aahhhh!!!!
I SOLOED!!
this is my baby here:
this basically means that as of this past tuesday, i'm allowed to fly around (with restrictions) by myself!
It was pretty nerve-wracking. I went from whiteman airport to van nuys airport and did a couple of takeoffs and landings with my instructor. i knew that eventually he would have to get out of the plane and let me solo, but it was (and is) still a weird idea--flying all alone with no one to bail me out if i screw up. but, after my two with steve, he had me drop him off in the instructor observation area and...had me taxi off without him. i just sort of looked up at him like; "are you sure?!?" but he told me i'd do fine and that it would be over before i knew it. "just enjoy it, because it won't last long!"
van nuys is a lot different than whiteman--there are two runways and large business jets fly in and out, with a plane either taking off or landing every few seconds during peak hours. i was with the big boys and their shiny big toys. this is a side thing, but i was invited into one of those large business jets, one that had just returned from a trip to india and russia, and all i can say is WHOA. they made me take off my shoes before i walked in to keep the carpet (that they were going to replace--for over $30,000!) clean. beautiful bar, leather seats, polished wood coffee tables, beds, couches, tvs...it was and probably will be the schmanciest thing i've ever been in.
so, since the airport is so much bigger than mine, the radio work was crazier than what i'm used to. compound not trying to sound too stoopid on the radio with trying to not kill myself or others made it stressful. but fun! without my 200+ pound instructor with me really changed the plane's performance. i get off the ground way faster, flew way faster in general and got higher up sooner. that threw me a bit. in any case i did three swell takeoffs and landings. the best part is that i didn't ruin anything and will be able to reuse the plane! :-)
i had to go to school right after for a test review and my old warbird instructor had another fellow who just soloed a couple weeks before me cut my shirttail off. this is an old pilot tradition from when people learned in planes without radios and the instructor sat in a seat in the open cockpit behind the student. when the instructor needed to tell the student to correct/ do something, the only way they could get their attention was by tugging on their shirttail. cutting it of course means the student doesn't need their instructor to do this anymore. and so it goes, this is what happened to my shirt:
and what dan (the one who cut me) did to that piece:
and how i feel about this whole ordeal:
i'm all that much closer to becoming a bona fide pilot now!!
this is my baby here:
this basically means that as of this past tuesday, i'm allowed to fly around (with restrictions) by myself!
It was pretty nerve-wracking. I went from whiteman airport to van nuys airport and did a couple of takeoffs and landings with my instructor. i knew that eventually he would have to get out of the plane and let me solo, but it was (and is) still a weird idea--flying all alone with no one to bail me out if i screw up. but, after my two with steve, he had me drop him off in the instructor observation area and...had me taxi off without him. i just sort of looked up at him like; "are you sure?!?" but he told me i'd do fine and that it would be over before i knew it. "just enjoy it, because it won't last long!"
van nuys is a lot different than whiteman--there are two runways and large business jets fly in and out, with a plane either taking off or landing every few seconds during peak hours. i was with the big boys and their shiny big toys. this is a side thing, but i was invited into one of those large business jets, one that had just returned from a trip to india and russia, and all i can say is WHOA. they made me take off my shoes before i walked in to keep the carpet (that they were going to replace--for over $30,000!) clean. beautiful bar, leather seats, polished wood coffee tables, beds, couches, tvs...it was and probably will be the schmanciest thing i've ever been in.
so, since the airport is so much bigger than mine, the radio work was crazier than what i'm used to. compound not trying to sound too stoopid on the radio with trying to not kill myself or others made it stressful. but fun! without my 200+ pound instructor with me really changed the plane's performance. i get off the ground way faster, flew way faster in general and got higher up sooner. that threw me a bit. in any case i did three swell takeoffs and landings. the best part is that i didn't ruin anything and will be able to reuse the plane! :-)
i had to go to school right after for a test review and my old warbird instructor had another fellow who just soloed a couple weeks before me cut my shirttail off. this is an old pilot tradition from when people learned in planes without radios and the instructor sat in a seat in the open cockpit behind the student. when the instructor needed to tell the student to correct/ do something, the only way they could get their attention was by tugging on their shirttail. cutting it of course means the student doesn't need their instructor to do this anymore. and so it goes, this is what happened to my shirt:
and what dan (the one who cut me) did to that piece:
and how i feel about this whole ordeal:
i'm all that much closer to becoming a bona fide pilot now!!