Solo…
So I’ve been doing a thing.
That was a little over a year ago. Since then there’s been exams, which went well.
And there was upper air work with stalls and turns and basic flying stuff and then there were lots and lots and lots of circuits and landings that were so bad I’m sure flying instructors are a little bit broken putting up with them. There was also a bout of covid and the worst winter weather we’ve had in a decade or more so the airfield was closed for six months literally the week before I was meant to do this:
And now my tie’s on the wall ๐
There’s a lot more training to do before the licence, mind you. Many more circuits, nav work, cross-country flying, then a skills test. Not sure if it can all fit into this year given how weather-dependent everything is. But it’s fun!
congratulations
Thanks!
Mark,
Congrats, big first step and I expect one you will remember no matter how far your aviation career takes you. I had to find my first logbook and look up mine. July 2nd, 1964 Houston local in a Piper PA-22 (108 hp Piper Colt) for 0.55 hours. I quit logging a number of years before I hung up the helmet and goggles but the last entry was on 01/22/2007 in a Gulfstream GIV for 5.8 hours, KJFK to KMMV (McMinnville,OR) which took me to a little over 20,000 hours PIC. BTW, I still remember the first solo like yesterday, Pasadena, TX airport on a beautiful summer day, three circuits around the patch with each landing and takeoff just a little better than the one before and lost the tail of my shirt once we parked back at Houston Hobby.
Good memories,
ken
PS my first lesion was in 1958 but it took me until 1964 to solo because my mother found out I was flying and offered to buy me a new 1959 MG A if I would quit, which I did until out of HS and moved to Houston for school.
lol Ken, that’s a far more fun reason for a delay than bad weather on a grass runway ๐
I think jets might be out of the picture, but there’s a few things I’d like to give a go – one of my instructors keeps threatening to take me up flying aeros in a slingsby, and there’s a few Cubs around the place over here, those might be fun ๐
Congratulations Mark, that’s a fantastic achievement – Gary