I’ve been taking lessons at KMWC (Timmerman Field, in Milwaukee) in a Cessna 172SP since late summer. Yesterday I did a few takeoffs and landings with my instructor. After the third, he called the tower and asked to taxi back to the ramp “to drop off the instructor.” So we did, and then he sent me back out to do three more on my own. It went pretty well, if I do say so myself. The landings were not perfect, but they were very good. I was not as nervous as I thought I’d be; in fact, I felt more focused at the controls than I ever have in the past.
Anyway… just thought I’d share. Because of delays relating to weather, work schedule, instructor changes, etc. it has taken me a little longer than I’d hoped to get this far. But what a great feeling. Now, on to the next phases of my training…
Congratulations! My dad has his private pilot’s liscense and I remember how excited he was when he first soloed. For him, flying has only gotten more addictive since then. I hope you keep up the habit and it brings you great joy!
It was pretty striking. I’d heard about this, and my instructor “warned” me about it before I taxied away, but the difference was still a little surprising. Takeoff roll seemed a bit shorter, too.
I never had the climb rate difference…my instructor was a small-ish lady, and because we were a community college school, the planes were in constant use, so sometimes we’d go out with half-tanks. Plus we were at 1 mile elevation to start with, so it was sluggish on good days.
And I too patted the seat next to me. And did a silly little dance. And buzzed the tower. OK, not the last one. But I thought about it…
Great going! Believe it or not, you’ve already gone through the hardest part of your training (other than paying for it, that is). It just keeps getting more fun from here.
So what music was running through your head when you did it?
Not much music, really; I was concentrating on listening for calls from the tower. As I finished the runup, I did hear echoing through my head the last words my instructor said before he climbed out of the plane: “If you only do one or two and get scared, don’t be afraid to come back in. Make sure to have a great time up there. And most importantly, don’t f@%k up!!!”
The last part (half) in jest, of course. Good times.
We had been doing pattern work, and it was getting toward the end of the lesson. My instructor told me to taxi to the fuel pits. He got out, and I assumed that I would continue the normal routine of taxiing back to parking, securing the aircraft, and meeting him in the FBO. Instead he said, 'Just take it around the pattern a few times.) :eek:
There are two solos for helicopters. The first is a ‘ground solo’. The instructor gets out, and the pilot maneuvers IGE while the instructor tells him what to do over a handheld radio. The other one is a ‘free solo’, where the student flies a pattern. It took me about 15 hours before my instructor would let me ‘free solo’. I was carrying over bad fixed-wing habits. My take-offs were great. The patterns were great. The flare was great. The actual touchdown… In a Cessna I’d keep pulling back the yoke until the wing stopped flying. In the Robbo I kept doing the same thing instead of leveling the skids. The instructor couldn’t figure out why I kept pulling back on the cyclic. But I realised it eventually. When I got it right he said, ‘What happened? Why are you suddenly sticking the landings?’ I told him that I’d been flying the helicopter like an airplane, and that I’d started flying it like a helicopter.
Strangely, I don’t remember my first ‘free solo’ in the heli.
Congratulations hopesperson! It all becomes a bit more fun now (IMO), particularly once you’ve stopped bashing the circuit and start out on some navigation exercises.
I used to kind of slouch across the other seat a bit when the instructor wasn’t there. Not with my body so much, but sometimes I’d drape my arm across the empty seat back, and maybe put a few charts and things on the seat, or even fly with one hand on the other yoke just because I could :). I still do it now, as 99% of my flying is with another crew member next to me, the odd time I get out by myself, I can feel my personal space reaching out and encompassing the entire cockpit area (it’s a bit like the feeling you get when you’ve been sleeping in a single bed for 12 months and then someone puts you up in a place with a king size–I was going to compare it to sleeping with someone for five years, then suddenly have the bed all to youself. But that’s a bit of a depressing thought isn’t it?) Good stuff anyway.
You know, probably one of the biggest things I noticed was how much more room and freedom of movement I had. I have very broad shoulders, and my instructor is a pretty stocky guy, so I had just gotten used to feeling cramped in the plane. By myself, I felt much less constricted. Fortunately my wife is a pretty tiny person, so once I’m finished up we should have plenty of space in a 172.
I’m definitely looking forward to getting out of the pattern again. I haven’t spent much time in the practice area lately, and I have yet to do any cross country.
It’s a hobby only – I’m a little too old to make such a drastic career change (and I like making enough money to put food on my table). I’m hoping to earn an instrument rating and get complex and high performance endorsements, but I’m not sure that commercial will ever really be worth the hassle. One baby step at a time…
Oh, and thanks, Rico.
First thought when I saw the thread title: “he killed a plane all by himself?”
Right on its steps: “no can be, nobody kills planes, this is the 'net but it ain’t a 'net-game, to talk about ‘soloing’ like that”
…
“must be he did his first solo flight. Yep. Probably. That’s cool!”
Congratulations may you never ever kill a single plane.
