First SOLO!!

[Aerofoil]

Hi all

Im just posting to let you all know that i went solo for the first time today!!
It was at Liverpool earlier today and im still buzzing!

It all went smoothly without any major hitches (apart from not reading back QFE setting) but i think with more confidence and experience it will run even smoother!

I was wondering how everyone elses first solos went? Any stories to tell??

Well il leave you now with a BIG smile on my face until next time!

Cheers

Dave :ok: :cool: :ok: :E :E

[muppethead]

Dave,

Well done, now the learning really starts!!!
You learn by your mistakes and will seldom have a perfect flight.

Was a bit un-nerving when I looked to the right hand seat and saw no one there!!!!:uhoh: :uhoh:

Takes a few days to get that smile off your face.:D

Good luck with the rest of your course,

Mupp..

[duir]

Well done mate, a huge achievement

On my first solo the instructor casually said "wanna go solo?"
after a few half decent circuits and 10 hrs ish in the log book.
I said "YES PLEASE!" but I havn't paid my full club membership fees yet. Reply.......pay if you make it back and with that he wandered off to the sidelines to watch.
Was tiny bit strange and adrenaline was flowing during engine checks but once cleared for takeoff was all routine. Bloody Tomahawk went up like a rocket and I thought I was doing something wrong but quickly realised that without a second bod it climbs much faster. Half decent landing and a pat on the back from ATC.

Well done again

[FlyUK]

When i did my first solo the circuit was reasonably busy which made it......well, interesting. Then on downwind the controller said that i was number 2 behind a gulfstream 5 on long final, caution vortex wake turbulance'!!! That was an experiance.

Well done....The smile lasts forever.:D

[YYZ]

Great achievement Dave, It gets even better.

My first solo was at an international airport and ATC let me push in front of two other light aircraft that had been waiting a while, they didn’t seem to mind as they new it was my first solo, all went well and as Duir said it climbed like hell due to the weight factor & then I slotted between two heavy’s,one near touchdown the other on a long final (or thereabouts), that was the first time I felt it was really coming together, on landing a well done from the tower was gratefully received.

Got my PPL now & I still love it! My old instructor reads these forums & I know ive thanked him before but again… Cheers

[Suggs]

Just about to rotate when ATC said "G **YT clear for take -off!!!"

What a great day.

Still making silly mistakes 7 years and 2500 hrs later

[yeboin]

My first solo,

Base leg, everything great, Leonardo De Caprio 'I'm king of the world moment' and......


ATC: G-** there's an Embraer departing ahead of you, make long directional turn final RWY**

ME: .........................(eh?)................

ATC: (realises i havenee got a clue) G-** turn final RWY** expect late landing clearance.

ME: er.......(brain stalls), ....clear land RWY** G-**

ATC: (audibly wetting his pants wih laughter) G-** negative, continue approach, I WILL CLEAR YOU SHORTLY.

Anyway I brought the aircraft back in one piece!


Well done Dave, I'll never forget how it felt. Good luck with the est of the course!

:ok:

[wbryce]

yeboin, id probably have said the same in your situation lol "Eh??" hehe, class.

[G-ALAN]

Aerofoil congrats! I went first solo in a busy circut. I was too busy concentrating on not hitting the chopper infront to really enjoy it much. First solo cross county is the best though! :D I remeber the vis was about 6km and getting lost. I was zig zagging around trying to find a landmark so I would know where I was, ATC obviously noticed this rather erratic flying on radar:
ATC: G-**OF exactly what route are you taking back to **?
ME: Errr I don't know, I think I'm lost :O
ATC: G-**OF would you like a vector?
ME: Yes please, request a vector back to **
ATC: G-**OF Fly heading *** and report when over **
They were very understanding and helpful to a stupid fool with poor RT and needless to say I made it back safe and sound. :O

[Mass Times Velocity]

Well done Aerofoil,
enjoy it to the full, it's a defining moment that will remain with you for a long time.

Wouldn't be too worried about not reading back QFE, if you'd taken off on QFE then the alti would have been reading 0ft on the runway and the odds of a wx change severe enough to raise or lower the baro pressure in the time it takes to do a circuit is slim to say the least (unless it's a 100nm downwind leg!!!) so you'd have been touching down with the alti reading 0ft still.

