First Solo Done!
I soloed. My instructor didn't have a lot of time to do this so, we setup an hour. I pre-flighted the plane, we got up and did 2 touch-and-goes and on the third landing he had my taxi over to the ramp. I let him out of the airplane and taxied to the end of the runway and took off. As I took off and climbed into the pattern, I thought to myself, 'Holy crap, I'm in this plane all by myself!' It was both exhilarating and a little nervous.
My focus was now on the job at hand. While on the downwind leg of the pattern, I got the call from the tower, "Cessna Three-November-Bravo, you're clear touch-and-go." I repeated it back and when I got "a-beam" of the numbers, I started my landing procedures. Carb heat, on. Slow the plane to 70 knots, and bring in 20° of flaps. In my head, I said to myself, 'keep it on 70 knots, trim the plane, now turn to base and let the plane fall to the ground, don't fight it. Keep and eye on the end of the runway and turn to final. Shoot for the numbers, if you're low, give it power, if you're high, kill the power. Aim for the numbers.' As I came in for my first landing, the approach was good I brought it in and made a nice easy landing. Once I was on the ground, I disengaged carb heat, put the flaps up and brought the throttle all the way in.
The second and third landings were good, and even though I could have stopped after three I decided to go around one more time because I was having fun. I asked the tower for a "full-stop" and was cleared. I came in... this time, I came floated gave it a little too much elevator when I came in and floated up a little, but nothing I couldn't correct as I brought in, I touched down and exited the runway at taxiway-Delta and took three-november-bravo back to her parking spot and tied the plane down having used only a half hour of tach time.
Now, another phase of my private certificate requirements have been met. This time, on the solo part.
- At least 40 hours of flight time, to include
- At least 20 hours of flight training from an instructor, including
- 3 hours of cross-country flight training in a single-engine airplane
- 3 hours of night flight training in a single-engine airplane, to include
- 1 cross-country flight of over 100 nautical miles total distance
- 10 takeoffs and 10 landings to a full stop (with each landing involving a flight in the traffic pattern) at an airport.
- 3 hours of flight training in a single-engine airplane on the control and maneuvering of an airplane solely by reference to instruments, including straight and level flight, constant airspeed climbs and descents, turns to a heading, recovery from unusual flight attitudes, radio communications, and the use of navigation systems/facilities and radar services appropriate to instrument flight
- 3 hours of flight training in preparation for the practical test in a single-engine airplane, which must have been performed within 60 days preceding the date of the test
- At least 10 hours of solo flight time in a single-engine airplane, to include
- Three takeoffs and three landings to a full stop (with each landing involving a flight in the traffic pattern) at an airport with an operating control tower.
- 5 hours of solo cross-country time
- One solo cross-country flight of at least 150 nautical miles total distance, with full-stop landings at a minimum of three points, and one segment of the flight consisting of a straight-line distance of at least 50 nautical miles between the takeoff and landing locations
Next lesson: Monday, March 24.
