My first solo was completely unexpected, as my FI was restricted and was unable to send me on my first solo.
My regular instructor was off, and I was flying with a new FI I’d never met before. I had assumed, wrongly that only your regular instructor would be able to send you off, a point reinforced as I was booked in to fly with the CFI later in the week to assess if I were ready. So without feeling any pressure, I relaxed and off we went. 40 minutes and 5 circuits later I thought we were finished up for the day. Taxied back to the ramp, and to my astonishment, instead of going through the shutdown checks my instructor said “well you don’t need me anymore” promptly informed ATC then cheerfully hopped out and left me to it. I watched him walk away, and he never looked back.
I made my only mistake a minute or so later when I forgot to use the ‘student’ callsign when calling for Taxi. ATC made me aware of this, and I sheepishly ensured to use it for all of my calls.
Power checks were fine, although extra looks at the windsock verified conditions had not changed much so off I went. Before taking off another great discovery was how cool it was being able to chuck my charts and checklists on the empty right seat.When the wheels lifted off the ground, that is when it hit me. I am flying an aircraft, and I am on my bloody own! Nobody to help me now...after passing 300 feet, all the thoughts and apprehension stopped as some internal autopilot took over. Flaps up, and I went straight into the routine of the circuit doing everything as I had been taught to and that was that.
The landing was fine, and needless to say that I was very pleased with myself
Now I am older and wiser I am positive that I bored my friends and colleagues with endless details of the flight!
As other posters have commented, I too was amazed to see how quickly the aircraft climbed when I was on my own!