Flight Log 03-03

Clear skies and literally no wind today! Nathan Tichenor picked me up after class and got me to the airport in time for my flight at 3:00pm. I was ready to just up and go, but they insisted that I make a check flight... again. First approach - simulate a go-around. Next approach - touch and go. Finally we landed and exited onto the taxiway, then pulled off to the side of the parking apron. Chris contacted the tower: "I'm gonna hop out and this guy is going to make his first solo." The tower acknowledges, Chris shakes my hand, and shuts the door. And off I went down the taxiway.

I wasn't as jittery as I thought I would be; I guess it's because I had to repeat the check flights a few times due to weather. I was pretty confident and maybe annoyed that I kept having to wait... just let me go already! It's quite simple: control the airplane, don't hit anything, and just repeat back everything you're told. I was number three in the takeoff lineup behind a Colgan Air Saab 340 to Houston, and a Piper Cherokee heading to the northwest. I pulled out onto the runway, went full throttle, and off into the sky. My traffic pattern took me over West Campus, so I enjoyed the view on the downwind leg. The first landing was a little hard, the second smooth but off to the left, then on my third trip through the pattern the entire world decides College Station is the place to be: an American Eagle ERJ-145 calls in saying he's 6 miles out on a straight in approach, another Cessna has joined me in the pattern, plus a Navy TC-12 is about to check in. I report I'm at mid-field (half way down the runway) and the tower gives me a request I've never had to do before: "26V, I need you to make a right-360." Remember what I said earlier? Just repeat it back and do it: "right 360, 26V." I held a standard rate turn to the right, coming all the way back around to where I started at. This put a gap between me and the other Cessna that was ahead. The ERJ still wasn't down yet, and a jet airplane creates a wake through the air that can flip our little Cessna's - the tower needed more room for us. "26V, make a right-45, report the Cessna in sight." Another new one, but pretty self-explanatory. Right 45 degrees. I started getting uneasy because I knew there was another guy in the pattern with me real close, flying real slow, and I couldn't see him in the glare of the sunset. Finally he turned in for his base leg and the wingspan caught the sunlight. "26V has traffic in sight..." "26V, you're number three, follow that traffic to the runway." In came the parade of planes, one after the other. I set it down, hit the brakes, and exited onto taxiway bravo. Bill and Chris met me on the flight line for the celebratory photo and presented me with my solo certificate.

Flight #11b: 1.0 hrs (0.5 solo)
Total Log Time: 12.3 hrs