First Solo

Today was one of the top five proudest days of my life! After three delayed solo flights due to weather, today the weather was perfect.

I will not lie, the longer amount of time I had to think about it the more nervous I was. I was confident in my abilities to fly the aircraft, yet we spend so much time preparing for the “what ifs” that it was all I could think of. I have so much to live for, I found myself second guessing my motives for flying. In the end I was able to take it in stride. Since I have walked through fear when I dove with sharks, went skydiving, ran into burning buildings, etc, I knew I could do it again.

It was sunny and the winds were a mild 5 knots per hour. My CFI and I pre-checked the 2007 Diamond Eclipse DA20-C1 (N362DC) and spent some time in the traffic pattern. I was a little rusty, but everything went well. My approach was still a bit high, but I had reasonably smooth landings.

When I asked my CFI what he thought, he stated: “It is a bit sloppy, but you won’t kill yourself in the solo.” I assume he was at least half kidding. After about six landings, I taxied back to the ramp where Kate and Rome were waiting. I let Adam out of the plane, and with well wishes from him and Katie, I was on my way.

I was very meticulous in completing every step on the pre-flight checklist. I even stated everything I was doing outloud, as if there was someone else that could hear me. I called to ATC and stated my intentions and included that I was a “student pilot on my first solo.” This seemed to have an impact as I noticed that they spoke slower and articulated clearer than normal, which was much appreciated.

I took off runway one. As the plane lifted off the ground, I had the most unbelievable feeling of thrill, pride and excitement. This was it! I was flying the plane all by myself. No longer a passenger. After nearly 14 hours of flight training, weeks of reading, and years of dreaming I can finally say I was a pilot (even if it was a student). Of the billions of people on this planet, it is an exclusive fraction that can say they have done what I was doing at that moment.



That being said, I didn’t have time to get reflective, I needed to maintain focus on flying and then landing. The expectation of the first solo flight is to take off and land, to a full stop, three times. Normally this is done with a stop and go. It is exactly what it sounds like, you land the plane completely and then take off using the remainder of the runway. It is actually more tricky than what I have practiced in the past because the more of the runway I take to land, the less runway I have to get to take off speed. Runway 1 is 5,546 feet long, so it is easily doable, but it did force me to plan to touch down as soon as possible.

I talked my way through the flight. Announcing each action of “flaps to neutral” or “leveling off at 1,500 feet” as if I had my CFI to hear if I was doing something wrong. This strategy was actually very helpful to maintain concentration and ensure I didn’t miss any steps.

I made my final approach longer than normal and I glided in as low as feasible. I was pleased with the landing and when I came to a complete stop for the first time, I said outloud, “I’m on the ground. Ok, I just proved that I can do this, two more times will not be a problem.” This pep talk must have worked, as the rest of the flight was uneventful. Nothing was really forgotten, except the last time around I flew the traffic pattern about 200 feet higher than my goal.



On my last flight, I asked ATC for a “full stop.”  Once the wheels stopped rolling the ATC, knowing it was my first solo, said, “You flew like a pro 362DC.”  That was very kind, but I was so filled with adrenaline that I hardly acknowledged it.

I taxied back to the west ramp where Adam (my CFI), Katie and Rome were waiting for me. It was awesome to have my family there. Without a doubt, I am very blessed to have them in my life. Kate even made celebratory brownies.



In American aviation lore, the traditional removal of a new pilot's shirt tail is a sign of the instructor's new confidence in his student after successful completion of the 1st solo flight. In the days of tandem trainers, the student sat in the front seat, with the instructor behind. As there were often no radios in these early days of aviation, the instructor would tug on the student pilot's shirttail to get his attention, and then yell in his ear. A successful first solo flight is an indication that the student can fly without the instructor. Hence, there is no longer a need for the shirt tail, and it is cut off by the instructor, and sometimes displayed as a trophy.



As long as I live, I will never forget this day.

Flight time: Dual Hours = .7 Pilot In Command Hours = .5
Cost: Plane rental - $138.00, Instructor Fee - $28.00