Hello Risers & Soloers,
When a student pilot “solos,” it is a huge milestone and confidence booster. The first solo usually consist of taking off, a short flight – usually staying in the traffic pattern, and landing, all by yourself. It is often a very scary situation as you are alone and in complete control of the aircraft. This is where all of the hours of training come into play, as you have to be competent enough to handle the aircraft in cases such as mechanical failure. In the U.S. there is no minimum number of hours required by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to solo in a fixed wing aircraft. It is usually when your Certified Flight Instructor (CFI) endorses your readiness.
My Story
I remember my first solo like it was yesterday. I soloed on February 23, 2014 (OMG! that was 4 years ago!) in Omaha, Nebraska, and had roughly 25 flight hours logged. My Instructor, Tyler, didn’t even tell me that I was ready to solo. I came to Millard airport excited to fly and receive flight instruction, as it was a really nice day out. We went about our normal routine, which was discussing the previous lesson from two days ago, explanation of that days lesson plan, and a some quick ground instruction. I then went out to the aircraft to do my pre-flight check and waited for my instructor to join me.
If I can recall correctly, that day we simply reviewed some emergency procedures, slow flight, and maybe some power on/off stalls. I do remember also doing some touch and go’s. After the lesson review, I taxied the aircraft back onto the ramp and my instructor said don’t shut down. My reaction was “huh?” I was a bit confused. He said, “I think you are ready to solo.” My heart skipped like three beats.
In my mind, I was not ready to solo. It was not that I felt unprepared; However, me and fellow peers from the University had experienced a tragedy. A fellow class mate recently crashed an aircraft and passed as a result. This tragedy scared me so much that I had stopped flying lessons for a brief period of time. I thought if it could happen to him, it could happen to anyone, especially since he was currently working on his commercial pilots license.
My instructor could tell that I was nervous. He assured me that I was ready and told me to just take a deep breath. So, I did. I took a long deep breath and with doing so my instructor hopped out of the Piper 140 and waved goodbye. I watched him enter into the Flight Base Operator (FBO) and thought of a good friend who also had recently soloed. She told me that it was our mission (as young minority women) to overcome this mountain. With that thought in my mind, I made my call on the radio and began taxiing back to the runway.
My instructor advised me to make three circuits in the traffic pattern with each landing coming to a full stop. He also advised he could see me through the FBO windows and that I would be speaking to him on the radio. After that first take-off alone, it became a breeze. It was simple and everything that we had practiced. Once I returned to the ramp, I felt exhilarated. I felt as if I could do anything! My instructor stated they normally would cut the back of my shirt, which is a weird tradition in aviation after a first solo, but advised since it was the middle of winter we should not do so! So we simply took a photo.
The photo went on the wall in the FBO along all the other solo-ers. It made me happy and proud of myself and I knew no matter what…I had to continue to rise!
My Advice
Just go for it! Once you have passed your aeronautical test based on topics in Part 61 and Part 91 of the Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs) and your CFI has endorsed you, take a deep breathe and think its part of your mission, journey, or whatever is necessary. It will boost your confidence tremendously and let you know you can be a pilot-in-command! As my CFI, Tyler, would say “You’ve got this!” So, go rise!
#ContinueToRise
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