I'll never forget my solo flight... my engine quit.
500' off the ground on climb out and then total silence (except for the wind whistling through the wires).
"Perfect!" thinks I.
I pushed the stick forward, gained a little speed and kicked in some rudder and aileron to bring me to a heading toward my field. Then I reached up and started pulling the starting rope for all I was worth. It finally caught, and I was able to abort the emergency landing.
The thought that goes through your mind when you lift off that first time alone is, "OK, got it off the ground, now I have to get it back down. What have I done?!" You're very aware of everything going on around you, hyperalert, and stuff goes into slow motion.
I do have to say, playing flight sims probably did as much to prepare me to fly (and my first inflight emergency) as did all my actual training. I didn't so much as think about what to do when it happened, I just reacted. Just like in the game, when an engine croaks, the first thing to do is to put the nose DOWN.
