{"id":1732,"date":"2011-01-19T22:33:26","date_gmt":"2011-01-20T03:33:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/joeclarksblog.com\/?p=1732"},"modified":"2011-01-19T22:33:26","modified_gmt":"2011-01-20T03:33:26","slug":"solo-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joeclarksblog.com\/?p=1732","title":{"rendered":"Solo! (Part 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Over the course of today and the following three days, I am posting the story of what it is like to solo an airplane for the first time. This account, originally published as an essay in Eagles Tales<\/a>,<\/em> is from a collection of essays by my colleagues in the Aeronautical Science Department of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Eagle Tales <\/em>is available for sale at 20 percent off with the coupon code ET2011 on checkout through the BluewaterPress website<\/a>. A portion of each sale goes toward the Jim Lewis Memorial Scholarship fund in the Aeronautical Science Department.<\/p>\n

– – – – – – – – – – – – – –<\/p>\n

There is only one time, that time you get to fly an airplane solo for the first time.\u00a0 This is what it is like.<\/p>\n

As I drove eastward toward the airstrip, I thought of how little time remained before I had to leave for college.\u00a0 I watched the windshield wipers track back and forth knocking water away from the windshield and wondered how much more flying I could complete before leaving for school.\u00a0 The rain seemed to get heavier as I continued east.\u00a0 I was beginning to think of the long drive back.<\/p>\n

Passing through Plant City, the rain began to ease.\u00a0 Then the sky began to lighten just a little; maybe it was my imagination, but I believed it was improving.\u00a0 I was praying it would clear.\u00a0 The further I pressed on through town, the more I thought the weather was breaking.\u00a0 I really wanted to fly this afternoon, more than anything.<\/p>\n

Reaching the County Line Road exit, the impossible happened: the clouds broke and sunshine came out and I could see a little blue sky.\u00a0 The winds stopped blowing.\u00a0 There was freshness in the air, a freshness found only in Florida right after a summer thunderstorm has passed.\u00a0 As I turned up Highway 92 toward Charlie\u2019s, I drank in that freshness and thought of the sky and what I would soon be doing up there in only a few more short moments.<\/p>\n

I was not surprised at all when Charlie said he could only fly me in the pattern.\u00a0 The fact that he said I would not be able to solo went in one ear and out the other.\u00a0 The only thing I was interested in was perfecting my landings to the point where they were good and safe.\u00a0 I really didn\u2019t care about the weather, leaving the pattern, or soloing.\u00a0 I just wanted to practice my landings and get them as close to perfect as I could make them.<\/p>\n

We went to Charlie\u2019s newest and my favorite of all the Cubs, N6269H.\u00a0 I gave the airplane a quick pre?flight and once I was satisfied it would fly, I climbed into the back seat and strapped in.\u00a0 The old man stood at the front of the airplane and called, \u201cSwitch off!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSwitch is off,\u201d I answered.\u00a0 He then began swinging the propeller back and forth.\u00a0 About every third or fourth swing, he pulled it through a complete cycle.\u00a0 From where I sat, I could hear the gurgling sound of fuel when the pressure of the intake sucked it into the carburetor.\u00a0 With a couple of more swings, Charlie positioned the propeller where he wanted it and then called, \u201cContact!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSwitch is hot!\u201d\u00a0 I yelled back.\u00a0 I wanted him to make no mistake that he was now handling a \u201clive\u201d prop\u2013a prop that could take off an arm or leg, maybe end a life.\u00a0 With practiced ease, he gripped the trailing edge of the falling blade and pulled it through.\u00a0 The little Continental barked to life and chased away the post-thunderstorm stillness.\u00a0 Now instead of the still calm of the damp air, I felt the wind rushing by my cheek, cooled by the metal blades of the whirling prop, creating an instant wind-chill factor.<\/p>\n

As Charlie settled into the cramped front seat of the Cub, he told me to go ahead and fly in the pattern and to work on my landings.\u00a0 As I went through the motions of taxiing out and completing the engine run-up, I noticed he seemed a little more quiet than usual.<\/p>\n

Once I was certain the engine was warmed properly and ready for flight, I gave one last look around the pattern checking for other aircraft.\u00a0 Then I eased the throttle forward and moved out onto the grass strip.\u00a0 Pausing momentarily, I took a deep breath to relax and eased the throttle all the way forward.<\/p>\n

As the airplane began to roll, the nose began to swing ever so slightly to the left.\u00a0 I countered with just a bit of right rudder to keep her straight down the runway and at the same time, pushed forward on the stick to raise the tail off the ground.\u00a0 The noise, as usual, was deafening.\u00a0 The wind outside the open window of the Cub suddenly went from a strong breeze to hurricane force.\u00a0 The airspeed needle quivered over the \u201c0\u201d and then moved toward the \u201c40\u201d mark.\u00a0 As the airplane accelerated faster along the ground and through the air, the controls began to feel solid, to come alive!\u00a0 At 45 mph, I eased back on stick and the main tires became light on the ground.\u00a0 We bounced along the roughness of the pasture, and then lifted off!\u00a0 I was flying again and pleased.<\/p>\n

-30-<\/p>\n

\u00a9 2010 J. Clark<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over the course of today and the following three days, I am posting the story of what it is like to solo an airplane for the first time. This account, originally published as an essay in Eagles Tales, is from … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,5,6,8,9],"tags":[329,839,1157,1279,1422,1456,1468,1950,2055,2155,2795,3396,3439,4023],"class_list":["post-1732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aviation","category-flight-instructing","category-flying-2","category-life-in-general","category-personal","tag-airplanes","tag-cessnas","tag-discipline","tag-engine-failures","tag-first-solo","tag-florida","tag-flying","tag-inexperienced-pilots","tag-judgment","tag-learning-to-fly","tag-pilots","tag-student-pilots","tag-taildraggers","tag-training-aircraft"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t