My First Airplane Solo

Any pilot will tell you that the day of their first solo is one they will never forget. They could almost tell you the exact weather conditions, what they were wearing, how the felt, what the atmosphere was like, all of that. I’m no different. Flying solo for the first time is an absolutely amazing feeling. Knowing that you have spent so much time with your instructor on perfecting maneuvers, learning the radios and navigation, and learning to land. For me, learning to land was the longest thing to learn out of all of the above. I would assume this is the case for most pilots. Takeoffs, maneuvers, radios, etc. are relatively easy and quick to learn, but landings take time. After all, when flying, takeoffs are optional, but landings are mandatory. One way or another, the plane will eventually land. Hopefully it lands how (and where) you want it to land. Landing the plane as a newly solo’d pilot doesn’t have to be perfect, just safe. My solo day was amazing. I knew I was soloing on that day specifically so I didn’t get any sleep the night before, and probably wasn’t the most productive at work the morning of. All I could think about what flying that afternoon and taking the plane up BY MYSELF. I got to the airport and preflighted the plane like any other lesson. I grabbed my instructor and we took off to do some traffic pattern work. We did maybe 3-4 laps in the pattern before he told me to make the next landing a full stop and taxi back to the ramp. Once we shutdown at the ramp he got out, took his headset, and signed my logbook. He said “good luck and have fun”. Once I started up I remember thinking that there was no way this could be real. It was extremely weird having an empty seat next to me after having 25-30 hours of flight time with someone else. It was quiet. I went through my checklists and taxied out. Ran through my run-up process and pre-takeoff procedures. I taxied onto the runway and took off. That’s when it hit me. An overwhelming since of joy, pride, and accomplishment.  I was flying an airplane alone, by myself. Knowing that if something goes wrong, it’s up to me to correct it. I was nervous but not as much as I thought I would be. I turned crosswind, flew the downwind, and turned final. Again, it was weird as can be, but the flying itself was no different. I went through the steps I had previously done a million times. I came into the flare and “held it off”. I won’t brag but I must say that my very first solo landing was ABSOLUTELY PERFECT. I lightly kissed the runway and slowed down. I turned off on TWY A and my instructor came on the radio and asked me how that felt. I told him it was amazing so I took another lap in the pattern. I did this a total of 4 times on my first solo day. Each time went fine. Not every landing was perfect but I also didn’t have any landings that felt unsafe or scared me. What a great feeling. The day of your first solo as a pilot is one you will never forget, and something you should look forward to, and be proud of once you reach that point.