I had another solo scheduled today, but started thinking about the state of my training. In short, I just don’t feel like I’m being given the support I need to complete my training at a pace I feel comfortable with. In other words, Richard is too busy to answer questions on the phone when I have just one or two, and would rather answer them during a ground school session ($30/hour) instead.

So it got me thinking about what I might do. It then occurred to me that given my current time situation (more busy during the week) and the fact that daylight savings time is here, Kent was now a possibility again. I never had a problem with Kent’s instruction in the first place – it was mainly about the fact that he couldn’t do it during the week. I gave him a call and asked if he wanted to fly with me to check my progress. I had the plane scheduled at 5:00, but he couldn’t make it until 6:00, so I figured I go do some solo work anyway.

Pretty routine by myself – with one exception. On my first trip around the pattern, I was told to follow a Cherokee TURNING final while I was just about to turn base. I looked for him, and saw him ON final, no factor for me at all. I gave him a little extra room, and then turned base. Getting set up for landing, I noticed something strange – another Cherokee about 1 mile in front of me and 300 feet below me! It was a DIFFERENT plane! Just as I got ready to go around, the tower told me to turn left back to the downwind for separation. She may have thought it was her fault, but I’m sure it was mine. Threw off my landing too – had to go around anyway when I found myself 300′ above the threshold.

Came back and got Kent. We flew out to the practice area, did some stalls, slow flight, tracking a VOR, emergency procedures, steep turns, etc. Came back and did a few landings, including a long landing to finish up. This was quite fun. The trick is to come in over the numbers at about 100 knots, round out, bleed off speed until you get to 85 knots, and throw in full flaps. You really have to hold the nose down, but then the plane just settles on the runway, and you save yourself all that taxiing. Cool!

Afterwards we talked, and Kent assigned me a cross country to plan. Gave me all the numbers, and said to call with questions. Much better. Richard is a great instructor, and did a fabulous job of getting me to solo, but it’s time to move on.

1.7 / 39.5 / 3.0

Today was my first unsupervised solo. I just scheduled the plane, went to the airport, and flew. The weather was looking like it might not cooperate – low ceiling in the morning, high winds at noon. By 3:00pm it was all in order, and so I went. Pretty basic, really. Just touch and goes (4) and one go around. The wind was real variable, so it kept things interesting. The cool thing was being all alone. I did everything the same, just a little more careful.

1.0/37.8/2.3 – that’s Today/Total/Solo

Weather this morning was dismal – 800 foot ceilings – so I figured the last supervised solo would have to wait. Turns out Richard’s schedule was wide open, so if it cleared we could go. By noon it was marginal (according to his minimums for my soloing), but we decided to meet at 1:30. It was just at his minimums (5 miles visibility, 3000 ft ceilings, wind 12 knots or less) so we went. Same as yesterday – 3 touch and goes, full stop, kick him out. Then two touch and goes and a full stop by myself. Today everything worked great. The approaches were all stabilized, the landings smooth. I felt so comfortable up there, I could have flown all day.

When we were done, Richard signed me off to do solos whenever I want, but he still wants to assign exactly WHAT I’ll be doing. Still in the pattern at the moment, but soon he’ll clear me out to the practice area for maneuvers. We also talked a bit more about the planning for my first cross country (to Big Bear) and doing some night flying next week.

This is really the major milestone of learning to fly. Not that the rest – navigation, planning, performance – are unimportant. It’s just that the hardest part – learning to fly the plane – is mostly done.

1.2 hours/36.8 total/.4 solo/1.3 total solo

Richard’s training syllabus calls for 3 supervised solos on 3 different days before allowing me out on my own. Since Richard NEVER deviates from his syllabus, that is what we are doing. The reason for 3 different days is to solo in different conditions. It was different today, alright. Wind at 140@12, just left of the runway.

We did the requisite 4 touch and goes and then a full stop, and out he went. It was getting windier as the day wore on, so I was being extra careful. I was much calmer today, which was good considering the increased difficulty of the landings. First one was OK, a tad harder than I wanted, but not bad. The next one was just plain UGLY. Arguably the worst landing I’ve ever done. It really should have been a go around. I bounced it not once, but THREE times, and by the time is was down, the nose was pointed well left – heading towards the grass. I got it back in time, but it still scared me. Last time around was for a full stop, following another Cessna. This guy apparently just shut off his radio after he was cleared to land, because that was the last anyone heard from him until he contacted ground. He was slow getting off the runway, so the tower told me to “be prepared to go around”. I was prepared all right – so prepared that I wasn’t even ready to land. Turns out he got off the runway just in time, but I was too high. I tried to get it down, and about 15 feet over the runway, a little voice said “Don’t be stupid – just go around”. So I did. Last landing was another bouncer, but not bad considering the wind.

