First Solo Flight

The biggest milestone on the way towards obtaining a private pilot license (PPL) is the first solo flight. I completed mine on June 17th, 2024, and the time is ripe for a little write-up.

I started taking flying lessons in January 2024 and pursued the flight training with great enthusiasm. Interrupted only by occasional travel plans, I went flying fairly regularly, about two to three times a week. Initial lessons covered basics like turning around a point, flying straight and level, and the flight controls. After my instructor Matt had also covered some more advanced maneuvers like emergency descents and slow flight, I was technically ready for soloing. However, there was no rush to complete it immediately, so we proceeded with the training and did the night flights, cross country, and simulated instrument flying first.

After logging 49.6 hours of “dual received,” we scheduled the pre-solo phase check. That’s a theoretical and practical examination with a senior flight instructor who then - depending on the student’s performance - approves the solo flights. I had the check with Ed on May 18th. The examination came with a lot of theoretical preparation about the FAA regulations (A TOMATO FLAMES and the like), airspace, and, of course, landing practice. The flight itself went well. That is, except for an almost-airspace violation of the class Charlie off of Oakland, which I would have busted had Ed not taken over the controls. He said that’d teach me a valuable lesson.

The figure shows the airspace around Hayward Executive (KHWD). The Bay Area airspace is notoriously congested and complex. During the pre-solo phase check, we were cleared to land on KHWD’s 28L following the approach path marked by the dotted yellow path. The arrow points to the purple class Charlie shelf of Oakland International (KOAK), where an approaching plane must be below 1500’. I was, however, distracted by traffic that was right below us and missed that, almost violating the airspace.

Between approval and actual solo, another month passed because I traveled to Europe. After returning, I was eager to get going and scheduled a normal flight lesson followed by a (tentative) solo flight shortly after. Unfortunately, the winds were too strong, and we had to postpone it several times until a morning slot with favorable winds came up. That ended up being on the 17th of June – my birthday! :-) At the time of the solo, I had 60.2 hours of total flight time.

I left home at 6:30am to embark on the 35min drive down to Palo Alto airport. Matt was already there, and I got our plane N5276P checked out. She’s my second favorite after N168Y. The airport felt calm, and nobody else was out flying when we taxied towards RWY 31. Everything was as usual: run-up with autopilot check, flight control check, engine run-up, checklists. We took off together and did two touch-and-gos. The third landing was then a full stop, and Matt called up the tower requesting an instructor drop-off. After wishing me “Viel Spaß!” (he occasionally mixes in a few German words), I was sitting in the plane entirely by myself.

Taxiing towards the runway, I felt my heart beating strongly and my focus being 100% on all the procedures. Thoughts like “turn nav, strobe, and landing lights back on” and “don’t forget to set the mixture to full rich” went through my head. Takeoff clearance was granted without delay, and off I went.

The moment of being airborne for the first time was something I had anticipated for a while. The plane felt light. Tanja told me how she had a thought along the lines of “now there’s only one way of getting back onto the ground: landing myself” going through her head. It crossed my mind too, but the next moment I was again focused on offsetting the departure by 10 deg to fly out at 318 deg for noise abatement (or - as another instructor explained - to avoid gunshots from East Palo Alto; the degree to which this is a joke is unclear). From that point on, it was all procedures. Turning right, checking the downwind while leveling off, adjusting the engine power, aiming for Moffett airfield, double-checking the horizontal separation from the runway, getting landing clearance, initiating the descent, …

On final, I realized it was about to happen, and next thing you know, I was already applying brakes to taxi off the runway. The landing was quite smooth and on centerline. It was a great feeling, and I was super keen to go ahead and do the next round right away. After two more landings (six in total on that day, three of which were solo), we called it a day. All three were good. I thanked the tower controller by saying “thanks for accommodating my first solo”.

This photo was taken after I had arrived at the parking spot. Proud!

The type of solo where the instructor watches from the ground is common at my club, Advantage Aviation. As per club rules, three such supervised solos are required, and we proceeded promptly to check off the other two in the following week. For those, we flew to Livermore and Hayward respectively.

The map shows all the solo flights. One can nicely see the six landings per airport (three with instructor, three solo).

On the flight to Hayward, there was one moment during which another, faster plane came in to land on the same runway as I, so my downwind was extended by the controller after I rejected the offer to perform a short approach. As I turned final - a healthy distance away from the runway - the skyline of SF appeared in the distance right behind the runway. It was a joyful moment during which I just appreciated sitting up there in my little airplane flying around getting to experience this. I pulled out my phone quickly to snap this photo:

After a few more flights in between (a Bay Tour and one scenic flight on Hawaii!), it was time for the first unsupervised solo, which I completed on July 11th. For this one, it was the first time just driving to the airport and flying around without anyone checking what I’m up to. I decided not to do maneuvers or other practice on the flight and instead just enjoy looking outside and appreciating the fact that I’ve unlocked this new, amazing means of transportation. This flight was on my N168Y, by the way, and I did some airliner spotting by flying 500’ below the class Bravo shelf of SFO. Afterwards, I added a logbook entry myself for the first time. My total time was at 68.2 hours.

For the next three to four months, the focus will be to make the final push towards the PPL. There’s an enormous amount of studying to be done. It’s in competition with all the other things I want to do, but it’s clearly worth persevering here. For now, I’m happy to be able to fly by myself now!

I’ve made a barely edited video of my first solo (which took place at KPAO) to have that memory documented. Feel invited to watch it a little bit: