N2102P – the Cessna 172SP that is my trusty companion for flight training.
Back in March of 2012, I was invited by Dick, one of my friends and neighbors, to go flying. He suggested we might fly to Tappahannock and then from there to my mother’s house so I could take some pictures. It was a beautiful day, a little cool at the start, but clear, calm skies. We took off and flew over the Dead Fleet in the James River, toward Williamsburg and then on to West Point before descending and landing at Tappahannock to stretch our legs and see what the new airport there looked like. Then we took off again and flew northerly over the Rappahannock River to the Northern Neck before bearing a little east toward the Potomac side. We crossed just north of Montross, emerging
over the Potomac at Currioman and the little sandbar island known as Hollis Marsh.
The sand island known as Hollis Marsh, where I used to help Franklin Foxwell fish his peeler traps 30 years ago.
We could see the cross on St. Clement’s Island easily. We then headed southeast down river toward the Yeocomico, and then back in to the southwest just upriver from the mouth of the Yeocomico toward Mom’s place. We circled the house a few times while I snapped photos, and then headed more or less straight back to Hampton Roads. We crossed
over Farnham, then back across the Rappahannock and over the race track on Rt.17 north of Saluda. We kept our course to the east of the airport at West Point to avoid sky divers there and then back toward Williamsburg, over the Dead Fleet and back on the ground at Hampton Roads Executive Airport. We might have been gone 2 hours, total.
I had a great time, and took lots of photos along the way. I have been keenly interested in aviation since I was a young boy, attending airshows every chance I got, and reading about aviation history and aviation in general all my life. Over the next 9 months or so, I went
flying with Dick several more times, and even got some “stick time” as we flew from place to place. Unknown to me, he and my wife spoke about my flying, and around Thanksgiving, my dear wife suggested I might start take flying lessons as a birthday, Christmas, anniversary gift “for the rest of my life.” I don’t know why it had not occurred to me on my own, but somehow I had always considered it out of my reach. I decided not
to give her a chance to back down, so I accepted, and right after Thanksgiving began my lessons.
I researched the local schools and talked to several friends and neighbors before settling on the Curtis Eads school at Hampton Roads Executive. I stopped in one day (the 26th of November) on my way home from work to inquire, and was presented with the opportunity to take a “Discovery Flight” right then.
I was paired with a very friendly CFI named Kacper (Polish, pronounced “Kasper”) who gave me a checklist and pointed me to a Cessna 172 on the ramp. He assisted me in making a preflight inspection and then he motioned me into the left seat as he got into the right and walked me through the checklist as we started the airplane and taxied to the
run-up area. He patiently got me through all the preflight checks and discussed the takeoff procedure and then we taxied to the hold-short line for Runway 2 – one last chance to back out – nothing doing. He announced our intention to take off on the radio and we taxied onto the runway, got on the centerline, powered up and took off. I don’t remember the details of what we did, but we flew around the area a little bit as he talked me through each maneuver and the checklists, and then we were headed back into the pattern for landing. He talked me through the process as I followed along as best I could, and we somehow
ended up on final approach with about the right picture out front, and we (or he) landed right back on Runway 2 and taxied back to the school. It was the fastest 30 minutes of my life. Of course, I was hooked. I signed up for my next flight right then, and off I went on my quest for the private pilot’s certificate.
Training began in earnest. My next lesson was 1.2 hours and we began learning basic maneuvers – climbs, descents, turns, straight and level flight and three touch and go landings at Suffolk. The next time we practiced maneuvers from lesson 1 and added more on power, pitch and trim and some “foggle” time to begin some basic simulated instrument training. Each lesson from there added more maneuvers to my repertoire
and more practice to gain proficiency. After four lessons of maneuvers and practice, we began dedicated landing practice. I had no idea it would be so difficult for me to master landings.
I spent the next 4 lessons doing nothing but pattern work and touch and go landings. 46 landings in the course of 5.1 hours of instruction. Then Kacper was out of the area for a few days, so he lined me up with Daniel, another instructor, for a lesson. The pattern work was interrupted for this lesson as Daniel took me out to the training area and we practiced maneuvers, stalls and navigation/situational awareness. Then back to the landing training the next 4 weeks with Kacper. Then the next week, finally, I was starting to get the hang of it. I had bought some other study materials to help get past my landing plateau,
and I finally realized I was doing everything required for a “good” landing – just not all together on the same approach. I studied hard, sat in a chair with my eyes shut and walked myself through the pattern from takeoff to crosswind, downwind, base, final and then landing. I memorized and learned everything about it – target airspeeds, engine
RPMs, flap settings, altitudes and procedures. I drilled myself so I would not let it fall apart in practice. For several days, I talked to myself in the car on my long work commute. That week I got into the cockpit with Kacper and confidently worked my way through the checklist, took off and ran a nice pattern and approach and got a decent landing.
Then another and another. I was hitting my target airspeeds, altitudes and timeline. I did not feel rushed and I knew what I was doing and what I was doing next, and when I was going to do it. I wasn’t perfect, but I was getting the hang of it and I was feeling much more in control. After the second week of good landings, including a pretty gusty day’s worth, Kacper booked me with another instructor, Andrew this time. We went over a few pre-solo knowledge items before heading out to the plane, and then we headed out of the pattern to demonstrate some maneuvers. All went pretty well, including a good engine-out simulated landing. We returned to the pattern. This time, the “main” runway at Hampton Roads was out of service, and we used Runway 2, which is a shorter runway with a 900′ threshold setback. My meticulous pattern work was disrupted by the shorter downwind leg, and a few other distractions and the different instructor. My first attempt to land
turned into a go-around. My next 4 attempts were landings, but the first 2 were not good. The last 2 were OK, but not great. Although I got some good words on my airwork outside the pattern, I knew I wasn’t getting the nod from Andrew for a solo the next week, and I knew he was right.
The next week came, and I arrived early. Kacper wasn’t there yet, so I got my weather brief and made notes on a few items there. I looked over my pre-solo quiz and made sure I had it completed. Kacper arrived and asked about the weather brief. Then we went over my pre-solo quiz which he had given to me two weeks previous to complete. We discussed a few items and made a couple of additions where I needed a little more
detail and then went out and gassed up and preflighted the airplane. We took off and began the old landing routine. I was back in the groove, and using the “good” runway – Runway 28 – so was making pretty good landings again. I was asking myself where that was the week before with Andrew, but soldiered on, hoping to get the news that I would be coming back to solo the next week. Finally, Kacper told me to go full-stop on the next landing. Once on the ground, he asked me if I had my logbook and medical cert with me. I replied affirmatively. As we exited the runway, he directed me to a spot on the ramp and had me shut down. I knew I was going to solo!
After shutting down, we got out of the plane and I handed him my logbook and medical certificate so he could endorse them for me. He signed them off, and described the process. Follow the checklist. Three takeoffs, three full-stop landings. Bring the plane back. I was a little anxious, but as I glanced at my log with the new endorsement in it, I
realized I had about 140 landings in it. And I had just done 10 more in the last hour. I watched Kacper walk away toward the terminal as I got back in the airplane and strapped into my seat. As I began my checklist for starting, I began to feel the exhilaration. The anxiousness vanished as I started the engine and checked operating parameters and
continued the checklist to get ready to taxi. This is what I was doing this for! To take off and fly an airplane by myself!
I taxied to the run-up area and did my run-up checks. So far, so good. Completed my run-up checklist and my pre-takeoff checklist. I taxied to the hold-short line for 28 and waited as a Warrior made a touch and go. I announced my departure, and after making one more check of the pattern to make sure there was no one else on base or final, I taxied onto the runway, lined up and applied full power.
