Learning to fly: you will never forget your first solo flight

There are many milestones along the way to achieving your private pilot’s wings, but the one you’ll remember vividly is your first solo. Ask any pilot about his or hers and he or she will probably look longingly into the distance to remember the time he or she first flew and the plane on his own. Even veterans with many hours in their logs never forget the day their instructor first let them lose.

The first solo represents a transition between those who can only fly under the watchful eye of an instructor and those who have enough knowledge and skill to fly unassisted. Of course, there is much more to it than that and your instructor will continue to watch you closely, albeit from the ground rather than 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 portion flown just after takeoff while climbing to the height of the course), the crosswind leg (at right angles to the left of the runway), the downwind leg (parallel to the runway but away from takeoff and landing), the base leg (opposite the crosswind leg), and the final approach, that is, the section in which it lines up and descends in preparation for landing. That’s it: take off, fly a circuit and land.

It may seem complicated now if you’re a novice student with no hours in your logbook, 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, descending turns, radio calls within the vicinity of the airfield, takeoffs, and landings. Once you have mastered the basic handling of the aircraft, your instructor will spend several lessons with you on the circuit teaching you how to fly each leg. He will 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 plane. There is little chance of this happening, as your instructor should have chosen a time when the airfield is relatively quiet and should have informed the Tower that you are a student about flying your first solo, but if it does happen, then be prepared will. help you carry out Tower instructions with minimal interruption to your flight.

So when should you fly solo for the first time, and how can you prepare for it? Rest assured, your instructor won’t send you on your own until he’s reasonably sure you’re ready. The day will come when both of you have been on the plane “hitting the loop,” that is, flying loop after loop until the entire process, from takeoff to landing, is burned into your brain and reflexes by replay. 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 is 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 of the previous lessons focused on flying the circuit repeatedly until all the steps became familiar. During these practice sessions I had landed the aircraft several times without the intervention of the instructor next to me. I knew that one day soon, during such a lesson, he would ask me to taxi to the apron and park while he left 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 hood and stepped out onto the wing. He leaned into the booth and said, “Right. One loop 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. I picked up speed along the track and was soon airborne.

The first thing that struck me was that the plane was lighter and handled differently and of course that was due to the fact that there was one less adult in the right seat. With all the things to focus on, the next few minutes passed like lightning. 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 was able to absorb the fact that I was flying on my own. I had barely begun to congratulate myself when I realized that I had to prepare for landing. Radio calls and pre-landing checks followed and within a minute or two I was looking down the runway concentrating on airspeed, height and the position of the hood of the aircraft relative 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 minor adjustments where necessary and it wasn’t long before I felt the bump of the main wheels touching the track. Once the nose wheel was down as well, I gently applied braking and rolled back to the apron to park. With all post-landing checks completed and the plane powered down, I ditched and walked across the apron to the main terminal building. My knees were shaking a little but with each step I grew a foot taller. When I got to the building I was beaming.

That was twenty-five years ago. You never forget your first solo!