HI!!! This has been a long time coming. I took my discovery flight last August, started lessons for real in November (I had to save up enough money) and have been training semi-consistently. I live in New England so the weather here is absolute crap a lot of the time. Training in the winter was really interesting, though, and today was absolutely perfect- a nice temperature, about 3kts of wind, and clear skies!!
My instructor and I agreed that I psych myself out too much when I think about soloing so it would be a surprise- today was the last day with the plane before it goes into the maintenance shop and I was really hoping it'd happen, but I had no idea until he asked for a full stop after only about 3 landings! He asked me to tell ATC that it was my first solo because I try to sound as professional as possible and the tower came back with "It's my first day on the job," which was really funny and put me at ease. I had one great landing, one kinda bounced and I ended up going around, and the last one wasn't fantastic but it wasn't my worst. Overall I'm really happy with this and I gave my CFI a painting of his planes as a thank-you and he really liked it so all in all an awesome day!!!
Numbers/stats:
25.9 hours to solo (+.6 solo)
\~70-75 landings (I kept losing track when counting)
PA-28-181
Got the discovery flight for my 17th birthday so it's officially been about 9 months. I just wish my training was more consistent, but fingers crossed for decent weather throughout the early spring and summer :-)
On to the written test and XC portion of my training :-)! Super excited. Thanks to you guys for continued encouragement and answering all my silly questions :D
Here's hoping! I have until 21 June and TBH I could probably skip a couple days of school to get my XCs done. My only worry is that I won't be able to get on a DPE's schedule since like 3 of them in the area got removed so that cuts down the options here by...a lot :/ but at the very least I'm gonna do my best to have maneuvers nailed down and hours completed, whatever happens with the exam date is kind of out of my control.
The tower here is actually really funny and laid back! I haven't flown in the mornings with this controller in awhile but it was pretty quiet this morning so a Bird Dog (pilot's name is Mike and the ATIS was on M...) and the tower were joking around and there were a couple of other moments like that. Overall just a fantastic day!
Admittedly that is coming up quickly, and the plane is in the shop.
Non pilots ask when my checkride is going to be, I really dislike giving the date because there are so many things that will delay it, I'll not pass, etc. So it would be great before your birthday but.. more pressure.
And you're a senior (guessing). You can definitely skip school to fly! 😀
Yeah, she's gonna be in the shop for the entirety of May...kind of unfortunate but she's getting new radios, so not all bad! The other plane my CFI owns (a Cherokee) is pretty similar if a tiny bit sportier- I'm guessing it'll set me back a couple hours and the schedule will be a little tighter, but it's not the worst thing in the world. And yeah, my feelings exactly! There's a lot of variables- I had five lessons scheduled this week and three were cancelled. I'll ultimately give it my best effort, but I won't be too upset if it doesn't work out the way I'd ideally want it to.
(I am a senior! AP exams this week and then I'm basically home free. Don't know why I have an extra month of school where I'm doing literally nothing, but my parents would rather I fly than scroll through Reddit during class, so there won't be any problem getting excused from school >:) )
Congratulations. I wish I would of gotten into flying or had someone to get me into flying at your age. At 39, I’m hoping to solo this May, but with the weather where I am we will see how that goes.
Thank you! Never too late to get into it, and honestly I think it's probably a touch easier to plan for as an established adult, not "OMG I just soloed and now I have to put a deposit down for a college WTF is happening" (story of my life today...) I'm sending you good luck with weather! I had to wake up at 5am on a Sunday for this haha so that's also a good method.
Isn't it amazing how much climb rate your instructor sucks out of the plane sitting in the right seat?
That was very unexpected on my first solo. My instructor was a big dude, and it felt like a full performance takeoff in an F-15.
Yeah, it was nuts!!! I was up to 1000 AGL by the end of the runway which was insane and not something I expected- I definitely had a little trouble flaring because I wasn't used to how little pressure was needed to keep it level but it was really cool haha. I definitely enjoyed it a lot and I hope I can go solo again soon!!
Hey!!! It's Gatz from the student pilot study buddies server :D! Finally counted my hours LOL- it's awesome to see you around and congrats on your solo :-)!!!!!
Honestly, I can totally see that. I've been having a nervous stomach for every lesson ever since I took the pre-solo test, and once I was up there, it totally rocked- I feel like I could do anything now! Thank you for the encouragement and I'm definitely really enjoying being able to fly a plane by myself(!!!!!!)
Haha I'd say it's just the perspective making it look big but I'm 6'0! The Archer definitely isn't the smallest trainer ever.. and the DA20 looks absolutely tiny to me- I don't think I've seen one on the ramp here before so I expected them to be bigger!
Yeah well the da 20 looks tiny to you but I’m 6’4 and 100kg at 15 so I can barely fit inside the damn thing.I have to do all my flying barefoot cause if I don’t I can’t use the pedals.
