ayavner

Finally! Huzzah!!

still nuttin!

Supposed to Nav today? I DON"T THINK SO:

Just curious, seems like it ought to be in by now. Need my fix!!

welcome to a very exclusive club! of the Billions of people on earth, you are now a member of the few who can now fly above it!

hey my 2nd solo is this coming Saturday too! Best of luck mate! nahh, you don't need luck now!

yeah mag, can't wait for area solo too, that will remind me why i am doing this in the first place!

Well done camo! I am also smiling all over again, just thinking about it! So when's the dreaded "Second Solo"??

Congrats!!!

passed! 95%... thanks guys!!

... also, to head off the inevitable beard-tearing and gnashing of teeth over how this should be avoided, or all of the ways this can be dangerous and/or irresponsible, please note I am just studying for a test.

thanks :-)

perfect, thanks!!

Hi there -

OK so I have scoured all of my notes and text books, the RAA Ops Manual, CAO 95.55 and the Visual Flight Guide.

I can't find any definitive answer on how much horizontal distance is required to stay clear of control steps or active restricted areas.

Do we just treat it like a line of cloud, i.e. 1500 metres? Best-effort?

Thanks!

adam

Love your work, Eric. Snoopy is never off-topic!!

Thanks guys! (only 8 hours or longer prior, of course)

What was the last thing through the bird's mind?

His @rse...

what, he couldn't steer around him?

the pilot needs to have a PPL. I don't think transponder is required for the plane for class D, which can be RAA or GA, but radio is required.

Bankstown is also class D, and I can only fly out of it with my instructor which is why I have to go to Wollongong to solo. I have often wondered why they put an RAA school at Bankstown, but they seem to do well. Camden would be the same.

Congrats mate, well overdue. I assume it was 7295 out of YWOL?You can always put the high landing down to the lack of ballast in the Right hand seat :)

Nope it was 5477 out of YWOL, just knocking my solos out down there with another outfit. Finally, eh?

thanks guys :)

and here is the "crapping on" version:

http://morerightrudder.wordpress.com/2013/03/31/first-solo/

(drum roll....)

FINALLY!

Happened on Saturday, i managed to book the first flight of the day so the wind was calm and no thermals or turbulence to speak of.

I won't crap on too much here, I'll post a link to my blog when I get it updated.

But short story, it was part exhilarating and part terrifying! Most everything others have said about "first time" rang true - the performance was quite a bit better - I was at 1000' before the end of the runway! Landed a bit high the first time as well, floated longer, etc, but got better as it went. Still can't line up on the centre as well as i'd like, but that will get better with practice.

I can't say that i noticed it being any "quieter", as my critical inner dialogue more than made up for it haha!

But that's it - .8 in the books, "1st time jitters" out of the way (to make room for 2nd time jitters) and enough to keep my mind chattering 24/7 until the next time!! Thanks to everyone along the way for various words of encouragement, their solo stories, wisdom and tips. Its been a long time coming, I started this in 2011!

OK enough jabbering, cheers and happy Easter everyone!

curious, how will you handle refueling? Will you taxi over to the bowser and refuel as normal, or will there be some sort of "pit crew" on standby?

Yes that is niice to see, I think us older people seem to bag the younger gen as being given everything they want and not having to work for anything so it is very good to see that, maybe you could have given them your car to wash instead, I know mine is filthy from all the rain we have had, I would have happily given them mine to do..David

LOL, no rank....

They had that gleam of hope in their eye like they had something exciting they are saving up for and only need to wash 10 planes and its there. Like it used to be when i was a kid. Allowance?? what's that??? get out there and hustle for it, kid!

I saw something that really blew me away yesterday, in a good way; this seems like a good a thread to share it as any.

I was sitting around in the hangar waiting for my instructor to wrap some things up and a couple of young kids, one maybe 10 and the other 8? (dunno, i'm a poor judge) were going around the different hangars. The older kid was pulling the younger in a little wagon.

Anyway, they wheeled on up and asked me very politely "excuse me, do you or anyone need their planes washed?"

I was gobsmacked, I just didn't think kids did anything out of their own initiative anymore like that... I really wish I had something for them to wash, it made me feel a tiny bit better about this upcoming generation. But whoever you are, kid - "Good ONYA!!"

or in my case, 90 degrees straight down

I posted that some months ago and Ian said he might be able to get some of those shirts in. I'd definitely be down for one!