There are many milestones along the way to achieving the wings of your private pilot, but the one you will remember vividly is your first solo. Ask any pilot about his and he or she will probably look longingly into the distance to remember the moment he first flew and the plane on his behalf. Even veterans with many hours in their logs never forget the day their instructor let them lose for the first time.
The first solo represents a transition between those who can only fly under the watchful eye of an instructor and those who have sufficient knowledge and skill to fly without assistance. Of course, there is much more to it than that and your instructor will still keep a close eye on you, albeit from the ground instead of the seat next to or behind you!
What is the first solo flight?
Your first flight as pilot in command will be a circuit of the airfield. The course (or pattern in the US) is an imaginary rectangle consisting of the runway, the windward leg (the part flown just after takeoff while climbing to course height), the crosswind leg (at right angles to the left of the runway), the downwind leg (parallel to the runway but in the opposite direction of takeoff and landing), the base leg (opposite the crosswind leg) and final approach, that is, the section on which it is lining up and descending in preparation for landing. That’s it: take off, fly a circuit and land.
It may seem complicated now if you are a novice student with no hours in your log book, but like all things, it gets easier with practice. Your first 10 to 20 hours of flight training will include handling aircraft in the air, climbs, descent turns, radio calls within the vicinity of the airfield, takeoffs and landings. Once you’ve mastered basic aircraft handling, your instructor will spend several lessons with you around the circuit, teaching you how to fly each leg. He’ll learn what to check on each leg, what radio calls to make, and when to make them.
You’ll also learn to recognize familiar landmarks around the airfield, as it can be surprisingly easy to become disoriented without this knowledge and it will make the experience much less stressful in the unlikely event that the Control Tower asks you to orbit. a particular point to make way for another aircraft. There is little chance of this happening as your instructor should have chosen a time when the airfield is relatively quiet and informed the Tower that you are a student about your first solo flight, but if it does happen then be prepared it will. help you carry out Tower instructions with minimal disruption to your flight.
So when should you first fly solo and how can you prepare for it? Rest assured, your instructor won’t send it out on its own until he’s reasonably sure it’s ready. The day will come when both of you have been in the plane “hitting the loop,” that is, flying one loop after the other until the entire process, from takeoff to landing, is burned into your brain and reflexes through repetition. constant. You may even get a little bored with this practice, and the astute instructor will notice this boredom and take it as a sign that it’s time for you to fly on your own.
My first solo was on July 4, 1985 at Southampton Airport (EGHI) in a Grumman AA5-A, registration G-BFTE. All previous lessons focused on repeatedly flying the circuit until all the steps became familiar. During these practice sessions I had landed the aircraft several times without the intervention of the instructor at my side. I knew that one day soon, during such a lesson, he would ask me to taxi to the apron and park while he exited the plane and gave me the go-ahead to fly a circuit on my own. That particular day we flew some circuits and he told me to park in front of the Tower. Half of me hoped the lesson was over and the other half knew what was coming. Once the aircraft was parked, he opened the canopy and stepped out onto the wing. He leaned into the booth and said, “Good. One circuit only, then back here. go away.”
Before she had time to protest, he had closed the canopy and left without looking back. I was alone on the plane. I radioed the Tower”,Southampton Tower, Golf Bravo Foxtrot Tango Echo, radio control and taxi to the winery.” The approval was given without pause. I was on my way. He taxied to the holding point, I ran my eyes over the instrument panel and he gave another call to say he was ready to take off. A few seconds later the plane I was picking up speed along the track and soon I was airborne.
The first thing that struck me was that the plane was lighter and handled differently, and of course, this was due to the fact that there was one less adult in the seat on the right. With all the things to focus on, the next few minutes flew by. I didn’t really settle down and analyze the event until I was in the downwind leg where there was a minute or two where I could absorb the fact that I was flying on my own. I barely started to congratulate myself when I realized that I had to prepare for the landing. Radio calls and pre-landing checks followed and within a minute or two I was looking down the length of the runway concentrating on airspeed, altitude and the position of the aircraft hood in relation to the end of the runway.
My instructor’s voice was in my head guiding me down. Now I understood why we repeat this exercise so often and under different conditions. I made small adjustments where necessary and it wasn’t long before I felt the thump of the main wheels touching the track. Once the nose wheel was down as well, I smoothly applied braking and taxied back to the pad to park. With all post-landing checks completed and the aircraft shut down, I left and walked across the apron to the main terminal building. My knees were shaking a little but with each step I was growing a foot taller. When I got to the building I was beaming.
That was twenty-five years ago. You never forget your first solo!