My Aviators - My Journey as a Woman Pilot

It has been quite a while since I have written. Lots of things have kept me out of the air recently. I only logged a few hours in the past couple of weeks, but one of those hours was one of the greatest moments of my life. I FINALLY GOT TO SOLO!!!

Yesterday I went to the airport with no expectations because I didn't want to be devastated if I didn't get to solo. So I pre-flighted and Tim joined me in the airplane. We went up and on the first landing, I ballooned and did a go around. I felt like it was a bad omen, but I chose to shake it off and do well on the next one. Three more landings and I was feeling good. Tim said go ahead and exit on delta. WHAT!!! FOR REAL????? I pulled off on delta and did my post landing checklist. He started filling out paper work and said taxi to alpha-bravo and hold. When I got to alpha-bravo he said "have fun" and got out. Holy hell I was going up alone. I took a couple of deep breaths, turned around and taxied back to 33. I flipped my transponder and fuel pump back on, checked for traffic and radioed that I was taking off.

Climb out on the first take-off was surreal. Tim is a pretty small guy but I noticed the weight difference in the plane in take-off and climb. The cabin is also a lot roomier when you are by yourself. I am pretty sure I was talking to myself while climbing. I think it went a bit like this. Holy shit, you now two choices, fly around until you run out of gas and crash or land this thing, what are you going to do. Then I turned cross wind and a huge smile broke out across my face, I am flying an airplane! I turned downwind and did my checklist and everything fell back into routine. That first landing wasn't my best, but it was a good landing. While I was turning final for my second landing Tim radioed that I should make it a touch and go and do a third landing because I had plenty of time. I said ok, but I forgot an important factor, he wasn't in the plane to hear me, I probably should have answered him via radio, but I was quite focused on landing. My second landing was good, I was pretty proud of it and kind of wished Tim was in the plane to see it. The third one was good as well. I exited on delta and taxied back to Carver. I parked (which I suck at, but am getting better). Put the chocks in and Tim was there to congratulate me!!! I think I might have been in a bit of shock because I wasn't as excited as I thought I would be.

When I left the airport I could not stop grinning. I grinned like an idiot for the next 10 hours until I went to bed. The first thing I thought when I woke up this morning was OMG I flew a plane yesterday. I am still grinning. I am practically bouncing off the walls just thinking about it. I can't wait to get up there again today. My first solo was amazing and I won't forget it for a very long time. September 13th will always hold a special place in my heart! My first solo ranks up there with some of the greatest days of my life.

Total Hours Logged: 26