First Solo
 

ok ok so I wasn't going to make a post about my first solo, but I can't help it, I'm still smiling from ear to ear. TD, I remember you saying once that you sang "fly me to the moon," so when I went up and thats exactly what I did.. haha. I got about 1.1 solo time today, did 8 landings, all in class D airspace.

Congrats man. Now just remember to keep it between the ditches when you land and you'll do fine.:D

I remember
 

That is a mile stone you won't forget. However, there is a long road to hoe if you are going career. It's good to see the passion of aviation is still alive!

Congrats!

T-1

Congrats, bro! I coudn't stop smiling after my first solo either... but thats probably the case for most of us..;)

Good job bro....glad to see your still with us. Your instructor did something right :D . You'll notice you will have about the same smile everytime you pass another checkride. It's an awesome feeling of accomplishment.

Congrats! Always great to hear of more people soloing. Enjoy the rest of your training!

Way to make it back alive! The plane seems so much larger without your instructor doesnt it? Congrats.

Congrats! What kind of plane? How did your instructor break it to you?

Congratulations, McArtier!!!






.

it was in my beech sundowner (my avatar)... what do you mean how did he break it to me? how did he tell me i was gonna solo? we were just flyin the pattern and he was like, "ready for me to get out?" and i said it was up to him, he was the instructor. so we landed, he got out and I did 4 touch and goes. then we flew to a diff airport and i did 4 more.

close tony, close. :p its m for 'matt' and Cartier, cest francais.

Yeah, that's what I meant. BTW now you need to change the caption under your avatar from C-23 FO to PIC! If you think solo pattern was fun, just wait until you do your long cross country. I remember that as being a truly cool time.

Congrads no one forgets their first solo. SNA in a 152 5 yrs ago for me

Class D Airspace
 

What did the class of airpace have with you flying the airplane to a safe landing? Did you do touch and goes? Were you scared?! Be careful out there!

:D ?

haha yeah i was just thinking about changing it but i figured i'd wait till I actually got that little card that says "private pilot" on it :)

i donno, i was always under the impression that most people did their first solo at an uncontrolled airport. mine was in heavy friggin traffic... yeah they were touch and goes, all 6 of them, with 2 full stops. not scared, felt like i had been doing it forever.

Congrats! Ditto on the solo cross countries, its like a whole new world/freedom! The only time I got airsick was on my long solo cross country...but thats a different story and had to do with what I had eaten at my stop...

Congrats!

solo is PIC
 

I believe solo by a student piloit is considered to be PIC............

get scared.......
 

Solo flights are usually done at the airport where the training takes place. That makes sense does it not? If you were not scared, then you in the minority. Why? Never know what is going to happen when you walk out on the ramp........

How much flight time you have now?:rolleyes:

i dont know why i wasn't scared.. it was just like when i drove in my car alone for the first time.. sure there was a little bit of anxiety and excitement, but I wasn't really scared or nervous that much... as of today i have 27.6 TT w/ 1.1 PIC.

Hey Fellas... I also just completed my first solo (4/19/07) at KDSM Brown Field (San Diego, CA) flying a C172. Now I have strong weather minimums (7,000 ft. ceiling, 7 kt headwind or 4 kt crosswind) I must wait for in order to fly again. I can't wait for the weather to get good again so I can keep flying! I also wasn't too scared... but I was little nervous on my final landing when the variable wind rose from 5 knots to 9 knots with a slight (30 degrees) crosswind.

Waiting for good weather in San Diego??? Whaaaaat?!?!?! ;)

I soloed this past Saturday. It wasn't a total shock,but I was a little nervouse untill I got the first landing done then I enjoyed the next 4.

Our June gloom came really early. It has been overcast for 4-7 days a week for the last 3 months. :( Not our typical weather by any means.

Well thought our reply
 

Well said! Keep up the good work!:)

Is your training including cross wind landing? There is nothing like getting out and learning how to handle cross wind landing and then when you are faced with it you focus on the effects of the wind and make the correct control inputs.

You can also practice side slips and foward slips at cruise alitude at approach speeds. Ask your instructor about Dutch rolls. This is where you try to keep the nose on a point by applying cross control inputs.
I have seen vast improvement in cross winds landing when this manuever is mastered. Oh yeah, do not lock yourself into any landing when you have the option of going around and setting up again for a landing.

Way to go!
 

Congrats friend!

You think you're smiling now, just wait until you do your first cross-country solo with two airports in between...it will go down as one of the best days of your life!

Mike

Congrats on the first solo. A great achievement for all pilots.

First off, 7kts on the nose and 4kt crosswind component is very restrictive!! My first solo limitation was 10kts, not a direct crosswind. Wind that is down the runway does not hurt, infact, I prefer to fly in 15kt winds down the runway vs 5kt winds (not gusty). All it means is you land slower!! In my opinion, you should ask your instructor about higher limitations. (Besides, we need more pilots that know how to negotiate :p )

Crosswind landing is great training, but personally I think any crosswind above a 5-7kt component should be done with an instructor during private triaining. My best story was the last flight before my checkride. We were landing on runway 23 with winds 230 @ 17 with another cessna. The other cessna went to runway 30 for crosswind landings. After his first landing, he calls "Hey, Cessna in the pattern on 23, want to join us on the crosswind runway?" I look at my instructor and say sure. A 16 knot crosswind component the day before my private. After about 3 landings, a Citation 5 called the uncontrolled field for traffic advisories. The other aircraft told him wind was favoring 23, but we were flying a pattern on 30. He accepted the challenge and made a decent landing. I think my 4th and final landing was better than the Citation 5!!

The experience was great for two major reasons. First off, I never felt 100% comfortable with crosswinds before that, but now I will do anything up to the max demonstrated crosswind component, even though I have fewer than 100hrs. Second, it was a great confidence builder right before my checkride. Crosswinds should not be avoided. Just they should be done with an instructor until you are really confident.

Late reply
 

Hey bro I just read your post and even though it has been a while and I am sure you have flown since then, just wanted to congratulate you. I am working on my PPL and am nervous when thinking about my first solo. Wow I can't wait. Congrats and Good luck :D

haha thanks.. funny thing is im actually supposed to take my checkride today, and right this second im actually logged on here at the testing place waiting to take my written again cause i lost it... lol... hopefully i'll be a private pilot in a couple hours.