During the rollout of my fourth landing, my CFI asked me to let the tower know we needed to pull over to drop off an instructor for a student solo. Wow\u2014it’s time. Was I nervous? A little. But was I extremely excited? Absolutely!<\/p>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0so\u00b7lo<\/span> A thing (that being flying in this example) done by one person unaccompanied is precisely what happened. As my CFI jumped out on the Juliet row, he joked that I need to “bring [his] headset back” and to have a good time. I was ready! I monitored the ATIS and called ground ready for taxi. There was a slight delay\u2014just enough to get my heart-rate up\u2014at the end of the taxiway before I was cleared for takeoff. But I soon found myself releasing the brakes, running through my checklist (lights, camera, action) and taking the runway.<\/p>\n The goal was three (good) landings. In my opinion, my first was my\u00a0best. I set-up the approach for a long, stable final and was completely configured over a mile out. My CFI had been encouraging this for a while and I really took it to heart to make sure I could “stick” these landings. 3, 2, 1\u2014I heard the wheels touch down in the perfect order for a right-crosswind landing. My next two landings weren’t as graceful. And on the last, I bounced.<\/p>\n Today was great. I had been looking forward to soloing for quite a while and the actual process was as exciting as I had been hoping for. I’m not cleared to solo on my own yet. We are going to fly together again and perform another “supervised solo,” but after that I’ll begin to check the plane out and practice landings, maneuvers and general\u00a0airman-ship on my own.<\/p>\n Watch the video below to sit in the cockpit with me\u00a0during my first solo lap around the pattern.<\/p>\n
\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span>noun<\/i><\/span>
\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0a thing done by one person unaccompanied, in particular.<\/span><\/p>\n