Author Topic: Soloing This Weekend  (Read 1121 times)

Offline mechanic

  • Plutonium Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 11328
Re: Soloing This Weekend
« Reply #15 on: July 02, 2009, 08:12:56 PM »
good luck nova, im sure you will do fine
And I don't know much, but I do know this. With a golden heart comes a rebel fist.

Offline Talon07

  • Copper Member
  • **
  • Posts: 159
Re: Soloing This Weekend
« Reply #16 on: July 02, 2009, 10:20:14 PM »
Spins are fun. Glider's have more fun :) at least for recreation. power planes go places lol
kind regards FBClaw
FBClaw of the Freebirds

Offline Golfer

  • Platinum Member
  • ******
  • Posts: 6314
Re: Soloing This Weekend
« Reply #17 on: July 02, 2009, 10:40:47 PM »
I don't think my instructor would allow it and I don't think its a required part of training anymore..

Get a new instructor.  I never gave an endorsement to anyone who had never spun and recovered an airplane.  That's my rule.  If he's afraid or intimidated by spins then he's the one who needs additional training.  Stall and Spin awareness are one thing but you have to do them and not be intimidated by them in order to be safe should you ever find yourself in one.

Offline deSelys

  • Gold Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2512
Re: Soloing This Weekend
« Reply #18 on: July 03, 2009, 05:11:15 AM »
Glad there's a big pond between us, I should feel safe on sunday   :D

j/k, have fun & walk away from the landing. The plane being flyable again is only a bonus. ;)
Current ID: Romanov

It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye... then it's just a game to find the eye

'I AM DID NOTHING WRONG' - Famous last forum words by legoman

Offline Casca

  • Nickel Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 353
Re: Soloing This Weekend
« Reply #19 on: July 03, 2009, 02:55:00 PM »
Good luck.  It'll be fun.
I'm Casca and I approved this message.

Offline Russian

  • Gold Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2992
Re: Soloing This Weekend
« Reply #20 on: July 03, 2009, 03:09:37 PM »
Get a new instructor.  I never gave an endorsement to anyone who had never spun and recovered an airplane.  That's my rule.  If he's afraid or intimidated by spins then he's the one who needs additional training.  Stall and Spin awareness are one thing but you have to do them and not be intimidated by them in order to be safe should you ever find yourself in one.

Isn't there a requirement to wear a chute during spins? 

Offline Golfer

  • Platinum Member
  • ******
  • Posts: 6314
Re: Soloing This Weekend
« Reply #21 on: July 03, 2009, 05:17:57 PM »
Nope.  Not in the USA.

Offline Russian

  • Gold Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2992
Re: Soloing This Weekend
« Reply #22 on: July 03, 2009, 07:04:15 PM »
Nope.  Not in the USA.

Hmm... I guess it was rule in my old school then.

Offline xNOVAx

  • Silver Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 811
Re: Soloing This Weekend
« Reply #23 on: July 03, 2009, 09:19:35 PM »
Welp.. Just got back from my lesson today, and I'm not ready for my solo on sunday.. I'll have to push it back for a few weeks now.. Pretty frustruating but I'm sure its for the best because I really don't want to be making the same little mistakes during my solo as I was making today.. Argh!  :frown:


NOVA - Army of Muppets - Inactive

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return." -Leonardo da Vinci

Offline Golfer

  • Platinum Member
  • ******
  • Posts: 6314
Re: Soloing This Weekend
« Reply #24 on: July 03, 2009, 11:11:33 PM »
You'll be fine, Nova.  Everybody feels the same way leading up to it.  In fact I don't remember a checkride or initial type ride where the night before I would question whether or not I was ready for it.  It keeps you sharp, keeps your nose in the books and makes you a better pilot because of it.

You can't forget to put the gear down.  You're not going to forget to push the props forward.  No worries about setting the flaps for takeoff and having the airplane yell at you because your configuration is wrong.  You just learned how to not count your chickens before the eggs hatched is all.  Celebrate by saying you solo'd not that you're going to.  Thinking like that will put extra pressure on you whether you realize it or not as you've built it up on your head.  It's very easy to let things snowball once you start making a mistake or two and you'll always make mistakes.  If you let them eat at you by not moving on and doing the next thing you need to you're going to snowball into a mental mess which safe to say every pilot has done at least once.  I know I did and still remember it happening in slow motion during an oral checkride of all things.  I learned from the feelings of slipping so when it happened a year or so later for my initial CFI checkride I was able to draw on the experience, regroup and focus on what needed to be done to finish the oral portion of the practical test.  You learned that lesson earlier than I did so draw upon whatever mistakes you made and remember them.

