Monday, July 28th (1st solo!)

"Wheels up in 30 minutes, Tobin."

This was Matt's 'good morning' to me as I walked in at 0800. There was a stir around the classroom as I arrived and it took me a second, but I realized that it's solo time. Ben had advised the brass of my good flight on Sunday, and they were anxious to rip me away from my proverbial teat. A few wide eyes and thumbs-ups from my mates and I suddenly wished I had ordered a decaf instead.

I called WX Brief for an area forecast and grabbed my flight bag. Matt walked me out to the ramp (another first) and tells me to treat it like any other flight, to relax and just show the man what I've learned. I preflight 441CA, my lucky steed from yesterday.

Javier, the assistant chief pilot, meets me a few minutes later and we chat planeside. He tells me about the same thing Matt told me... to relax and have fun with the flight. I am now Pilot In Command and he was my passenger, and I'm just taking him for a nice ride. I'm still a little tense at this point, but feeling confident until after starting the engine I accidentally cut it by pushing the throttle forward instead of the mixture, something I hadn't done before. I wince and look up to see Matt ahead of me, arms folded, tsk-tsking me from across the ramp. Yikes. Javier tells me one more time to relax, and it worked. I'm now convinced that I've completed my glitch for this mission and I'm suddenly feeling great. Engine restarted, checklists complete, taxi clearance received. Onward.

Smooth air all the way out to the south practice area. Javier is chatty and full of really good advice. It's quickly evident that he knows what he's talking about. I demonstrate steep turns, slow flight, a power-off stall, and an emergency landing simulation over a freshly threshed field. He also takes some extra time to teach me how to do a forward slip, a very fun maneuver designed to hemorrhage altitude while retaining airspeed without flaps.

On to Mid-Way. I get the approach calls in and enter the pattern. Three nice landings later, Javier tells me to go full-stop and taxi to the ramp. He hops out, asks for my logbook and medical certificate, endorses them, then again tells me to relax and take her up for three or four touch-and-goes. He also reminds me that the plane will be a lot lighter without him in it, so be ready.

"Good luck." The door closes. I am all alone.

Longest taxi of my life. Grinning, trying to stay focused, thinking about emergency procedures, correct radio calls, checklists, and that the seat next to me is empty. Hooboy.

I position to the threshold and push full throttle. It's just like any other takeoff, except that it lifts up like an elevator because that seat next to me is empty. By 500 feet AGL I'm laughing aloud hysterically, but I collect myself in time to hit my crosswind position call on the radio. Landing #1 goes great, just like the others. Landing #2, not so much. A crosswind gust rattled me and I bounced it. Landing #3 goes like #1. I call out for full stop and Javier radios me to go around one more time. Landing #4, more of the same. I taxi back to the ramp where Javier flags me into a slot and hops back in. Being the experienced pilot I now am, I try to anticipate the first thing out of his mouth.

"#2?"

"#2. You know what you did?"

"Yep."

"Great. Let's head home. Nice job."

Nailed my approach procedures back to Arlington (except for calling the tower "Mid-Way Traffic" out of habit, which I corrected immediately). Another good landing and we're home. Another logbook signature and I'm officially cleared for solo flight.

Rumor has it that I'm getting thrown to the fast-track wolves starting tomorrow. First solo cross-country (50nm to Corsicana) awaits!

-Alone in Arlington