My first Solo

My first solo came as no suprise to me. My instructor told me the day that I would be doing my first solo days before so I was prepared. All I had to do was pass my pre-solo written exam. I showed at Stellenbosch Flying club on the 12th of January 2010,passed the exam with 80% and had the pre-flight briefing. We took off,did a normal circuit,a flapless circuit,and a simulated engine failure circuit. We landed,taxied to the holding point,my instructor wished me luck and hopped out. I performed all the necessary pre-takeoff checks and runups. I taxied onto the runway,did the last checks and performed the radio call "Stellenbosch traffic,Lima-Sierra-November taking off runway one nine,remaining in the circuit".I gave LSN full throttle and watched the speed come alive.At 60 knots I eased the stick back and lifted off.I was airborne. The rest of my solo went by as a normal circuit except It seemed a bit more lonely up there. I ended off my first solo with an extremely smooth landing and taxied back to hanger.I had gone solo.

The best gift

On the 20th of October 2009 I turned 17 years old. I had a normal horrible school day where no one remembered it was my birthday but later that night my parents and grandparents took me to Henris,my favourite restraunt. We had sat down,got drinks and ordered already when my parents asked me if I'd like to open my presents.Well I didn't even know I had gotten presents so I said "sure!" and got quite excited. So I opened the first one which turned out to be an amazing Aviator watch. The next one I opened appeared to be a ruler.But upon closer inspection I noticed it was marked out in Nauticle miles and not centimeters. Now I was confused. What did they want me to do with a ruler for Aviaton Navigation.Then came my final present,a big box.I opened the box and inside was a stack of books starting with the Cessna 152 pilots operating handbook.I knew what I had just gotten. I looked at my Parents in disbelief. In the box were books,my headset and my Stellenbosch Flying Club membership number.I had just gotten my PPL.