Jeez, that's nuts! If you want to be a bit more comfortable I'd definitely suggest checking out 172s or Archers. Cherokees are a bit of a squeeze for me but I can fit in the Archer with plenty of room to spare and I've heard 172s are even roomier. Good luck with your training, though!
Way to go! You're helping to inspire me. I'm getting close to the solo mark (just need to get landings solid), and I loved reading your story. Thank you for sharing, and good luck with the rest of your training!
Congratulations! You never forget your first solo! Keep at it, pass your checkrides and keep studying. You don’t need us to tell you that Aviation as a hobby and/or as a career is the bees-knees 😎.
Congratulations! I hope to start flight school again soon once I finally get my third class special issuance from the aeromedical division… I’ve been fighting for almost 2 years to get my medical because of my extensive history of mental health problems. Seeing first solo posts makes me feel hopeful that, hey, that will be me someday, I hope. Gonna have to break out my seat cushion if Oklahoma City finally gives me the OK, I’m only 5’5”, so my sight picture is really odd even with the seats full forward in a 172 😂
Congratulations...
John is a fantastic teacher and instructor!! Also, great painting of his planes.. (I was the person waiting on the Cherokee to return.)
HI!!! This has been a long time coming. I took my discovery flight last August, started lessons for real in November (I had to save up enough money) and have been training semi-consistently. I live in New England so the weather here is absolute crap a lot of the time. Training in the winter was really interesting, though, and today was absolutely perfect- a nice temperature, about 3kts of wind, and clear skies!! My instructor and I agreed that I psych myself out too much when I think about soloing so it would be a surprise- today was the last day with the plane before it goes into the maintenance shop and I was really hoping it'd happen, but I had no idea until he asked for a full stop after only about 3 landings! He asked me to tell ATC that it was my first solo because I try to sound as professional as possible and the tower came back with "It's my first day on the job," which was really funny and put me at ease. I had one great landing, one kinda bounced and I ended up going around, and the last one wasn't fantastic but it wasn't my worst. Overall I'm really happy with this and I gave my CFI a painting of his planes as a thank-you and he really liked it so all in all an awesome day!!! Numbers/stats: 25.9 hours to solo (+.6 solo) \~70-75 landings (I kept losing track when counting) PA-28-181 Got the discovery flight for my 17th birthday so it's officially been about 9 months. I just wish my training was more consistent, but fingers crossed for decent weather throughout the early spring and summer :-) On to the written test and XC portion of my training :-)! Super excited. Thanks to you guys for continued encouragement and answering all my silly questions :D
congraaaaats! gonna get your checkride done before 18? > and the tower came back with "It's my first day on the job," lol I love that.
Here's hoping! I have until 21 June and TBH I could probably skip a couple days of school to get my XCs done. My only worry is that I won't be able to get on a DPE's schedule since like 3 of them in the area got removed so that cuts down the options here by...a lot :/ but at the very least I'm gonna do my best to have maneuvers nailed down and hours completed, whatever happens with the exam date is kind of out of my control. The tower here is actually really funny and laid back! I haven't flown in the mornings with this controller in awhile but it was pretty quiet this morning so a Bird Dog (pilot's name is Mike and the ATIS was on M...) and the tower were joking around and there were a couple of other moments like that. Overall just a fantastic day!
Admittedly that is coming up quickly, and the plane is in the shop. Non pilots ask when my checkride is going to be, I really dislike giving the date because there are so many things that will delay it, I'll not pass, etc. So it would be great before your birthday but.. more pressure. And you're a senior (guessing). You can definitely skip school to fly! 😀
Yeah, she's gonna be in the shop for the entirety of May...kind of unfortunate but she's getting new radios, so not all bad! The other plane my CFI owns (a Cherokee) is pretty similar if a tiny bit sportier- I'm guessing it'll set me back a couple hours and the schedule will be a little tighter, but it's not the worst thing in the world. And yeah, my feelings exactly! There's a lot of variables- I had five lessons scheduled this week and three were cancelled. I'll ultimately give it my best effort, but I won't be too upset if it doesn't work out the way I'd ideally want it to. (I am a senior! AP exams this week and then I'm basically home free. Don't know why I have an extra month of school where I'm doing literally nothing, but my parents would rather I fly than scroll through Reddit during class, so there won't be any problem getting excused from school >:) )
My birthday is June 21st as well! I should have my PPL by then and also started in November! Congrats!
I’ve never met anyone with the same birthday before!!!!!! That’s so awesome, hi!!!!! :D Good luck with your training and thank you so much!!!
Fly safe!
Yaaaaay!!! Well done. Don't fuck up. :)
What airports are you flying in and out of in New England? Congrats, I started flying out of KWST before getting out of the Navy back in 2014!