Overall a very good experience, and a real confidence builder. One more supervised solo, and I can venture out on my own.

1.4 hours/35.6 total/.5 solo/.9 total solo

Finally – the day every student thinks may NEVER come! I was pretty sure today would be it – weather was perfect – but you never know until your CFI gives you the go ahead.

Pre-flighting the plane I realized that it hadn’t been fueled since the last flight. Luckily a truck came by, I flagged him down and had him top it off. Everything else was fine, and off we went. Richard wanted to do 4 touch and goes and a full stop, then we’d see about me going solo. The first three ended up being go-arounds – just nerves I guess. I pulled it together after that, and made some nice landings. We taxied over to the “CFI bench” (a luxurious yellow bus bench for CFI’s to watch their students solo) and Richard signed all my paperwork and hopped out. He asked for 2 touch and goes and then a full stop – and don’t forget to pick him up. He shut the door and I was ALONE. Egads.

Taxied to the hold line, keyed up the mike and said “Van Nuys tower, Cessna 2257 Echo holding short of 16 L, ready to go, stay in the pattern for my first solo flight”. They cleared me immediately. I pulled into position, took a deep breath, and pushed the throttle in. Before I even hit the numbers the plane was airborne! Everything was routine – just the way I wanted it. Reported downwind, before landing checklist, start descending. On final everything looked great, and made a nice touchdown. Back up and around, then a full stop for my third. Taxied back to the bench, Richard hopped in, shook my hand and congratulated me.

So much work to get to this point, and so worth it. Now if I can just get this stupid smile off my face….

1.5 hours/34.2 total/.4 solo! Yee haw!

Today I had my pre-solo phase check with another CFI from the flight school – E.J. Fine. A very nice guy whom I’ve seen around but never actually met until today.

He showed up exactly on time, and we went right to work. He started by asking questions about the airspace in the Los Angeles area, procedures, charts, etc. Then some general questions about departing the area, and off we went. He watched me preflight, and offered up a few tips along the way, but nothing major.

I mentioned that Richard usually has me get a departure clearance to go to the practice area. He thought this was strange, but told me to go ahead. I did my run up with only a few questions along the way, and then we headed out. Once we were headed towards the practice area, he asked me to take him direct to a VOR. I told him I could do it, but that I hadn’t before, and would need the frequency. He said “Where’s your chart?”. It was in my bag. I rooted around and found it, but still couldn’t locate the VOR. He showed me where it was, and I got the frequency and tuned it in. Tracking to the VOR is no problem from there – just find out what radial you are on currently, and fly that heading. Once you get to that heading, fine tune the OBS to go straight in. I think he did this mostly to be sure I would keep flying the airplane and not get flustered.

Once at the practice area, he asked for 45 degree steep turns both ways. The chop was making it difficult, but I did a fair job of it. Next he asked me to do a departure stall. Luckily I had reviewed the procedures the night before (since I hadn’t done them in a while) and was ready. The stall broke a bit hard, and I was uncoordinated, so it started to break into a spin. No problem (thanks to spin training) – just apply opposite rudder, and all set. Next was a approach to landing stall – no problem. Then he told me to get the ATIS for Van Nuys. Thinking we were going back (which seemed very early) I started tuning it in, just as he pulled the power. I waited for him to say something like “You’ve just lost your engine”, which was a mistake. I should have assumed that was the case, and started the procedure. I trimmed for best glide, and started a gentle left turn to find a place. I took too much time looking, but finally found a place when we were about 2000′ AGL. I then started to circle around to land, but circled AWAY from the spot. He told me never to lose sight of the landing area – you may not be able to find it again. I continued circling for a while, and then he had me recover.

We were going to head back to Van Nuys for some landings, but with only one runway still in operation, it was way too busy. He told me to take him to Camarillo. No sweat – I already had the airport in sight. Just as I was about to call them up with my position, I realized I was looking at Pt. Mugu – not Camarillo. I adjusted, called in, and set up for the downwind. At that point E.J. said “You’re a bit high, aren’t you?”. Yeah – a bit. Like 2000′ too high. I put it in a left slip and lost it quickly enough to be at pattern altitude abeam the tower. The wind was across the runway at 15 knots, so this would be tricky. The first one I bounced, but recovered nicely. As we came in for the second one (a bit faster, and less flaps) he said “right rudder, left wing down” just as we crossed the edge of the runway. I did as I was told and made a great landing.

