solo'ed today....
Moderator: RLG MGMT Team
Solo flight
Good job Steel, congrats! I bet you were like a kid in a candy store up there.
"SILENCE, I KILL YOU!!" - Achmed the Dead Terrorist
AKA: Staark or Staark_RLG
Yeah man, my sleeves were barely holding on to my shirt! Had to walk the 10 minutes back to the dorms topless!
So you weren't nervous at all huh? I was nervous as hell on taxi and takeoff- actually I ended taxiing over yellow chevrons by mistake (DOH!)! Once I got in the air, it was more excitement of flight than anything else, I'm sure you felt the same!
So you weren't nervous at all huh? I was nervous as hell on taxi and takeoff- actually I ended taxiing over yellow chevrons by mistake (DOH!)! Once I got in the air, it was more excitement of flight than anything else, I'm sure you felt the same!
Jeff
My instructor was a guy named Pete Robinson - he was on your case from the minute you pre-flighted on the pan, never letting up until you'd taken de-brief. Jeez, the guy made you sweat buckets the whole flight - scan around your aircraft at eye level, now scan above your aircraft as far round as poss, now scan below your aircraft whilst weaving to achieve maximum coverage, instruments scan, LIFE checks, positional & attitude awareness, now lets consider an emergency landing - keep looking for a good landing area infront of you or towards your intended flightpath, okay back to scanning now - it was never-ending, apart from those precious little moments where he'd offer you a polo mint!! 
They used to say that the less he spoke the better you were flying - but you were NEVER off the hook.
Still, when I first solo'd I started off as everyone does, that nervous excited feeling as I pre-flighted, but it was soon forgotten in the busy world of the cockpit as I busied myself with the task of taxiing. And I kid you not, I could hear him talking to me in the headphones as I went through all my final checks, Then ........... take-off .........."Hotel Sierra rolling on 20". I was warned that the reduced weight would cause a substantial difference in vertical climb rate, so don't be alarmed but I was passing the pan at 600ft, the threshold would be about 800ft. I was so enthralled I forgot myself for a second or two:
"Snoopy's airborne! Passing the pan at 600!"
Well I got it big time when I got back, this was a RAF base - bad radio procedure wasn't laughed at, it was scorned! I was met at the de-brief by none other than the station master himself, I was firmly brought to earth with a bump, and I'm not talking about the undercarriage either.
Anyway, just thought I'd share my experience too since I know how you feel..............CONGRATULATIONS!
They used to say that the less he spoke the better you were flying - but you were NEVER off the hook.Still, when I first solo'd I started off as everyone does, that nervous excited feeling as I pre-flighted, but it was soon forgotten in the busy world of the cockpit as I busied myself with the task of taxiing. And I kid you not, I could hear him talking to me in the headphones as I went through all my final checks, Then ........... take-off .........."Hotel Sierra rolling on 20". I was warned that the reduced weight would cause a substantial difference in vertical climb rate, so don't be alarmed but I was passing the pan at 600ft, the threshold would be about 800ft. I was so enthralled I forgot myself for a second or two:
"Snoopy's airborne! Passing the pan at 600!"
Well I got it big time when I got back, this was a RAF base - bad radio procedure wasn't laughed at, it was scorned! I was met at the de-brief by none other than the station master himself, I was firmly brought to earth with a bump, and I'm not talking about the undercarriage either.
Anyway, just thought I'd share my experience too since I know how you feel..............CONGRATULATIONS!
It is not the technique that wins a fight, but the more furious mind - Kodiak WOF
You are stuck on stupid. I'm not going to answer that question! - Gen Honore, New Orleans Sep 05
You are stuck on stupid. I'm not going to answer that question! - Gen Honore, New Orleans Sep 05
Thx Snoopy - uh, I mean Kodiak! 
Yah, having all that stuff to do probably takes quite a bit of the fear out of it. It was exciting, that I could feel. Now I just need to keep at it so I do not lose everything I have learned so far... I am sure as time passes it will stay with me, but being new to it allows everything to blur a bit in the mass of what we have learned.
It is only the first step...but still very cool.
Yah, having all that stuff to do probably takes quite a bit of the fear out of it. It was exciting, that I could feel. Now I just need to keep at it so I do not lose everything I have learned so far... I am sure as time passes it will stay with me, but being new to it allows everything to blur a bit in the mass of what we have learned.
It is only the first step...but still very cool.
Helmut
The airport I solo'd at was way out in mid-Florida, all by itself. Great for solos So there weren't any other aircraft there. The coolest part of the whole thing was while on my first final approach, I was talking to a helo pilot who was crossing my runway. He called, I replied, confirmed visual, he told me where he was going, I extended my upwind for no factor clearance...I love radio communications
So there weren't any other aircraft there. The coolest part of the whole thing was while on my first final approach, I was talking to a helo pilot who was crossing my runway. He called, I replied, confirmed visual, he told me where he was going, I extended my upwind for no factor clearance...I love radio communications Jeff
Hehe, Ramona airport is actually quite busy...as everyone thinks it is NOT busy and goes there for touch and go practice (and solo's) as well as quite a GA community there. Chuck Hall (WW2 P-51 pilot) has his business there as well. They also just extended, widened, and refinished the runway - when you are on it it looks like the shuttle could use it as an emergency strip. So it gets quite busy at times...
I had two other planes in the pattern with me, plus a Yak in front of me on my first t/o (saw him back at KMYF when I went back 'home' - he went there for lunch). On my second landing when on final, I had one on the outbound from a touch and go, and another in position... On the way back home, I even got a Class B clearance to go direct back to KMYF (through Miramar airspace).
Two days ago, at KMYF doing touch an goes, the tower put me on 28R, then about 1/2 mile from the threshold swithced me to 28L!!! I just looked at Ed (my instructor) with wide eyes and said "well, he just f&^&&%$ed up this landing for me!" It all ended up good though, I made the switch no problem (surprised myself!). There is nothing like the busy SoCal sky...
I had two other planes in the pattern with me, plus a Yak in front of me on my first t/o (saw him back at KMYF when I went back 'home' - he went there for lunch). On my second landing when on final, I had one on the outbound from a touch and go, and another in position... On the way back home, I even got a Class B clearance to go direct back to KMYF (through Miramar airspace).
Two days ago, at KMYF doing touch an goes, the tower put me on 28R, then about 1/2 mile from the threshold swithced me to 28L!!! I just looked at Ed (my instructor) with wide eyes and said "well, he just f&^&&%$ed up this landing for me!"
It all ended up good though, I made the switch no problem (surprised myself!). There is nothing like the busy SoCal sky... Helmut
