Tristar
Pattern Altitude
This is slightly late but I had my first official Solo sign off the other day! Unlike my last sign off, this particular student started with me from the get go. We had been practicing landings for a few lessons and he was continuously having trouble flaring and using enough rudder to line up with the runway so they ended up flat and with the nose pointed a little to the side of centerline. After some coaching and letting him fix his mistakes, he was finally getting the pitch attitude right, centering up the nose, and easing them onto the runway rather than the typical "plop!" He was also doing awesome on the radios and I didn't have to say a thing which makes my job easier. I told him to make the last one a full stop. "So how do you think you're doing?" "Well, they're not perfect but a lot better than last time." "I think so too, do you want to give it a shot by yourself?" "You mean today? Now?" "Yep today, you're doing great on the radios and your landings are looking pretty good." "umm I dunno...(lots of apprehension).
We walked inside and I asked him again, "you sure you dont want to try it today? I'll sign you off, you're doing fine." "umm can we look at the weather for sunday?" So we looked and it was supposed to be windy and gusty (which it turned out to be). ....He changed his mind, "uhh yea, i guess I'll go today." So I signed his logbook and student pilot certificate and out to the plane he went.
I don't know who is more excited, me or him. I turned on my handheld Com radio and listened in. He sounded calm and cool on the radio as he taxied out to the runway. I can only assume what he was thinking by remembering how I felt on my first solo. I watched him take off "...oops, should have warned him the plane would be lighter!" His pattern work went fine, he acknowledged all radio calls. His first landing looked like he flared a little high but he had control and in no time was back in the air. His last two looked fine. I walked out to the plane after he shut down. "Well, I dont see anything broken, how'd it go?" "Went great, I'm really glad I went today" (with a huge smile). We took his picture in front of the airplane and it will soon be framed on our wall at the flight school. He made his first "solo" entry in his logbook which included little extra confidence under his belt and a huge smile.
As far as for me...I'm still getting used to the fact that I taught somone how to land an airplane, it's a great feeling to see them solo.
We walked inside and I asked him again, "you sure you dont want to try it today? I'll sign you off, you're doing fine." "umm can we look at the weather for sunday?" So we looked and it was supposed to be windy and gusty (which it turned out to be). ....He changed his mind, "uhh yea, i guess I'll go today." So I signed his logbook and student pilot certificate and out to the plane he went.
I don't know who is more excited, me or him. I turned on my handheld Com radio and listened in. He sounded calm and cool on the radio as he taxied out to the runway. I can only assume what he was thinking by remembering how I felt on my first solo. I watched him take off "...oops, should have warned him the plane would be lighter!" His pattern work went fine, he acknowledged all radio calls. His first landing looked like he flared a little high but he had control and in no time was back in the air. His last two looked fine. I walked out to the plane after he shut down. "Well, I dont see anything broken, how'd it go?" "Went great, I'm really glad I went today" (with a huge smile). We took his picture in front of the airplane and it will soon be framed on our wall at the flight school. He made his first "solo" entry in his logbook which included little extra confidence under his belt and a huge smile.
As far as for me...I'm still getting used to the fact that I taught somone how to land an airplane, it's a great feeling to see them solo.
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