Total Time: 18.9 Hours
Animated GPS Track of Today's Flight
Saturday was supposed to be my big day - my first solo. At about 10 am, I was driving to Boeing Field, hoping to get there half an hour early to get 8VJ ready before Ed arrived. Only a few miles from my house, I got a call from Ed, letting me know that someone had left the master switch on, killing the battery. Since the cowling needed to be opened to get 8VJ up and running again, that meant I wasn't flying that day. My first solo was delayed again, and it would be another two weeks before Ed, 8VJ and I would all be available for another try.
I was dissapointed, but tried to not let it get me down that much. I'm learning to fly in a rented airplaine during the winter. Delays and diversions are going to happen, so no reason to let it get me down. Anyway, I figured if I harbored too many hostile feelings towards whoever left the switch on, I'd do it myself sometime very soon (I probably will anyway at some point).
I heard back from Ed before the end of the weekend, and he let me know he was available to fly on Monday and wanted to know if I was able to get the time off of work. He'd booked 8VJ just in case. I called him immediately to let him know that yes, I would be available, and then had a hard time falling asleep because of the anticipation.
Today I woke up and anxiously watched the weather and checked the weather reports compulsively. The weather was cold, but the skies were clear and the winds calm. If it held, it would be a perfect day for my first solo.
The weather held. Once again I arrived at Boeing Field half an hour early to get the plane ready. I was nervous when I arrived. I knew I was going to solo, and I was probably more nervous that I'd ever been showing up at the airport. I've found, though, that for this reason I really enjoy the pre-flight inspection. It's tedious, yes, but there's something soothing in the process. It's almost a zen thing. You go over every part of the aircraft, step by step. You take your time and don't rush it, and in the process you get to know the plane better, and see for yourself that it's ready to fly. More importantly, the process itself helps you focus your mind on nothing but flight. Things that mattered 10 minutes ago don't matter by the time I'm done, and even the nervousness of flying a plane largely goes away because I've checked it out - and everything is right.
I know it sounds hokey, but for me at least, it's true.
Because I was nervous about soloing today, I took more time that normal and by the time I was finished, I was relaxed and ready to go.
Ed pulled in just as I finished. He also pulled up in time to catch me rubbing my head from smacking it on the wing after standing up from checking the brakes. With the wings at forehead level, I'm surprised it hasn't happened before and I'm sure it will happen again.
We took off again following the Vashon departure towards Bremerton. On the way we practiced slow flight and stalls, then a few touch-and-goes and a stop-and-go at Bremerton National. On the last landing, he had me pull off the runway. As we'd planned, Ed opened the door and started to get out of the plane.
Taking Off From Runway 13R at Boeing Field
On the Downwind Leg at BremertonBefore getting out, he told me a short story about his first solo. His instructor, he said, had told him he needed to run to the bathroom. After getting out, he wiggled the elevator, hitting Ed with the yoke, and motioned for him to get out of there. He said his instructors intention was to avoid allowing him to worry about it ahead of time. Ed told me that he'd decided never to do that to any of his students, because soloing should be a mutual decision - something that should happen when both instructor AND student think they are ready. He also said he felt that being surprised by a solo meant he wasn't able to mentally prepare himself.
Personally, I'm glad I knew the solo was coming. I was nervous about it ahead of time - more nervous than I've ever been before a flight. But even with that as a factor, over the past few flights I've come to realize that I was ready to solo and had started to really look forward to it. Knowing that the solo was coming meant that even though I was nervous, I could put that fear into the back of my mind and do what I've already done many times already. The only difference is that this time I accelerated and gained altitude a little quicker without the weight of a second person in the plane.
After Ed got out of the plane and I started to taxi, I was balanced somewhere between nervous and ecstatic. I had butterflies in my stomach and I couldn't stop smiling. After making sure no one was on final approach, I announced that I was taking off ("Bremerton traffic, Cessna Eight Victor Juliet, departing runway one-nine for touch-and-goes, Bremerton"), and off I went.
Taxiing To My First Solo TakeoffAt about 300 feet, I really realized that I was alone in the airplane. This thought was not accompanied by fear or nervousness, but instead was quickly followed by an almost subconcious thought telling me, "You've done this lots of times already. It's what you've been training for these past few months. There's nothing different now than during the touch-and-go you just did."
Flying the Downwind LegThe first touch-and-go went well, although I had some problems with following my final glide path - I came in a bit too low to start out with and had to add a little bit of power to maintain altitude. It wasn't extremely low, though, and I landed it fairly smoothly.
As I was on final for the second landing, I heard three or four people make calls that they were entering the pattern and I was worried that things were getting a bit crowded, so rather than doing a touch-and-go I pulled off the runway. Ed shrugged at me and made a circling motion with his finger pointing at the sky. I didn't need much urging, so I taxi'd back to the runway and got ready to take off again.
Second Solo LandingThis time someone made the call "Cessna something or other on long final to runway zero-one. I, and every other aircraft in the pattern, were taking off on runway one-nine, which meant we were all using the same strip, but one person was going to try to land against the flow of traffic. Before I pulled onto the runway I made a call saying "Bremerton traffic, Cessna on final approach runway zero-one, can you confirm that you said zero-one?"
The pilot responded saying that yes he was, and that was still three miles out, and would pass over the airport to move into the traffic pattern going the same direction as everyone else. Hearing that, I made my call and took off again. This time, as I flew on my downwind leg and started preparations to turn base and then into final to land again, I noticed another plane coming in. I'm not sure if it was the same plane or not, but he had entered the pattern in the opposite direction (which also means the same altitude), and was on a course that would lead him to intersect with me.
Third Solo TakeoffRather than worrying about who should have right of way, I made a call that I was turning a 360 out of the pattern to get out of his way and would re-enter on a 45 degree angle on my downwind leg. The pilot of the other plane acknowledged my call, realizing he was going the wrong direction, and said he would follow me in on my path.
I took a loop out of the pattern (making Ed briefly question whether I'd decided to leave him behind) before re-entering the pattern. During this time I made a call to let the other pilots know that I was on my first solo, and to be patient with me. One of them responded with a quick congratulations and to let me know that he'd slowed down to let me back into the pattern - a good thing since the pattern was getting very crowded at this point.
I landed again - this time coming a little high, which meant full flaps (40 degrees) and no power for most of my final leg. I pulled off the runway to pick up Ed, and off we went back towards Boeing Field. He asked if I wanted to practice anything else on our way back and my answer was a definate no. I'd had a lot of fun, but I was coming down from an adrenaline high and was more tired than I'd been since my first few lessons. On the flight back, I told him all about the solo (I'm pretty sure I couldn't stop talking, actually. Adrenaline and all, you know).
Third Solo LandingThe total flight was 1.7 hours, 0.4 of which was solo. My next flight, scheduled for Thursday (Thanksgiving) would be just as exciting, he told me. With this flight, Ed was there to brief and debrief me, and my solo was just a few laps around the pattern. Rather than having him there to fly with at the beginning and end, the entire flight - pre-flight to tie-down will be completely solo.
As I mentioned earlier, Ed took videos from the ground of my first solo flight. I'll post the videos to this blog as soon as I get copies from him next time we fly together on December 6.
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