Private Pilot – I Soloed An Airplane!

I started civilian pilot training! While this only partially explains where I have disappeared to over the past few years, I thought this audience might be interested in my journey as a pilot. I never really had the desire to fly. When I was a kid my dad had a friend who loved aviation, and we went to a few aviation museums and maybe even a few airshows. Airplanes were vaguely interesting to me as a child, but the luster wore off as I ventured into video games and pestering my siblings while climbing trees and riding bikes. Enlisting in the Air Force was a practical decision which provided opportunity and benefits, but I never even considered becoming a pilot or working around the airplanes.

Fast forward a few decades and I found myself supervising a troop who absolutely loves aviation. He owns his own single engine airplane and he offered to take me on a flight around our local airport. At the time it didn’t seem like a life-changing experience, but he definitely lit the spark! The most appealing part was not necessarily the experience of lifting off the ground or piloting a vehicle in three-dimensional space, it was the practicality of general aviation. The allure of being able to pull your airplane out of the hanger and fly anywhere you wanted to go in a fraction of the time it takes to drive there was enchanting. The entire idea felt very American to me, and seemed to embody the definition of ‘Freedom’. I yearn to truly experience it for myself. That spark bloomed into a flame, and my consciousness was awakened to new personal goals and possibilities.

Although my consciousness had changed, nothing happened quickly. Work got the best of me and the pace of my military career kept me distracted on the more practical task of providing for my family and securing a positive track for my career. Somewhere along this swirl of busy life, family and career, my world screeched to a halt. I found myself with a new perspective on how my career was pulling me away from my family, and I didn’t like it. I needed to find a new goal and renewed purpose or my life would end up on a path that I never desired… a path that would only end in heartache and loneliness.

My Solo Flying Experience

It took a long time to schedule my solo for multiple different reasons. I like to schedule my flights for the first thing in the morning to mitigate weather issues and give me more time to have a productive home or work day. The day of my solo was no different. As is my typical, I was slightly anxious but I experienced no major nervousness. The standard plan for student solos is to do three laps in the traffic pattern with the instructor, then for the instructor to hop out of the airplane and for the student to do three more laps solo. This is exactly what I did.

After my instructor got out of the plane I was struck by the lack of his presence in the plane with me. The other thing that threw me off was that the plane was already running, so instead of running my checklists from beginning to end I was starting with the “before taxi” checklist. It took me a little bit to collect myself and gather my thoughts, but then I taxied back to the runway with no issue. I knew I did not have to do a run-up, so that was another checklist I was able to skip.

My takeoff was pretty standard… throttle full forward, maintain centerline, engine gauges green, monitor airspeed for rotation, rotate, right rudder, monitor airspeed. One thing that one of my friends warned me about is that your plane will be much lighter without your instructor! I was climbing much faster than on previous laps. On my previous laps I was hitting the traffic pattern altitude toward the end of my “downwind leg”, but on this first lap I noticed I was at pattern altitude at the end of my “crosswind leg.” I realize I’m using pilot jargon, so just post a comment if you have questions and I’ll fill you in.

All three laps were pretty standard. On my first landing I had a little too much airspeed so I “ballooned”, but I was able to manage it well and bring her back down safely. I personally blame a gust of wind, but it was probably me over-correcting due to my instructor’s weight not being in the plane with me. On my second lap after I left the ground a giant bird swooped toward me while I was climbing, but flew out of my way instead of hitting me. On my third lap I was distracted by traffic and turned on my “downwind” leg late. All in all it was a good flight!

My First “Real” Solo

I did my first “real” solo a few days ago. I consider this a “real” solo because I did the entire flight from beginning to end without my instructor. It felt much different than my first solo because I knew that every aspect of the flight was MY responsibility, not a shared responsibility with my instructor. I deliberately slowed myself down on my pre-flight and checklists and found it very strange that my instructor wasn’t right next to me holding me accountable. I think the lack of accountability made me sloppy. This was good though, because it helped me identify the areas where he is constantly reminding me to do something, and it also caused me to teach myself to be more self-accountable. I made lots of mistakes like initially forgetting to lean during the run-up and not staying ahead of the airplane, but I was becoming a more self-aware pilot so it gave me confidence. I spent about a solid hour debriefing myself so I can improve before my next flight.

My biggest takeaway from the experience was that it felt good… It felt like all of my previous training and academics actually meant something, and culminated to a point. I am not good at almost everything and am no-where close to being ready for my final check-ride, but I can safely check out an airplane, preflight it, and fly it in the local area all by myself. That gives me a sense of accomplishment that I don’t think I have ever experienced before.

Setting the Heading

So where do we go from here? My goal for this post was to give you a taste of where I am right now, then slowly fill in the context of my journey as a pilot. I had a lot of questions about getting started, the macro-view of the process, the rules, regulations, source material, and pilot gear, but found it difficult to dig up all of the answers. I was reminded today that one of my personal strengths is to share my journey and bring you all along with me, so that is what I want to do!