Due to my :-beerchug SOLO!!!!! :-beerchug, did it last night at about 750 pm at HAO by Cincinnati, Ohio and it was great! We did 3 t&g's he had me pull over, got out, said give me three, mumbled something about liability and closed the door, amazing how well that thing climbs with just me in there, coming down at approach speed really have to adjust for the balance difference that I've been use to having the dead weight in the right seat. After my big moment we just buzzed around a bit, went down over the Jimmy Buffett concert, nice summer evening, no wind, no clouds, really kewl night for flying.When I landed for the night I bounced and got an extra landing in, told him I liked the first one so much wanted to experience it again, tried to talk him into logging 8 takeoffs and 9 landings in my logbook :-hah but he wouldn't go for it. It was actually a night landing, he said I judged the roudout pretty good in the dark, told him I just do what I always have done for roudout timing...watch him out of the corner of my eye, when I see him tense up I know it's time to flare! Last time I took lessons I was 15, stopped just before I solo'd, guess in a way I've been waiting 23 years for my solo moment, or looking at it another way it took me 23 years to solo!Be meeting ya somewhere over Kansas soon Todd!c ya :-waveBart [email protected]http://bartsflyplace.tripod.com/pics/ryans...ight/flight.gif http://bartsflyplace.tripod.com/bart_logo3.jpg

Gratulations Bart!!Johnny"I'LL BE BACK"[div align=center]http://www.avsim.com/hangar/fly/josve/fly2/vas.gif][/div

That's great ! Welcome in the world of solo flyers ! Yves, Simvol-ROTW

Hey Bart,Congratulations! Sounds like you had perfect conditions - clear, no wind, Jimmy Buffett playing in the background ...:-)John

Congratulations Bart! I can only imagine what your first solo is like....Take careMike

Bart,Congrats, man. After 15 years away, I'm finally going back myself, and your account brought that first solo back clear as a bell. Some years later, my ex-wife took that backless shirt and used it to apply wax to her car. :-8I soloed at a little airport in Westminster, CA called Meadowlark Field...now a strip mall off Warner Avenue. Runway was 2700' x 37', and after that, my old instructor would tell me I had no excuse but to nail the numbers everywhere I flew. The trick, after fifteen years of simming has been not to develop any bad habits. I feel bad for my new instructor! He'll have to rap my knuckles with the edge of my E6PD every two or three minutes!

Great news, Bart. Let us know how things are going, and if we can be of any help. I only hope the your CFI does not read this forum. I like to hear what you guys think about CFIs. It sounds like some of us are "dead" without having a hit straight (or is that street?) line yet. ;) TV

Awesome, Bart! I bet that shirt is your new prized possession.

Hi bart!Congrats on the solo, man! That's really something to cherish, I'm sure. I haven't experienced it myself but ... oh well maybe in another lifetime...!Be Careful, eh!EarlPS: how is the Mooney for FLYII coming??.... "and the greatest of these is Love." I Cor. 13:13

Way to go, Bart! It's amazing what a hotrod that little plane becomes, isn't it?

Congratulations :-beerchug I love your method of judging the flare - you didn't learn that with Fly! :-)Ben

Way to go, Bart! The smile on your face will last 3-4 days, at least! Welcome to the wild world of PIC!See ya in Kansas! I need to go there next month anyway, to pick up my new 172SP that I'm gonna win from the Sporty's sweepstakes :)Todd

Thanks all, really is an awsome thing to do :-hahKewl thing about my solo was I had to wait for a plane coming in on final...low and behold here's what it was.

http://bartsflyplace.tripod.com/firstsolo/dc3_touchdown.gif

At Middletown (actually MWO, I put HAO in my original post...solo excitement :) ) there is a freight carrier there that has a fleet of about 6 DC-3/C-47's and a few Beech 18's. Brian, my CFI snapped the pics, think he's got a pretty good photo eye on him, have to post these on Airliners.net!

http://bartsflyplace.tripod.com/firstsolo/dc3_front.gif

I don't think the sun could have cooperated any more than it did for these pics...first one is my first official solo landing, nailed it with the stall horn screaming and all!! :)Second one is climbout after the 2nd t&g

http://bartsflyplace.tripod.com/firstsolo/rollout.gif

http://bartsflyplace.tripod.com/firstsolo/climbout.gif

And finally the Solo handshake, I'm the sweaty, deboniar, good looking guy on the right, and the sweaty dude on the left is my CFI, temp was up around 80 with high humidity, man is was nice and kewl in the air!:)

http://bartsflyplace.tripod.com/firstsolo/me_n_brian.gif

(we just stood in front of the Lancair, closest plane to the FBO, figure we can just slide that endorsement in later...hey, got the pic in front of it titled "First Solo" hanging on the FBO wall next to my shirt tail :))Got a dual X-country scheduled next Thursday, can't wait!c ya :-waveBart [email protected]http://bartsflyplace.tripod.com/pics/ryans...ight/flight.gif http://bartsflyplace.tripod.com/bart_logo3.jpg

I remember when I first soloed, but more importantly, I also remember coming home that evening and telling my parents about it"What happened to your shirt?""Guess what, I soloed today!""Did you crash or something?"But seriously, it was a really great feeling to be in full control, on the taxiway about to embark on my first solo flight, and not to mention 4th in line for takeoff. (That alone is pretty special for the little airport where I take flying lessons! Ahead of me was another Cessna 172, a Hawker jet, and a Cessna Citation jet.)Congratulations, a first solo really is something you'll remember forever!

We land at Sporty's all the time, 5 minute trip from Blueash...that 172's all mine!!!I'll let ya borrow it of course :-hahc ya :-waveBart [email protected]http://bartsflyplace.tripod.com/pics/ryans...ight/flight.gif http://bartsflyplace.tripod.com/bart_logo3.jpg