Good oil. Good vacuum. Good amps. Right rudder, a little crosswind…right aileron. Airspeed alive. Right rudder – stay on the centerline, a little less aileron. 55 knots, rotate. More right rudder. Begins lifting off…a little less aileron, wings level. Climb
at 74, right rudder – straight out the end of the runway. Wow, tons of runway left. Right seat’s empty; well, I have to land it – the alternatives are not acceptable. 600 feet, “Hampton Roads Traffic, Skyhawk 02P turning crosswind, Runway 28, Hampton Roads.” Begin nice easy turn to left. Keep climbing – 74 knots. Level off at 1000 feet,
pull power back to 1800. Look around…any traffic? Announce turn to downwind. Maintain 1000 feet. Landing checklist. Seatbelt on, fuel selector to “both,” mixture full rich. Maintain 1000 feet – look for other traffic again. Look for aim point on 28. OK, next to the numbers now. Power back to 1500, 10 degrees of flaps. Slow to 75 knots and
descend at 75. Watch out for drift…correct for drift. Keep scanning. Announce and turn base. Flaps to 20 degrees, slow to 70 and descend. Watch out for drift…stay perpendicular to the runway. Wow, there it is in the left window already. “Hampton Roads Traffic, Skyhawk 02P, turning final, Runway 28, full-stop, Hampton Roads.” Flaps to 30
degrees, line up on centerline. Slow to 65 knots and descend. Keep those numbers on the bug spot on the windshield. A little high, power down some. Drifting left…get back on center…ailerons and rudder for wind correction. Lined up nice…add a little power back to stay on glide. Almost there…right on center. Airspeed looks good. Wow, here are the
numbers! Level off…hold it off…hold it off. Ease the nose up a little more….hold it off….Kacper always reminds me, gotta do it myself now….hold it….hold it…hold it! Wow…wheels just kissed it! Keep holding the nose up…..hold it…nose just comes down nice and soft. OK, brake….easy braking. Wow, plenty of room…gonna make the first turnoff!
One of my first three solo landings.
And that was it. I got around the pattern, hit all my targets and made
a pretty good landing. Mains touched down nice and easy and the nose came down gently. I made my first solo takeoff and landing! Wow! I turned off and completed the after landing checklist and began my taxi
back the threshold. After the second landing I noticed Cathie (Dick’s lady) standing by the fuel truck taking pictures of me. Then I saw Dick in the terminal. I thought, “That’s cool! They have pictures! They must have had a deal with Kacper to let them know when I was going on my solo.” I completed my final taxi, takeoff and landing and taxied triumphantly to the school ramp. I completed my checklist and shut down. Dick and Cathie were already there to greet and congratulate me. I had on a brand new shirt, so was hoping they were not going to cut the tail off, despite it being my first solo! Kacper came around and
remarked that the airplane looked OK, so things must have gone well. There were several posed pictures and much more back slapping and congratulating, and then Kacper and I went in for the debrief. We discussed the new privileges and limitations I had as a solo student, and discussed the next steps in my training. The very next week, we would start working with some controlled airports.
As it turned out, Dick and Cathie had been at the airport for over an hour, watching as I went around the pattern with Kacper. They did not have any deal with Kacper to let them know when I was going solo – I’m not sure he was sure until that afternoon. Dick just had a notion that I would be going on my solo that day, so they watched and waited. They hid behind dumpsters, the fuel truck, other airplanes and the terminal to keep me from seeing them. Cathie stepped out one landing too soon, as they were not planning to let me know they were there until I had completed all three landings, but it all worked out in the end. That evening, they presented me with a very nice keepsake album with photos
of my solo – something I am deeply appreciative of and will treasure.
My solo on 26 March 2013 was exactly 4 months from my first training flight with Kacper on 26 November 2012. I was about a month behind my expectations, but I am very happy anyway. I am particularly pleased with my instructor, who is not only patient and friendly, but is also a great teacher. I look forward to completing my training with him and getting my private pilot’s certificate sometime this summer.
Just finished my first solo flight!