with hardly any traffic wasn't much of a challenge!

 

Helen, I agree with what you said about not being nervous. I wasn't nervous regarding the flight but I felt nervous that I wasn't nervous! While I did think that my flying skills were mature enough to solo, I thought I was way too unexperienced to feel THAT comfortable so I wondered if I didn't take it seriously and should perhaps postpone it!

[1Wolf 8]

I'm sure mine would have been a trivial experience for most of you guys today, but back then in my early twenties it was not a good day.

 

Mine was in the early 90's. My training syllabus had my first solo labelled in the next few lessons so I knew that it would be soon. That morning my instructor and I had been out in the practice area and it all seemed like a normal lesson, we taxied back to the school, shut down the aircraft just like we always had. Then, he turned to me and simply said "Take it around the pattern, 3 takeoffs and full-stop landings with taxi-backs...then bring it back here." I said "Do you really think I'm ready?" and he said "Student pilots are never ready". Then he proceeded to shut the door on my as I protested and walked back into the school.

 

I was really nervous, but did everything by the numbers. Now, at the time that my instructor hopped out of the aircraft...the airport was pretty quiet. Unfortunately that didn't last long. The airport I was flying out of was a controlled field and it could be a really busy place. My instructor had likely chosen that moment for my solo partially because the pattern was empty that morning. However, by the time I'd finished my run-up....I would be number 3 or number 4 for takeoff. I had been so nervous and so focused on doing everything right, I hadn't noticed that things were getting really busy really fast.

 

Taxied into position, advanced the throttle, eyes focused down the runway, nosewheel on the centerline, airspeed was alive, engine instruments in the green...doing everything I'd been taught. I kept looking over out the corner of my eye expecting to see the instructor and having mini-freak-outs over and over as each time I'd realize "Holy crap I'm alone". So I took off, and as everyone else here, I was amazed at the fact that my little Cessna 172 felt like a rocket without my instructor on board. Now, back then, I weighed all of about 120 Pounds. So you can imagine how that aircraft suddenly felt when it was just me. Upwind went fine.....but as I got over the freak-out factor I was realizing there was ALOT of traffic on the radio.

 

I don't remember if it was coming off the Crosswind leg or off the downwind leg...but I remember the controller telling me to perform a 270 in the pattern for spacing. Like a robot...I acknowledged his command "xxx will perform a 270 for spacing" (insert long pause here) "Whats a 270?". I had NO idea what he was talking about and it became quickly apparent that he had absolutely NO patience for a student that didn't know what he was doing. I explained that I was a student pilot on my first solo and that really seemed to upset him. He took the time to chastise me and give me a brief lecture that I should have known these things first. After that...I was on the edge of extreme panic. He told me he wanted me to do a standard rate turn....and unfortunately...I had no idea what that was either. This, of course, aggravated him further. Fortunately he held his temper and walked me through it...and I was absolutely terrified. I was afraid to turn so that my back was to the airport. That particular airport didn't have runways on the cardinal points....so for a newbie...it made it more difficult to understand where your airplane was in relation to the runways. From the distraction, the panic, and the embarassment it didn't take me much to get nearly lost in the pattern. Once I began that turn I had no idea where I was, or where my airplane was in relation to the runway. Lucky for me, the controller realized he was just making things worse and calmed down...and calmly walked me through the turn.

 

When I came out of it I freaked out a bit because I couldn't tell which of the runways was mine....but eventually it fell into place. I just felt so far behind the airplane at that point. Everything was happening so quickly and I'm trying to get caught up and it seemed like every 10 seconds someone was asking me if "I have the traffic" and I kept having to answer "xxx is looking".

 

Even when I was finally on final....it was a long final due to traffic spacing and I wasn't quite used to that. That was still fine though, except for the fact that there was an aircraft in front of me and I was gaining on him. I just wanted to get back on the ground and it was driving me nuts that this aircraft in front of me just seemed to be in slow motion. I did NOT want to have to go-around and do this again. So I started some S-Turns on Final and luckily that bought me enough distance for the aircraft in front of me to get down and clear the runway.

 

All things considered....my landing was pretty decent. Still made the first taxiway.

 

Regardless, for me, that was it that day. 3 circuits of the pattern my eye. No way. That would have to wait for another day when things were a bit calmer. One and done. I was so happy it was over with and I went back to the flight school really embarassed and with my tail between my legs. Quite honestly it rattled me pretty good, and it took some more dual work with my instructor before I had the confidence to try it again.

 

My second time around it went MUCH smoother. There was still traffic, but not like the first time.

[betelgeuse 41]

I am wondering (being nosy to be more accurate), from your signature, whether this was in Iceland? ........ I spent a very happy honeymoon in Reykjavik, up on the glaciers, blue lagoon, etc. :smile: (sorry for the O/T!).

 

I should have said that in those days you only needed 10 hours before going solo. No, I did my flying training in Ulster at Aldergrove, EGAA. It was a great place to learn because you had to work the radio from day 1 and know what you were doing. My worst experience was losing the radio at the hold with a commercial plane sitting behind.

 

Iceland is beautiful in the summer but miserable in the winter. Which is why I spend as much of the winter as I can in UK. :smile:

I don't fly now. Too expensive. The last time I flew a Cessna was in Portugal from Cascais aerodrome. My partner and I hired a plane with an instructor for a half day. Very enjoyayble. I've flown Cessna 182s in Iceland but the climate and the terrain is against VFR. I hope Newfoundland is better!

[fppilot 4,387]

I was frightened! You see it was 1971 and I had been driving a British sports car for about 4 years. You know, one of those with Lucas electronics. Murphy's law prevailed. What can go wrong will go wrong. I had a Triple A card for the MG, but that was for a pull-off-to-the-right situation. No such thing at 3,000 feet. My flight instructor had also overdone it a bit on stall and spin recovery, and I didn't have a parachute. My solo was in a retired-from-service US Army T41 that had been "gifted" to our flying club at Ft Leonard Wood, Mo. I was a USAF meteorologist stationed at that fort's Forney AAF at the time. My solo was to Jefferson City, Mo and back. Flight time was cheap and I was single and had time to spare. A year later I was dual and instrument rated.