Once again well done:O

[Slow-Rider]

Well done!! First solo is always memorable!! :ok:
Most peole's first solos always seem to have some sort of glitch.

One of the funniest i've seen is a UAS stude's first solo at an unfamiliar airfield. (that's his excuse anyway!)

Take-off was good, turned downwind (millitary cct) seemed fine. Kept going. Seemed to be going a bit too far downwind and was drifting beyond the extended centreline.

Then he turned finals and was about 1/2 mile wide of the centre line to the deadside when he rolled out on runway heading.

I didn't know people could get lost in the cct!

Unfortunately for him it was all caught on the squadron camera!! :mad:

[Crepello]

Yup, remember mine vividly. Dropped off my instructor, carefully went through the checklist, couldn't coax the engine back into life. On the third checklist runthrough, noted that the mix was still fully lean :uhoh: :\ :oh: After that, t'was all plain sailing.

Congrats Dave - smooth skies.

[White Knight]

Very well done.

My first solo in 1988 - I have to say that many years and hours later I still haven't got a clue what ATC are saying half the time:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Good luck in your future aviating:ok:

[first_solo]

Congratulations with achieving my name....!!!

:ok:

[AiR-SuP3r|oRiTy]

I remembered I cut a grob on upwind onmy first circuit solo. I thought he was going out of the CTS as he was already way pass 500' agl. So I turned left. oopz... nxt thing i knew was tht the grob was beside me. But ATC was kind enuff to explain tht i was on first solo...

[Stinger_Aviator]

Well...i'm only 17 and in a few weeks I'll be 18 and have GFPT under my belt ready to go to uni to get my CPL and frozen ATPL. Anyway my first solo was at a very quiet camden aerodrome on a late tuesday afternoon. The tower was still operating and my instructor had just gotten out of the plane. Everything had gone smoothly until i got airborne. I got a little nervous about the landing and so i started to sing John Farnham's That's Freedom. When I landed the tower congratulated me and then told me "that really IS freedom". Apparantly I left my finger down on the radio so the whole of camden could hear. My instructor was on the ground next to the taxiway laughing his head off...oh well..at least it got me through and I brought the tomy back safely. :O :D

[BUZZBY]

Well done Aerofoil,

Me, well, my first solo was quite uneventful although I did taxi to the holding point without getting clearance first !
My second the next day was a different matter. Had been up with the instructor for a few PFL's etc. with borderline visibilty and was so keen to get back up there I twisted his arm to let me (only for one circuit though).
Took off no problem,levelled off to 1k' and thats when the trouble started. Wind direction changed so ATC requested that I use 05 instead of 23. Kindly stated that this was only my second solo and that I wasn't too familiar with all the turning points. Given the ok to continue with 23 circuit but would I mind orbitting for the Beluga ( Airbus transporter - I fly out of Hawarden EGNR).
Any way after endless orbits I was given clearance to continue downwind. This would have been ok had the wind change not have blown every type of cloud my way - now I was starting to sweat :{
I couldn't even see the airfield let alone my turning point so got ATC to give me a vector - they mentioned something about sqauwking ****. Eh ?
When I eventually got to turn base I had the strange inclination to put down full flap
:ugh: :ugh:
Having sorted that minor problem and now being able to see terra firma I coasted in for what seemed like the perfect landing - was I about to redeem myself - no such luck - Tigger can't bounce that high. !%$* this I said this plane ain't going back up -dare I admit it - check forward and were down, just !!!!
If it weren't for another plane following me in I'd have got out of the plane and kissed the tarmac:(

Once again, well done mate and sorry if Ive sent anyone to sleep!

[Redwings]

Congrats on the first solo mate! I did my first solo two weeks ago , and the smile is still on my face! My first wasn't all that eventful at a surprisingly quiet Bankstown Airport. The cloud and visibility was good enough for me to go solo, but I got a bit of verga whilst turning onto base. I was on such a high that I did my other three solos that same day, much to the surprise to my classmates!:D It's quite a rush and I would do it again in a heartbeat! The next step for me: the GFPT in two weeks.