Well, after my last post, I'm pleased to say that my lesson today banished my angst and that I have now completed my first solo with my dignity intact and the aircraft still usable
However there was one minor excitement - an incident with a learning point for us all I think (see below). Sorry for the very long post that follows, but after a 1st solo ...
Penguina, I read your advice after the lesson, but I think you make a very good point. I was nervous about my expected solo, whereas today I felt really relaxed and had no particular expectations - much better.
Apriana, my instructor made exactly the same comment, 'what the hell was that', after one of my botched landing attempts several lessons ago. A short reminder of how important it is to remain calm and in control I think!
And Mazzy, thanks for your kind words as well.
So, what about the lesson and that learning point?
Well, after thoroughly checking the aircraft (I'm a stickler for this) and noting a slightly low oil level (my instructor promptly filled it), I managed a perfect readback on the taxi clearance and off to the hold. Power checks and pre-take off fine, followed by a nice relaxed take-off (thanks again for that earlier advice c-bert). Up to 1000' and into what my instructor had previously described as 'wispy cloud'. Could I see where I was? Only intermittently. Now, some people have suggested earlier on this forum that flight sim can be a bad thing for student pilots (which is true), but put a student with loads of sim exerience into cloud and I recon they worry about it a lot less. My only concern was getting lost. Flying the aircraft without an external horizon etc. holds few fears (although I haven't experienced turb in cloud yet!). Anyway, we ultimately elected to fly the circuit at 900' (which gives us only 100' separation from the helicopters and so requires constant vigilance) with far better vis. 3 touch-and-goes all great. Nice stable approaches. On the 4th, my ever kind instructor pulled the throttle, just to check I had remembered that SEP aircraft go downwards when the engine cuts. Then he suggested we do a couple of full stop landings. Back into the hold (power check area) and (I suppose I was expecting this really) he then asked if I thought I could take it around myself. What do you say in reply to a question like that? I decided to take my chance, before I regressed again!
So, there I am, sat in the LHS on my own. Yes, I know it's been said before, but it's an odd feeling (a friend of mine who is now an A320 captain told me recently that she burst into tears when her instructor offered her first solo!). I wasn't about to cry, but I was determine to do things right and make a safe return to Earth. I ran through the pre-take off checks twice, checked the mags (just for good measure) and called 'ready'. With an immediate take-off clearance I had little more to do than a quick check up the approach path, line up and start rolling. Again, I know it's been said before, but the Warrior feels like a jet fighter unsticking when you haven't got a nice heavy instructor sat next to you. I was expecting it, but it still surprised me how sprightly this aircraft could be. Up to 900' in no time and I was pleased to discover that I still knew where I was in the circuit! As some suggested before on this forum, having a quick sing-song to myself helped me to stay relaxed, completed the downwind checks in good time (I kept carb heat on for longer than I do with my instructor present) and called downwind. There was one ahead of me turning base, so I slowed a little to give him time for whatever (we have to backtrack after landing on the hard runway at Wycombe during the winter). All still quite relaxed. He then said he was on final for a touch-and-go, so I put the speed back on again and prepared to turn base. The plane in front was on final but he was going to do a touch-and-go so no problem.
Now here's the thing. The plane in front did become a problem (well a potential one anyway). His instructor reported that they had landed and that their engine had stopped. The no.1 was now blocking the runway. I stayed relaxed, monitored the situation and thought through the go-around that might be necessary. I heard the tower tell the disabled aircraft that if they managed to get restarted they could move onto the grass to let me (on first solo) land. I was down to about 400' on final they did just that (pity really, I was enjoying myself!).
I landed, slightly fast, but comfortably with no balloon or bounce, with clearance to backtrack and a nice compliment from the tower, not to mention a very big grin! Taxied back to the apron and managed to park the thing without hitting anything (parking it alone, for me, feels more unnerving than going solo!).
My instructor came out and, as we walked back to the clubhouse, we had a chat with the instructor in the plane that had suffered the engine failure. They concluded that the cause had been carb-ice. The instructor also explained that they had ballooned and had just been about to open the throttle to go-around when the engine cut - so committed to land anyway!
Made me think:
1. I'm glad I took more hours rather than less to go solo - my confidence in the circuit, experience of monitoring the radio and of many go-arounds (as a result of my numerous botched attempts during previous lessons) meant I wasn't panicking about the unfolding events, just monitoring and planning my next actions depending on how things played out. It's taken me a total of 19 hours, but I just wouldn't have wanted to be there 4 or 5 hours ago.
2. Maybe we should use carb-ice more. I have always tended to keep carb-heat on for longer than typically taught (especially on final) for two reasons. First, when you think about how long it takes to melt a block of ice with a hair drier, the 10 seconds of carb-heat many instructors encourage is almost certainly inadequate and, secondly, there are a load of factories under the approach to our runway 24 and I'm not planning on landing on them any day soon.
So, thanks to everyone for their support up to now. Can't wait for the coming lessons and all that solo consolidation, but not in the wind howling around my house right now!
HH