We headed back home uneventfully, made another good landing and taxied back to debrief. Overall he thinks I’m more than ready for solo, and characterized his criticisms of my flying as “nitpicking”. I should be flying alone at some point Monday morning. Wow – I can hardly believe it.

1.5 hours/32.7 total

Ground school was all that was scheduled for today – to go over some weight and balance problems, performance problems, and to do some final review for my phase check on Friday. Turns out this took all of 20 minutes. When Richard said “So, do you want to go fly around a little?” – what was I supposed to say? No? Impossible. I checked to be sure the plane was available, and off we went.

Van Nuys has two parallel runways – but the short one (if you can call 4000′ short) that we normally use for touch and goes is closed until Friday. The result – the place was loaded with traffic. The tower eventually ended up not authorizing any touch and goes due to traffic. We decided to head over to Santa Monica (SMO) to see how it was over there. The wind and ceiling were great, but it was hazy – maybe 5 miles visibility. I had a hard time even FINDING the airport once we were over the hill. I was cleared to land about five miles out, and suggested to Richard that as long as we were there, and it was lunchtime – maybe we should eat. He agreed. It might have been a nice lunch, except I came in WAY too high, and had to do a go around. Once we were off the south end of the runway, we noticed a cloud layer moving in rapidly. Good thing we didn’t stop for lunch – we might not have been able to leave – at least not VFR, anyway!

We headed back to Van Nuys and were cleared on the downwind as number 5. The place was a zoo. Lousy landing, but safe. Oh well – any flying is better than no flying.

1.0 hours/31.2 total

Today was just one last run around the pattern before my pre-solo phase check with another CFI (his name is EJ) on Friday. The weather was marginal, but fine for pattern work. I really concentrated on doing everything perfect, and things went just fine. The bottom line is this – the chances of everything working out “perfect” are pretty slim. Wind, traffic, etc are variable, and so are the approaches and landings.

We finished up by reviewing the pre-solo exam given by AV8. Tomorrow we’ll just go over the aircraft information (weight and balance, engine, electrical, etc.) and that will be it. I got my medical yesterday (yipee!) so after the phase check on Friday, I’ve scheduled Monday 7-9am for my solo. FINALLY!

1.0 hours/30.2 total

The weather was very marginal today, so we decided to just work on polishing my landings. Sounded great to me – they are the hardest thing to do if you ask me.

Very focused today. Besides being a bit long (maybe 200 feet past the numbers), my first landing was PERFECT. RIGHT on the centerline, BARELY able to feel the tires hit! So nice. 4 or 5 more like that, working on being closer to the numbers, and ALL of them were 8′s or better! Some clouds started accumulating at about 1000 feet, so we decided to head in and do some ground school to prepare for my solo. We went over my checklists (to be sure I understood WHY I did everything on them), then through Richard’s stall/spin test, and then through the pre-solo test given by the FBO (AV8, Inc.) where we debrief. Very educational. Another flight scheduled for tomorrow to polish a bit more, then a pre-solo phase check with a different CFI on Friday! Monday I should solo!

1.0 hours/29.2 total

The weather was forecast as rain and low clouds in the morning, and was COMPLETELY wrong. Clear skies, but very windy. No problem – I need the crosswind practice anyway.

We got a clearance out to Camarillo airport (CMA) for today, and actually got to fly there. CMA was reporting calm winds, with Van Nuys at 11 knots gusting to 17. We took off and bumped around until we were over Simi Valley, where things calmed down. Nice cruise into Camarillo, good landing, taxied around to see the whole place, and then back in the pattern for some touch and goes. Great landings today. Then it was back to Van Nuys in the wind – now 20 gusting to 25 – one touch and go for crosswind practice, and back home.

Good news this week – the FAA sent my medical on Thursday! I told Richard, and we scheduled two flights for next week, one with ground school to go over some other pre-solo tests he gave me. We then scheduled a pre-solo phase check with another CFI on Friday. If all goes well (and I’m sure it will), I’ll solo on Monday! Woo hoo!

1.9 hours/28.2 total