First Solo-Sweet old memories...

[Chairboy]

EDIT: much better writeup from an old thread:
http://hitechcreations.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=137473&perpage=40&highlight=solo&pagenumber=5

Took off this afternoon, and did two touch & goes, then my instructor told me to do a full stop. So I land and he tells me to taxi over to a hangar by their office. He tells me I'm gonna solo! He runs over to grab the handheld scanner so he can listen to me, and I get clearance and taxi.

While I'm taxiing, I keep saying "Holy s**t, I'm alone in the aircraft". I get my clearance to take off, so I methodically check to make sure my transponder is on, mixture is set, lights and fuel pump are on, then wheel it out onto the runway and go full throttle.

The plane jumps ahead and tears down the concrete. I check my gauges like usual and then, at around 65 knots IAS, I pull back and take off.

ALONE.

The plane shoots up like a rocket, I've got half fuel (it hadn't been refueled in a while, half fuel is like 3 hours of flight) and no instructor, between the two that's like 300lbs difference from usual. The plane climbs faster then before, and it's GREAT!

I turn left at Lincoln, always watching for traffic outside, then checking my gauges inside. My altitude is winding up, holy crap, I'm already at 1,100 feet when usually I'm at 800! I end up leveling out at the pattern altitude (1,400 feet MSL) before I turn to the downwind leg, so like 20 seconds before I usually do. On my downwind leg, the controller radios me. "Cherokee 8258 Sierra, you're cleared for the option on two one."

I radio back "Santa Monica Tower, Cherokee 8258 Sierra, I'd like a full stop please." Technically, I don't have to ask for this because 'The option' allows for me to do a pass, touch & go, or full stop landing, but I figure that by telling her what I'm doing, she doesn't have to watch me when I'm down.

"Cherokee 58 Sierra, thanks, cleared for landing two one."

I wait until I'm abeam the white marks on the runway and begin my descent. As I pass the I-405, I turn left so I'm heading perpendicular to the runway, then I turn left again near the I-405/I-10 interchange and line up with the runway. I get a big crosswind up there and say out loud "Oh great, a crosswind landing on my first solo." I'm not enthusiastic, because crosswind landings are something I don't have a lot of practice with, but as I drop below 800 feet, it disapears.

I check the PAPI lights and see that I'm above the glideslope, so I throttle back and add another notch of flaps, and it turns out I was right next to it, I barely have to adjust at all to get a mix of red and white lights.

I bring the plane down towards the runway. About 10 feet above the runway I go full idle on the engine and pull back to flare like usual, but the plane is so light, it actually starts to go back up a couple feet. I bring it down right away and fly a few inches above the ground, slowly pulling the yoke back as I slow down until the stall horn just starts to hoot a little, then the wheels touch down.

It's the smoothest, best landing I've ever done.

I taxi off the runway, get clearance from the tower to taxi where I want, then do my post landing checklist and taxi over to pick up my instructor.

He shook my hand and congratulated me, said I did a good job!

I figure it's gotta be a good job if they can re-use the airplane, and I'm happy as a clam.

He took some pictures of me landing, I'll post 'em later.

I'm just below 20 hours, got something like 40-50 landings, and we're going to alternate for a little between solo and instructor flights as he shows me short field takeoffs, soft field landings/takeoffs, night flying, etc. We'll probably be doing things like stalls at night soon, sounds scary, but I'm ready.

So anyhow, YEE-freakin-HAW!

[Gloves]

Originally posted by Debonair
sounds like someone survived a C-150 engine failure (or two skinny guys did), not bad news.
replace or repair a $15k plane no biggie either

Yep.  Instructor and student.  Engine failure was due to carb icing.

Glolve

[Chairboy]

Ever since I started flying in the pacific northwest, I've become a carb-heat fanatic, especially in the big ol' Continental that's turning the prop in the 172 I rent most often.  I hit that carb heat every time I pull the throttle back below 2200, and I expect I'll continue to do that wherever I'm flying just as a good habit.  Even if he iced up in flight, it's a shame the instructor didn't employ carb heat in the narrow window in the first few seconds where (according to my CFIs) it'll work.

We had an FAA guy ("I'm from the FAA, and I'm here to help!") at our EAA meeting last night, and he talked about how how he's seen a lot of engine failures (usually starvation) where the pilot forgets how to fly once that prop stops spinning and ends up stalling or doing something dumb.

[Gloves]

I'm not sure he didn't apply the heat.  It's probably pilot error, but who knows?  It'll come out in the FAA final report.  They were at 1000 AGL when they lost power.  The landing was fine up until the soy beans roped the front landing gear and started the flip.  They said it really happened in slow motion.  It was just fast enough to flip it, but not violently.

G