Flying Solo..

By now, I have been flying for a short few weeks; not very long to say the least. Lots of stuff in the training areas, a few flights in the circuit to get my landings up to scratch and a good measure of groundschool to make sure I was familiar with the airspace in which we operate and the laws of the land. It is surprising how many things are different from the theory we had spent months learning for the sake of JAA groundschool exams.

Going solo is quite a big deal, for those of you that don't know what it is; it is when you are the only person in the aircraft, Pilot in Command, head honcho, there is no one to hold the umbrella over you. If things go wrong, they go wrong and you are the only thing determining how you reach the ground..!

Very scary stuff indeed..! We had spend enough time practicing engine fire drills and engine failure stuff so in that case we should have enough to get safely back to ground.

The day finally arrived, I was going to fly solo today..! The plan for the day was to spend an hour in the circuit with the instructor at which point he would send me up on my own to brave the skies for the first time.

The circuits went off without a hitch, some nice soft landings, stable, centreline maintained, glideslope maintained.

My Instructor, The Sport's Fan stepped out of the aircraft.

- "You're good to go"

He jumped out at the ramp, engine running. I waited for him to step clear of the vessel and signal me to leave. I cautiously taxied over to the staging area and then the hold short line.

- "Tower, Warrior 000XX is holding short of Runway 2-1, First solo student for full stop landing."

I addressed the tower, full of excitement and anticipation. I awaited the clearance to take off; my heart was racing.

- "Warrior 000XX, departure approved for runway 2-1, cleared for take off."

The circuit was empty, I taxied onto the runway and throttled forward, airspeed live, 65kts, rotate. I pulled back gently on the yoke, the nose pitched up and I was now aviating on my own. The cockpit was serene, a calm mood fell over the cabin as there was no pressure from the instructor's eyes. I climbed to altitude and levelled off, trimmed fine. Everything was going well, altitude maintained, trimmed level and I was heading downwind.

The sun was beginning to set, the weather was calm, life was perfect. I turned base and then final. I aligned with the centreline and glideslope. Before long, touchdown; a nice gentle landing.

I taxied back to parking, shut down the aircraft and stepped out to meet a wide smile and an extended hand. The Sport's Fan, shook my hand heartily.

- "Great job, have a beer tonight, you deserve it.."