First Solo

On May 3, 6:20 am, wrote:
On May 2, 1:15 pm, "ManhattanMan" wrote:

wrote:
On May 2, 12:55 pm, Erik wrote:
Larry Dighera wrote:
Just remember your CFI consider's you ready to solo. Doubtless, his
job (if not more) is riding on that decision if you should become an
incident or accident statistic.

Famous last words: "If anything happens, just make sure your
logbook gets burned up!"

Will I be in radio contact with him? Does it matter?

Mine went up in the tower to keep tabs on me - even had the controler remind
me to watch my pattern altitude

I'll be flying out KLBX (untowered airport). He does have a hand held
radio. Can he just give me a frequency. Somehow I feel a lot more
comfortable not talking to him...lol


The funniest thing I recall was the other 'stick' (it was a MS880b)
moving round without the 'real' pilot :-)

wrote in message
ups.com...
I am gonna go on my first solo at the end of May. I am a little bit
nervous... Any advice?

Keep the shiny side up!

"Erik" wrote in message
...


Dallas wrote:

(Be sure to remember every detail for years of good cocktail party
conversation.)


Like you can forget.


How true! I soloed over 50 years ago and I can still remember everything
about the flight like it was yesterday. Plane was a Piper Colt - 05Z - flew
out of KPOC ( Brackett Field in La Verne, CA) when it had just a Unicom -
CFI was named Boyd Phelps and it was a glorious day. As someone said, we had
been doing some pattern work and as we taxied back to the FBO he had me
stop, jumped out and said - go fly for a while!. My heart rate *still*
speeds up when I think of that. That was many years and many thousand's of
hours PIC time ago.

How true! I soloed over 50 years ago and I can still remember everything
about the flight like it was yesterday.

Interesting. I really don't remember much about my first solo. It
wasn't a big deal. I was ready to solo at something like twelve hours,
but some paperwork still needed to be completed. So, we did post
solo-stuff until the paperwork was done, and at seventeen hours I
soloed. I think I went three times around the pattern; I remember
telling my instructor later that I had come in a little low the second
time, and added power; he said he noticed that and I did the right
thing. Or something like that.

I also remember him telling me to expect better climb performance
without the extra body in the plane.

Jose
--
Get high on gasoline: fly an airplane.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

wrote in message
oups.com...
I hope there will be little to no cross wind that day. :-) I still
need practice in that area + remember to turn the yoke into the
wind... I also need to feel comfortable doing a slip which kind of
freaks me out at this point.

Slips made me uncomfortable for a while too, but once you practice them a
bit, you get used to them. The a/c 'feels' out of control, but when you get
a few under your belt, and come to realise that the a/c is actually still
doing exactly what you want it to do, then that discomfort subsides. That's
what I've found anyway.
Good luck with the solo! You'll never forget it!
One tip I would suggest is to be extra careful to watch your speed on
finals, as you won't lose altitude as easily as you did with the instructor
was on board. This may force you to either do one of those slips that you
aren't comfortable with yet, or go-around. Make sure the speed is not above
the recommended as you come over the fence.
I'm sure you'll do fine.
Crash Lander

wrote in message
oups.com...
Will I be in radio contact with him? Does it matter?

No you won't be, and no it doesn't matter. My instructor was still walking
back to the office when I did my solo and landed again! He missed the
landing altogether! A few other pilots witnessed it though, and gave him the
thumbs up on my performance.
Crash Lander

wrote in message
oups.com...
Will I be in radio contact with him? Does it matter?

I remember exactly the thought that went through my mind the first time I
took off solo.
"Well, I'm up, I have no choice now but to get it back down again!"
Crash Lander

wrote in message
ups.com...
I am gonna go on my first solo at the end of May. I am a little bit
nervous... Any advice?


The CFI won't let you go until you are ready.

Just go down the end, say a little prayer, and take off.

Have fun.

Crash Lander wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...
Will I be in radio contact with him? Does it matter?

I remember exactly the thought that went through my mind the first
time I took off solo.
"Well, I'm up, I have no choice now but to get it back down again!"


Really got your friggin attention too, didn't it??? I had that feeling
about the time the wheels left the ground..