Solo for now

My solo flight went like I thought it would, which I know sounds extremely uninteresting because most blog posts' are supposed to be all "AHAJJSGKHSKFHWEKHFE I SOLOED AHHAHA IM FLIPPIN OUT RIGHT NOW MAN" but in reality I was totally ready and knew it was going to happen today.

I started the day dropping off my sister and cousin (cousin lives in the same neighborhood!) at college for their rock climbing class. I then hit the gym for leg day, because I need those endorphins for tonight's solo man!!

I was nervous but trying to be totally cool "ehh Abbie you've been flying for only 40,000 hours, what do you mean..? nervous? nah, not even a little." I was so full of calm and confidence last weekends lessons. Maybe something to do with how I flew in a sequence of Thursday, Friday, Sat night. No days off. The muscle memory is very clear. So we hop in the plane after I pre-flight and ready my gopro and headset and clipboard.

But guess what.

The crosswind is too much. Not too much to fly, no, we fly anyway. But wow I'm fighting the plane the whole time, on every Base and Approach/Final the plane is tossing me like a toy and I do not like it at all. How annoying to have a cute final, looking all perfect, and then the wind ruins all your dreams. Man, the wind never has felt like my friend, always blowing my hair into my chapstick, but now I'm really riding a roller coaster physically and emotionally because I WANTED TO SOLO TODAY. But that's the lovely thing about nature, and the nature of aviation, the weather changes things! BUT HEY THIS WAS THURSDAY. That's right, I knew I wanted and was going to solo Thursday, but it didn't happen until Saturday because crosswind! Welcome to the Northwest, Portland where I live definitely has wind :)

So Saturday, May 5th 2018, I KNOW I'M GOING TO SOLO OR DIE TRYING.

(hm. interestingly enough, normally that statement sounds very bravado and macho. in this context however, I do think it doesn't work too well. opps. should have thought that one out).

Saturday I wake up at 6:30 and see the overcast sky. Not perfect weather for flying, visibility low, but perfect for a student just trying to solo in the pattern. I bravely stab my eyeballs with my ice cold hands (put in my contacts) and don't bother brushing my tangle of a head, just throw it in a bun. I actually end up getting to the hangar only about 30 mins early, Steve comes shortly after but I don't stress because he's taking enough stress for both of us and I feel incredibly calm because I decided to sleep in and be well rested this morning instead of killing myself trying to make it to the hangar an hour before Steve.

I pre-flight, we're almost full fuel, I take off pitot cover etc. I set up my headset and gopro, not going slowly, but not rushing either. Just going at a nice steady pace. Steve asks' for my logbook, he has already signed his initials and everything on Thursday when we thought I was going to solo, so I know today's the deal because that can only mean he's now signing the date. I mean, there is such a thing as White-Out, but let's pretend there isn't because it makes all of this more suspenseful. I feel I owe you guys some "coming of age solo flight story disaster" but truthfully nothing happened out of the ordinary. I do 3 Touch and Go landings, Steve is tight lipped the whole time. Not out of anger of fear, he compliments my nose wheel being properly up and my greased landing (the 2nd one was). But he's very nervous, and I know what's coming. My 3rd landing he instructs me to let tower know that it'll be a full stop. A tingle runs down my spine SAYONARA STEVE this is it!! I calmly taxi, do a 180 degree turn in a off corner near our hangar like Steve tells me too, and he hops out while to engine thrums on.

Steve turns to me "Abbie, I want you to make 3 full landings, stay safe, your logbook is all filled out already. I'll see you back at the hangar!" he grins all cheery tally ho, unbuckles himself, and steps out of the cockpit. But I know he's extremely nervous in the way he tightened his lips all throughout my 3 landings and is walking so stiffly to the hangar to wait for me against this truck. I happily adjust the gopro and take some deep breaths. I say a prayer as Steve is walking away, and before I call Ground to taxi back out to runway 25.

After a short 1 min prayer, I contact Ground. They clear me, I start rolling along. This time is slightly different.

I'm alone.

Like my last blog post, I'm used to this. The plane feels pleasantly lighter now that Steve's gone, even if he doesn't weigh much there's still a difference. This is something I was expecting, Steve also told me the plane will climb faster and do everything else quicker by a small degree with his weight gone. His words: "that 172 will want to climb like a homesick angel" which really made me laugh.

"Abbie LET'S FLY BABY GIRL" I try to hype myself up but also stay super calm, because an accident is not welcome now or ever. Not on solo day, not on any day. I gently talk to myself out loud and to the plane (this is the biggest tip that has helped me be calm when doing touch and gos and other maneuvers, it really works try it!!) "ok, we're going to apply a little throttle power because I need to taxi to run up. Now, I've done run up a thousand (well actually only about 4) times with Steve, so get to it girl. opps, a Cessna from the flight school across is waiting behind me, but it's alright, it's ok babe, they're most likely new and nervous too."

I finish my run up and get ready to calmly enter the runway to TAKE OFF ALL BY MYSELF.

And everything goes great, praise God. The sky is still overcast, no wild west breaking sunset or sun rise or anything except overcast heavy clouds, but that's the Portland I know and (sometimes) love. My first and 2nd landings are the best, I thought they were pretty greasy but Steve later tells me I'm still landing flat so definitely need to work on that! I get all the footage on my gopro, video coming soon, including the 14-some minutes I waited Holding Short with all the other students from China and from my work/flight school FBO! I was getting so antsy, but Steve pointed out later that I was getting those extra 14 mins of PIC time, even though I wasn't flying so hey I wasted some gas but I got PIC time :) (Pilot In Command, my first!!) My first PIC Pilot In Command time ends up being .6, I was with Steve .6 too. Here's some pics and a video Steve took of my last landing!

So the total of my flight lesson is 1.2 hours and Steve congratulates me by speaking my language: coffee.

He buys me a 16 oz soy espresso and gets an iced chocolate coffee himself, I enjoy my first coffee in awhile sitting outside in the warm breeze as the sun finally peeps out. We talk and laugh about flat landings, tight grips on the yoke, all my past mistakes. It feels good to have him congratulate me and hear him say "well, no cons today, there's just a lot you did right. " Cherish that people, that is not something you hear everyday and most CERTAINLY not from your CFI :)

What a good day.

It continues to get better actually, as I get to go to the Portland Saturday Market for the first time, meet my best friend who's finally done with uni for the year and her new boyfriend, longboard for the first time downtown (really fun), say bye to bf and her bf, longboard more to my sister's art show in upper downtown Portland, then hitch a ride with my parents who came to the show to my cousins' party. I come home after a full day and feel like it's Summer. That's the best feeling.