posted 05-14-2008 06:32 AM               

Congrats Michael, you are on your way.

posted 05-14-2008 07:02 AM               

I hope you'll le his old man design your mission patch when you walk on the Moon (or Mars). Godspeed.

posted 05-14-2008 11:38 AM               

I've probably soloed 30+ people as an instructor myself. I remember soloing my first student, I think I was more nervous than he was. I still feel a huge accomplishment when I take someone who 'steers' with the yoke the first time out, to finally telling them 'let me out!'. Hehe!

Oh, just so you know... you are doomed. Once you solo aviation becomes extremely addictive - if it hadn't already by now.

posted 05-14-2008 11:51 AM               

For me, my first solo was August 5th, 2004... Seventeen knot crosswinds, and a bad case of "Go-fever".

For friends and family, I even carried on the flight some self-made commemorative covers, postmarked with the date, cacheted with a drawing of the plane, signed by the pilot (me), and individually numbered. I'll see about uploading a pic of mine.

posted 05-14-2008 12:55 PM            

Hard to believe, but I have never flown, not as a pilot and not as a passenger, and, I think, I will never fly.

posted 05-14-2008 03:20 PM               

But nevertheless I hope that this is the beginning of a great career for you and I have to be honest but I noticed that huge grin when you egressed your bird.

posted 05-14-2008 03:36 PM               

My first twenty years ago consisted of 3 landings and 1 go-around due to traffic on a crossing runway at a towered airport.

Keep at it and always know your limitations. It's much better to be on the ground wishing you were "up there" than to be "up there" wishing you were on the ground.

cfreeze79 - Who signed you off to solo the first time in a 17 KT crosswind? That's scary!

posted 05-14-2008 09:26 PM               

I just watched the video and for a person to do his first solo, at dusk/night, at a controlled field for a student is doing something! It's difficult enough to make 3 greasers to the point you can make them into "touch and goes" during the day when you can plainly see the runway...never mind at dusk/night when your depth perception goes out the window.

posted 05-14-2008 09:27 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by 328KF:
cfreeze79 - Who signed you off to solo the first time in a 17 KT crosswind? That's scary!

---

posted 05-16-2008 03:23 PM            

The flight was suppose to happen that morning. I had been cramming in last minute flights with my instructor during that previous week which I was off from school. The winds were gusting a little too much then, so we had to postpone it until the evening with calm winds.

I had done a lot of training at night, and both myself and my instructor were confident hat I could handle Republic at dusk.

The first two touch-n-go's were on runway 32. As the sun went down for my last landing... the tower alerted me to the fact that the 14/32 runway lights were not cooperating, and I needed them for my last landing.

He told me that I could make the landing which I was on short final for on 32, and since it was my first solo, I may wat to make it the final landing. If I wasn't quite ready to call it a day, I could go around for another landing on runway 1. A runway change mid-flight was always my biggest fear... so I chose to land on 32... then takeoff and make a third landing on 1. The best way to overcome my fear was to face it on my first solo, and I did fine.

The flight school requires 3 of those solo's (supervised solos). That calls for 3 touch-n-go's with my instructor, then he gets out, and I do 3 on my own. I finished out that set, and am now ready for out of the pattern solos.

I'm right on schedule to go for my checkride on my 17th birthday, November 27th.

posted 05-17-2008 12:42 AM               

In my own case I had two first solos. The first one was back in 1991 and the second was in 2004 (I got away from flying for 13 years before I decided to go back and get my PPL finally). The memory has faded a little concerning the actual experiences as I've shot LOTS of landings since then, but the memories of the emotions I felt on both occassions hasn't gone away. Owen Wilson in "Armageddon" summed it up quite well:

"It's kind of that 'excited, scared excited feeling'. It's like 98% excited and 2% scared, or maybe its... it could be 98% scared and 2% excited. But that's what makes it so intense, so confused, I can't quite figure it out."

posted 05-17-2008 11:18 AM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by micropooz:
And may your takeoffs always equal your landings (old pilot joke, verrrry old).

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• Flights: 285
  
• Horizontal landings: 284
  
• Vertical landings: 1

posted 05-17-2008 12:02 PM               

Anyhow, very well done and..."Per Ardua Ad Astra" (with not to much of the ardua, hopefully!)

posted 05-17-2008 11:32 PM               

How long ago did you guys solo? It would be fun to see who did it the earliest. I'll post mine after I see how many roll in, looking at who posted already, I'm still the "oldest".

But I will add, I soloed at 16, got my Private at 17, and my Commercial a few years later. I am also a member of the Silver Wings which requires soloing over 25 years ago. There's a couple of hints.

posted 05-18-2008 07:57 AM               

• C-172 solo at Gainesville Regional Airport, Apr 25, 1987
  
• T-37 solo, Williams AFB AZ: Mar 17, 1988
  
• T-38 solo, Williams AFB AZ: Jul 14, 1988

posted 05-18-2008 12:20 PM               

Just missed soloing in a motor glider (SLMG) TODAY after just 3.5hrs training, as the instructor didn't want to send me off with a 12kt crosswind!

Oh well, next week...

posted 05-18-2008 03:26 PM               

I soloed on glider (Rhönlerche KA4) in 1974, since then I only did some parachute jumps. Last winter I restarted flying, so now every weekend I am "learning" flying again and I love it.

Leonardo Da Vinci once wrote:

Once you know how it is to fly, you walk on earth with your eyes up towards the sky.