Flying solo

That unoccupied seat is so significant to pilots that friends flock to meet us at the tiedowns after our first solo flight, and we sacrifice a T-shirt to commemorate the occasion. Although a student’s first solo often comes fairly early in the training process, it’s a monumental milestone: first time as pilot in command. Solo flights continue to play a critical role in developing our pilot-in-command skills well beyond the checkride.

The tradition of cutting a student’s shirt-tail after the first solo started in an era before headsets simplified communication between instructor and student. As the story goes, instructors in noisy tandem-seat, open-cockpit airplanes would tug on a student’s shirt to get their attention. Cutting the shirt-tail shows confidence the student no longer needs that kind of hands-on direction. Alone in the cockpit, you’re the one calling the shots.

In “Who’s the Boss,” by Ian J. Twombly discusses how developing communication, decision making, and leadership skills can help us own the title of pilot
in command. For all our celebration, the first solo is only the beginning of our
development as PIC.

My early traffic-pattern solos helped bolster my confidence that I had the hand-eye coordination for a safe takeoff and landing as well as the judgment to make routine decisions such as extending downwind for spacing or aborting a landing when needed. Solo cross-countries measured my flight planning against reality and heightened my awareness of engine instruments and emergency landing sites. But I still felt uneasy on more open-ended flights, where I set out for the practice area to refine maneuvers such as steep turns and stalls. What if there was traffic I didn’t see? What if a stall turned into a spin? What if that engine hum wasn’t normal? I missed having the backup of someone with the skills and self-preservation instinct to keep me safe even if I really messed up.

I've since come to cherish the times I spend alone in the air.I’ve since come to cherish the times I spend alone in the air for the peace, pride, and accountability of flying solo. Flying with others is fun, but solo flying is uncomplicated by assumptions about who does what, and it reminds us of the sole responsibility we bear. When I fly with a CFI, I sometimes catch myself seeking affirmation before doing something I would have executed without a second thought were I flying alone. And although pilot-rated passengers can help with tasks such as watching for traffic or tuning frequencies, those tasks must be clearly communicated and agreed to. A pilot-rated passenger is still a passenger. PIC authority still lies with the designated PIC.

My most memorable solo flight wasn’t my first, but rather a 10-hour trip home from Florida to Maryland after the Sun ’n Fun International Fly-In in a Cessna 152. My experience to that point had been mostly nearby burger runs, but this route would bring me through an exodus of fly-in traffic, unfamiliar airspace, and uncertain weather up the East Coast. I called for a weather briefing so many times the briefer reminded me I had online options. One day I flew only 30 miles before tying down as visibility dropped and the first raindrops fell. I met friendly FBO managers and helpful controllers and fueled an airplane for the first time away from my home base.

When I arrived at Frederick Municipal Airport in Maryland, no friends were there to greet me. There was no celebration or ceremony, just six states’ worth of bugs on the wings and a fresh rag. I closed the hangar, loaded my bags in the car, and sat down, exhausted. Man, I felt like a pilot.

Editor Sarah Deener soloed on May 10, 2011.
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