First Solo

 

The pride of accomplishment for both the student and CFI following the first solo flight.

Waiting your turn

I've been preparing a student for his first solo flight. After a few weather delays, it looked like it was to happen on this flight. All of the weather prognosticators said it would be perfect. We did the preflight, pulled her out of the hangar facing south, and performed the checklists. There was a gray spot of clouds on the horizon. All other sectors were clear blue and calm.

We continued. All systems were "go" and we departed to the west. The gray spot grew. It showed up on our satellite weather screen as a green blob but I still didn't consider it a factor. 

We continued. The first landing wasn't his best.  Maybe nerves so I told him to try another. Meanwhile, I looked south. The gray was darker now and the weather screen showed some yellow in it. The next landing was much better. As we taxied back he asked for my thoughts. I hesitated for just an instant then told him to take us home. As he made his way I looked to the south and saw the showers moving in. It was a good call.

He made a nice landing at our home field (slightly left of centerline) and easily got off at the first taxiway. Then he reported steering problems. We had a flat tire! I'm so glad that didn't happen on his first solo.

Yesterday I went out to exercise Sally. I had hoped to fly to Deland for their Sport Aviation Showcase, but the weather didn't cooperate. So instead I stayed in the pattern at KVDF and practiced my landings. There were about three of us evenly spaced just drilling holes in the sky. It felt pretty good. I was just happy to get out and fly for a little while. Maybe we can do Deland next year.

Happy Halloween

 

KVDF-KZPH-X39-KPCM-KVDF

The Florida weather is changing. It was in the mid-'60s when I arrived at the airport. The early morning low clouds were clearing. The winds were predicted to start gusting by mid-afternoon so I had a window of about 3 or 4 hours to give Sally some exercise. While I have been active flying, it just hasn't been in Sally. This would be fun.

Certus is temporarily using my hangar so Sally is using the covered tie-down spot. So it took me extra time to get the covers and plugs removed and untie the tie-down ropes. (So much easier in a hangar.) Everything easily fit in the trunk.

The nose tire was nearly flat and the right main was low. The compressor was back in the hangar, but I had brought along my wife's bicycle pump. A small device, slightly larger than a cell phone, it worked great to inflate the tires without removing the wheel pants! This will become a standard tool in my kit.

The first stop would be KZPH. The jump plane warned me that jumpers would be in the air in two minutes so I decided to practice some steep turns while waiting. A beautiful day with a clear horizon made me realize I need more practice before my Flight Review. I entered the RWY05 pattern on the 45 and did two beautiful T&Gs before the next wave of jumpers. I departed to the west as the jump plane took off beneath me.

I'm just not in love with my Garmin 796. The functionality is fantastic but the ergonomics...well let's just say I liked the 696 better. Trying to touch icons in bumpy air is a challenge. My next destination was X39. The database didn't recognize that. I spent way too much time trying to input this simple "direct to" before I gave up and went to the map mode. I selected the airport from the map, hit the direct button, and bingo, I was on my way. Now I could use the system to check runways, and tune frequencies. Nice. X39 has a nice runway restaurant and their ramp was full but the pattern was empty. I did two more beautiful landings then departed to the east. 

The next stop was KPCM. ASOS told me the winds were out of the west at about 8kts so I planned to enter the pattern for RWY28. But once with 5 miles, the winds had changed to easterly. So I set up for RWY10. I diligently made all of my position calls and was surprised no one else was in the pattern. hmmm. Checked the radio and found there was a Skycatcher on downwind. I just have to be more diligent using that touch screen. Three more beautiful landings and it was time to go home. 

I love flying this airplane.