ELDERLY GENTS FIRST SOLO CIRCA 1957
My first solo circa 1957, and it went like this.......
I guess I will have to get permission to backtrack the runway to arrive at the year c 1957 as that was the time I did my first solo. There was another one in 1974 but that is another story.
As the song says ''Ah yes, I remember it well''. Indeed I do as it was very hot day. No cloud to speak of and no wind either.
The CFI said that he had phoned the tower and I was now cleared to do a circuit on my own. Did the heart beat a trifle faste? Yes it did.
The plane was still in the hangar, and as it was a J4 and a tail dragger you just lifted the tail and walked it out in reverse.
This done there was the usual walk round and then into the cockpit. The mechanic stood looking at me . I raised at humb and then the procedure began, I hold the stick well back, so the prop wash will hold the tail down.
Fuel on. With the tank in the wing above it was just a gravity feed so no pump.
Switches off he said. OK that's done, so I repeat it back
Prime.... couple of pushes does that.
He then turns the prop over two turns.
Look around. Contact he calls. Mags on and shout contact myself.
He heaves the prop. Nothing happens. Switch off.
Then through the process again. This time it fires up and idles. The oil pressure rises and the prop wash blows trough the venturi tube just outside on the fuselage. The A H levels out.
So what's next. The mantra then was Tommy Tickled May For Four Glorious Hours.
Trim neutral, Throttle tight, Mags, check both at 1700 rpm, Fuel on and sufficient, Flaps not required so closed, Gyros and guages. AH OK Oil pressure OK. .Hatches and harness OK as well. chedck compass to gyro.
Ready to go. The watching CFI gives me a thumbs up and walks off. No, there is no radio, so I trundle off to the holding point. I then made sure that the altimeter was set to zero, so it would read that on touch down. QFE is all well and good, but I am taking no chnces. In those far off days you waited unti you got a green aldis flash from the tower.
There it was, runway clear, so don't hang about, just get on with it. Line up. stick still welll back. full throttle and off she goes. Speed buids and I ease the stick forward, Now shes level, and takes off without me doing a thing to help. She just did it. Now I see a positive rate of climb and keep straight ahead until we are at 800 feeet. Nice. Now a gentle turn to the left onto the cross wind bit. Turn again onto the downwind and rest for a minute. Yes the runway is right there.
The next mantra was BUMPFH Brakes off, Undercart welded down, Mixture rich, Pitch fixed on this plane, flaps not yet, Gyros and guages all OK.
I am going to extend the downwind a bit so that I have a lot of time to get the approach right. Now I am looking at the tower and wait for the green aldis to tell me that I am OK to land. Ah, there it is. Well past the runway so turn onto base, and easeback on the poewr ,trim again, and start to lose a bit of altitude.
Turn onto final after a good look right to check that nothing is there, then set up the descent. This is looking good. Flaps down 20 degrees. Down we go. 700, 600. and so on. There is the threshold, down to 100 then it stopped. Crap, add flap, power right off....... Then I realised just what was happening. That hot day had heated the concrete runway so much that it was a thermal and the J4 was just floating along. Now I am half way along the runway, so go around... now. Power full on, flaps up and climb out.
So how am I going to get this thing back on the ground.
OK, get her low down away from the runway and power her in. Seems lgoical, but the risk there is that I will be on the back of the drag curve.
Round I go and get the green again. Clear to land, so extend the downwind again, and this tme drop down to 500 feet on base leg, turn in and full flap, power back and let her sink. 100 feet and add power, Now we are really slow, add power a bit and we cross the threshold. Power right off. nose a bit down this time, The runway comes up, flare and the stalll warning bleas, Hold it, nose up a touch more and down she goes with the stall warning still bleating.
As it turned out I had just pulled off a perfect three point landing. Flaps up, stick well back and taxi back to the flight line.
Shut down checks complete and switch off. I see the CFI walking towards me. Now what is he going to sayI wonder.
Nothing as it turned out, He just shook my hand and with a lifted eyebrow and a sardonic grin he walked away.
Later when he was signing my log book, I have a vague memory of us discussing it is some detail, but they do say that every landing you walk away from is a good one.
I learned a lot about flying that day, but it is the first in a line of adventures that I hope to relate in the comingg weeks and months.
The photo was taken by the CFI as I recall.