Solo!
The day comes when the instructor says
“Do you want to take it by yourself?”
You’ve dreamed of this moment for a long time.
Have been anticipating it for a long time.
Studied hard, practiced hard, for a long time, it seems.
But its only been a few short weeks.
A few short hours in the airplane.
And always with someone who can keep me out of trouble
Am I really ready?
The Instructor thinks I am,
or else he wouldn’t turn me loose like this.
I gotta do this so I summon up some courage.
“Yes” I say, “I want to take it.”
“OK!” he says. He unbuckles the shoulder strap.
The door unlatches and he says
“Give me four touch and goes, then back to the ramp”.
“OK” I say.
The door opens, and he exits.
Engine is still running, propeller still turning.
He stands clear of the aircraft.
I latch the door, thinking, “I gotta do this right.”
“I gotta do this just like I’ve been taught and no other way.”
“I gotta do this as perfect as I can.”
Release the brakes, ease the throttle forward, I’m moving.
I steer it around the ramp watching the clearances.
Out onto the taxiway, down that narrow strip of concrete,
down to the end of the runway, moving to the hold point.
Final check list, always do these, no matter what.
Hold the brakes, run up the engine, all is good.
Switch the magnetos, 1, 2 and back to both, all is good.
Fuel tanks on both, all is good,
Flaps set, trim set, checklist complete, all is good.
Move onto the runway, get centered up, nose wheel locked,
Look around, all is clear, here we go.
Speed picks up, keep it centered.
Speed picks up, controls feel live, ground noise falls away,
And I’m up. That was the easy part.
Steady climb, everything running good.
No time for self-elation.
Gotta keep ahead of things.
Gotta keep thinking ahead.
Bank left, back down to the field’s end,
Gentle descent, get set up for landing.
Eyes on the touchdown point,
Watch the speed, watch the speed,
down down down, down—Flare!
We quit flying. Tires screech as they start turning.
No Bounces!
That’s one, three more to go.
Throttle advances again, off again, climbing again,
Perfect as I can.
Around we go again. Keep ahead of it, keep ahead of it.
Landing four coming up, no bounces so far,
Perfect as I can –Flare! Screech! No bounce!
Not over yet.
Slow down to taxi speed, make that turn off the runway smartly,
Perfect as I can.
Stroll the airplane back to the apron, watch the clearances, things have changed a bit….
Ease it into the spot, brakes set, checklist in my hand.
Engine off, fuel off, shutdown and secure all. Headset off.
Unbuckle the belt, unlatch the door, climb out with confidence.
Now I can breathe deep, now I can smile.
My support group swarms me.
I did it.
Perfect as I can.
Solo!
The day comes when the instructor says
“Do you want to take it by yourself?”
You’ve dreamed of this moment for a long time.
Have been anticipating it for a long time.
Studied hard, practiced hard, for a long time, it seems.
But its only been a few short weeks.
A few short hours in the airplane.
And always with someone who can keep me out of trouble
Am I really ready?
The Instructor thinks I am,
or else he wouldn’t turn me loose like this.
I gotta do this so I summon up some courage.
“Yes” I say, “I want to take it.”
“OK!” he says. He unbuckles the shoulder strap.
The door unlatches and he says
“Give me four touch and goes, then back to the ramp”.
“OK” I say.
The door opens, and he exits.
Engine is still running, propeller still turning.
He stands clear of the aircraft.
I latch the door, thinking, “I gotta do this right.”
“I gotta do this just like I’ve been taught and no other way.”
“I gotta do this as perfect as I can.”
Release the brakes, ease the throttle forward, I’m moving.
I steer it around the ramp watching the clearances.
Out onto the taxiway, down that narrow strip of concrete,
down to the end of the runway, moving to the hold point.
Final check list, always do these, no matter what.
Hold the brakes, run up the engine, all is good.
Switch the magnetos, 1, 2 and back to both, all is good.
Fuel tanks on both, all is good,
Flaps set, trim set, checklist complete, all is good.
Move onto the runway, get centered up, nose wheel locked,
Look around, all is clear, here we go.
Speed picks up, keep it centered.
Speed picks up, controls feel live, ground noise falls away,
And I’m up. That was the easy part.
Steady climb, everything running good.
No time for self-elation.
Gotta keep ahead of things.
Gotta keep thinking ahead.
Bank left, back down to the field’s end,
Gentle descent, get set up for landing.
Eyes on the touchdown point,
Watch the speed, watch the speed,
down down down, down—Flare!
We quit flying. Tires screech as they start turning.
No Bounces!
That’s one, three more to go.
Throttle advances again, off again, climbing again,
Perfect as I can.
Around we go again. Keep ahead of it, keep ahead of it.
Landing four coming up, no bounces so far,
Perfect as I can –Flare! Screech! No bounce!
Not over yet.
Slow down to taxi speed, make that turn off the runway smartly,
Perfect as I can.
Stroll the airplane back to the apron, watch the clearances, things have changed a bit….
Ease it into the spot, brakes set, checklist in my hand.
Engine off, fuel off, shutdown and secure all. Headset off.
Unbuckle the belt, unlatch the door, climb out with confidence.
Now I can breathe deep, now I can smile.
My support group swarms me.
I did it.
Perfect as I can.