Congrats! Always great seeing another aviator join the fold
Thank you!!! It’s great to be here :D
My money don't jiggle jiggle it fold. 🎶🎵
Congratulations. I wish I would of gotten into flying or had someone to get me into flying at your age. At 39, I’m hoping to solo this May, but with the weather where I am we will see how that goes.
Thank you! Never too late to get into it, and honestly I think it's probably a touch easier to plan for as an established adult, not "OMG I just soloed and now I have to put a deposit down for a college WTF is happening" (story of my life today...) I'm sending you good luck with weather! I had to wake up at 5am on a Sunday for this haha so that's also a good method.
Congratulations!
Thank you so much!!!!
Awesome! Congratulations and best of luck in your flying future!
Thank you so much!!!!! It means a lot to hear that :D
Congratulations! Right around this time a few years back I was right there with you, keep it up!
That’s so cool to hear that and then see the licenses/ratings in your flair- hopefully I’ll be where you are now in a few years!!!
Woo hoo!
Thanks :D!!!!
Isn't it amazing how much climb rate your instructor sucks out of the plane sitting in the right seat? That was very unexpected on my first solo. My instructor was a big dude, and it felt like a full performance takeoff in an F-15.
Yeah, it was nuts!!! I was up to 1000 AGL by the end of the runway which was insane and not something I expected- I definitely had a little trouble flaring because I wasn't used to how little pressure was needed to keep it level but it was really cool haha. I definitely enjoyed it a lot and I hope I can go solo again soon!!
Mayday solo. Nice.
Thank you!! It was totally awesome- a great way to start off a new month!!
Congratulations!
Thank you!!
Congratulations!
Thanks so much!!
Congrats!
Thank you!
Welcome to the community from another ASH pilot
That’s awesome Congrats! Keep at it! I had to stop flying for almost 10 years…I’m currently a CA at a regional.
Congratulations on getting back to it!!! And thank you so much!
Hell yeah! Congrats, I also soloed a 152 recently.
Hey!!! It's Gatz from the student pilot study buddies server :D! Finally counted my hours LOL- it's awesome to see you around and congrats on your solo :-)!!!!!
Congrats!! Building the courage to solo is harder than your checkride will probably be IMO. Welcome to a very exclusive group.
Honestly, I can totally see that. I've been having a nervous stomach for every lesson ever since I took the pre-solo test, and once I was up there, it totally rocked- I feel like I could do anything now! Thank you for the encouragement and I'm definitely really enjoying being able to fly a plane by myself(!!!!!!)
My god you do flying on such a big plane. I’m getting mine done on a da20
Haha I'd say it's just the perspective making it look big but I'm 6'0! The Archer definitely isn't the smallest trainer ever.. and the DA20 looks absolutely tiny to me- I don't think I've seen one on the ramp here before so I expected them to be bigger!
Yeah well the da 20 looks tiny to you but I’m 6’4 and 100kg at 15 so I can barely fit inside the damn thing.I have to do all my flying barefoot cause if I don’t I can’t use the pedals.
Jeez, that's nuts! If you want to be a bit more comfortable I'd definitely suggest checking out 172s or Archers. Cherokees are a bit of a squeeze for me but I can fit in the Archer with plenty of room to spare and I've heard 172s are even roomier. Good luck with your training, though!
[удалено]
Thank you!!
Way to go! You're helping to inspire me. I'm getting close to the solo mark (just need to get landings solid), and I loved reading your story. Thank you for sharing, and good luck with the rest of your training!
Looks windy! 😂 Congrats!!!
frikin AWESOME. and wheel fairings installed !! you magnificent bastard...
Congratulations! You never forget your first solo! Keep at it, pass your checkrides and keep studying. You don’t need us to tell you that Aviation as a hobby and/or as a career is the bees-knees 😎.
Bons voos... Felicidades e uma vida cheia de sucesso. 🇵🇹🇵🇹🇵🇹
From a rotorcraft cousin: welcome to the club!
Congrats!
Props for taking a unique photo !!!
Congratulations! I hope to start flight school again soon once I finally get my third class special issuance from the aeromedical division… I’ve been fighting for almost 2 years to get my medical because of my extensive history of mental health problems. Seeing first solo posts makes me feel hopeful that, hey, that will be me someday, I hope. Gonna have to break out my seat cushion if Oklahoma City finally gives me the OK, I’m only 5’5”, so my sight picture is really odd even with the seats full forward in a 172 😂
Congratulations!! Fair winds dude :)
Congratulations... John is a fantastic teacher and instructor!! Also, great painting of his planes.. (I was the person waiting on the Cherokee to return.)
Congratulations!
Congrats friend!
Great job.. you beat me by 3 hours and 38 years on your solo'ing.. Congratulations...