Cutting a Shirt

A first solo.

I started by looking at the 5-day forecast. It was obvious that Saturday would be lousy. I checked aviation weather on Thursday and Friday. The weather on Saturday was still forecast for low clouds and poor visibility. Friday night I went to bed certain that I would not fly on Saturday.

I checked all of my weather sites before sunrise Saturday morning. The little circles were all colored in green. A warm front had stalled just north of us and the weather up there was lousy... but ours was...not bad. I was still doubtful, thinking we would have low lying scud, so when I texted Leo I told him it would probably end as a No Go but was willing to give it a try.

No school buses to deal with, the drive in was easy.  The only real traffic was when I almost hit a low flying Osprey chasing his breakfast. Beautiful animal. Sally was down to about 12 gallons (my no go is 10) but that would be plenty for pattern work. Leo was waiting at the FBO when I taxied up. It was overcast at 4500' with light winds from the north. Lets go!

Sandhill Cranes are very large (~4') tall birds with a long neck,
 long legs, and very broad wings.

As we took the runway 3 Sandhill Cranes were eating their breakfast just off the left side of the runway. They were kind enough to let us use their runway and the takeoff and pattern work was normal. But as Leo entered his round out to flare I saw movement on the runway centerline. Those three birds had decided to settle on the middle of runway 05. Time to Go Around! I called Skyport Aviation and told them about the birds, they said they would handle it.

The next pattern was good, and as we landed I noted that the birds had moved off the asphalt onto the grass on the left just off the runway. As we taxied back a golf cart came out to chase them away.

The next 3 landings were average or above average. Some people wonder if it is a hard decision to let a student go for the first time. Not really. After spending hours in the plane with him, you get to know the student pretty well. So it's not a sudden decision, it comes after many many turns in the pattern to get the necessary experience and the "sight picture". You both know when the time is right. It was time for me to get out and let him solo.

But why did I cut his shirt? In the early days of flight before intercoms were common instructors used to sit behind their students in a tandem aircraft and pull on their shirt tails to give directions. After successfully soloing, the student has shown that he doesn't need that direction anymore and therefore doesn't need his shirt tail. CONGRATULATIONS LEO!

Video: 1st Solo