You'll do fine :)

Offline Grayeagle

  • Silver Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1488
Re: Soloing This Weekend
« Reply #25 on: July 04, 2009, 02:46:22 AM »
'peice of cake' -grin-

Agree with alla others, the day will bring a smile every time you think of it from now on.

I still smile thinkin of 'four-zero-romeo' ..aka 'Snaggletooth' ..'68 C-172 with the exhaust stickin straight down outta the cowling and a bit loud at full giddyup.

Just sooo much fun to fly :)

-GE
'The better I shoot ..the less I have to manuever'
-GE

Offline Sandman

  • Plutonium Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 17620
Re: Soloing This Weekend
« Reply #26 on: July 04, 2009, 10:13:02 PM »
Agree with alla others, the day will bring a smile every time you think of it from now on.

Can't say the same for my first solo. I was really focused on the task. My instructor thought I was ready a few weeks before I agreed. In hindsight, I was really worried about whether I'd panic or not. That worry passed after the first landing. Can't say I actually enjoyed it and after seven passes, my thoughts were, "Okay, what's next?" It wasn't until my fourth or fifth solo flight that it became fun and I stopped worrying so much about making mistakes. That was a good day. I was twenty miles or so from the field and as I was turning the airplane I actually started laughing.



I'm a bit of a perfectionist. I'm finding that the airplane is quite capable of landing even when I miss my target parameters somewhat. Still exploring those particular boundaries.
« Last Edit: July 04, 2009, 10:15:43 PM by Sandman »
sand

Offline bcadoo

  • Nickel Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 685
Re: Soloing This Weekend
« Reply #27 on: July 04, 2009, 10:35:10 PM »
good luck!!

i still remember my first solo.......it was fun.

remember the plane's gonna perform much better without your 200# cfi in there.

 :aok :aok :aok

grease em on dude!

I know what you mean.  I was in a 152 and it just hopped off the runway solo.  (then I started hearing all these strange sounds I had never noticed before when I had my 'safety net')  unforgettable time for sure.

The fight is the fun........Don't run from the fun!
"Nothin' cuts the taste of clam juice like a big hunk o' chocolate" - Rosie O'Donnell

Offline Roundeye

  • Nickel Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 425
Re: Soloing This Weekend
« Reply #28 on: July 05, 2009, 09:12:14 AM »
*snip*

My instructor thought I was ready a few weeks before I agreed.



Same here.  She said I was ready but had a habit of keeping her hand on the yoke every time I flared for landing.  I had no problems with landings by that point, but it was just a habit she had.  I told her that when she can ride along like a passenger and not make any corrections or touch any controls THEN I'm ready.

We got to that point and I soloed with no problems.  She was an excellent instructor who mixed fun with learning to fly.  She would pick out a little cloud and fly through it then look back to see if there was an airplane-shaped hole in it like in the cartoons. :)   Those were some good times.

She moved to Key West shortly after I soloed and was killed in a banner-towing accident. :frown:  I will always remember her unique style of instruction and can picture her now soaring among the clouds and looking back to see if she left little angel-shaped holes in them.

Plane: Cessna 152 N49415
Instructor: Ryan Koury (RIP) :salute

These are good times.  Enjoy them while you can.

« Last Edit: July 05, 2009, 09:28:28 AM by Roundeye »
"Rotorhed"

Offline 68Wooley

  • Silver Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 931
Re: Soloing This Weekend
« Reply #29 on: July 06, 2009, 11:58:17 AM »
Thanks!

Wow you guys are doing spins? We've done power on and power off stalls, but yet to put the cessna into a spin.. I don't think my instructor would allow it and I don't think its a required part of training anymore.. Though, I did get myself into some spins when I went flying in a Pitts S-2B a few months ago.. :)

Spins aren't required any more, but my school makes a point of making everyone do them.

Was slightly apprehensive on Friday, but it turned out to be fun. Wouldn't recommend a large lunch beforehand though.  :D

Hope you get the solo soon xNOVAx