My First Solo

Flying solo was something I dreamed about constantly, right from the day I started my ground school lessons. On January 27th, 2006, I had a checkout flight with a senior instructor to see if I was ready for my first solo. Boy, was I nervous to be flying with someone other than my trusted instructor! After a few landings the senior pilot said that I needed to have straighter circuits before he would let me go solo. For those of you who do not know what a circuit is, I will give you a brief explanation. It is a strict airway pattern used to separate aircraft that are landing. It allows you to have stable replicable landings and gives pilots ample time to do appropriate safety checks. This landing pattern is used by all single engine piston planes as well as the big jets landing at major city airports. It is important to get it right. Being told I was not quite ready to go solo was very disappointing news, but I was so determined to move forward and achieve this milestone. I kept my head held high and kept going.

March 29, 2006, after two months of sporadic lessons thanks to winter, I went up to do a few practice circuits with my instructor. After we were done, my instructor told me to park the plane near the terminal instead of tying it down on the apron. This was an odd request that I had never received before. As we arrived, I shut the engine off assuming that I was bringing the plane to the terminal for another student to jump in and go up with my instructor. To my surprise my instructor, Adam Baxter, quickly unhooked his seatbelt, opened the door and jumped out. The senior instructor I had flown with 2 months prior jumped in and off we went to complete a couple more circuits. Again, I parked the plane just in front of the terminal and the senior instructor departed the aircraft. Before I had time to think, Adam was back and said “Take the plane up, go do one circuit and have some fun”. He then quickly closed the door and walked away. My mother got her wish: she would not know ahead of time that I was about to fly my first solo that day.

As I taxied the plane the length of Runway 33 (approximately 4000 feet) I remember singing and feeling on top of the world. Oddly, I was not nervous at all. It felt right. I took off at 11:20 am and completed my first solo circuit. I was 200ft high in the pattern, but it was straight (200ft high was probably due to the fact that I was flying a Piper Archer instead of a Warrior which has another 20 HP and I only had a couple of hours in that type of plane)! The landing was smooth. Just after touchdown the air traffic controller (ATC) came on and said “Congratulations on your first solo”. I taxied the plane back to the tie-downs sporting the largest grin of my life. Adam came running with a camera and took a few photos (featured above). After it was all done, I had the pleasure of driving to my parents house and reciting the days exciting events.