Two entries with podcasts in two weeks. Somehow, I don't think I will keep up this pace for long. However, I was finally able to record in flight audio which really helps when putting the podcast together. Rather than scripting or talking, I can just edit and publish.Today, the plan was for a flight which I'm calling my first complete solo. For the first time, I would complete a short flight without ever having an instructor in the airplane with me. I would takeoff from San Antonio International (SAT), navigate to the practice area, perform some maneuvers, navigate to Castroville airport (T89), do a couple of landings, and return to SAT all by myself. Surprisingly, I wasn't really nervous about this either...just anxious and excited. This, I knew, was going to be fun. This was what flying was all about.I had the airplane (N1281U - Rifle 12) scheduled from 9:30-12:00am local. However, no one was scheduled in this airplane before me, so I decided to arrive early in order to complete my weight, balance and performance calculations before my scheduled start time. For such a simple flight, this work didn't take very long. I gave myself a half hour to finish and I ended up with 10 minutes to spare. Good, a little time to relax might be helpful.When Rodrigo arrived at 9:30, he quickly checked the weather with me again before we sat down to discuss the flight. I was expecting to have to go through an additional oral exam, but Rodrigo didn't seem to have a lot of questions for me. I like to think that this means he thinks I know my stuff (probably not the case though).Rodrigo and I only talked for about 10 minutes. Most of that time was spent giving me my instructions for what to do during the flight. He wanted me to keep it short, simple, and fun. I decided I wanted to go to the west practice area, so the plan was for me to do a few maneuvers in the practice area, then head to Castroville (T89) for two full stop landings, then return home.After those simple instructions, I was handed the keys to the airplane and sent on my way. I ran through my pre-flight and, when everything checked out, settled myself into the cockpit. As I started the engine, checked the ATIS and contacted clearance/delivery, everything was feeling good. I wasn't nervous at all. I just wanted to get into the air.A few minutes later, I did just that. As soon as I had my takeoff clearance, I shot down the runway. The temperature was a mere 10C, so my little Cessna leaped from the runway and climbed like an F-18! OK, it was only 1200 feet per minute, but it felt great! Moments later, I was cleared to resume own navigation and I turned into the wind and towards the practice area.With a strong headwind, I wasn't able to make very good time to the practice area. It took me about 20 minutes to travel 20 miles. There was another Wright Flyers airplane behind me also headed to the practice area. Fortunately, we had a very good controller watching over us. Once we entered the practice area, he continually called out positions to each airplane. Even though I could not see the other airplane behind me, it was good to know I was being looked after.Once I was deep into the practice area, I started the maneuvering prescribed by Rodrigo. First, two steep turns. One right, one left, both OK, but both could have been much better. I then set up for slow flight in the landing configuration, followed by slow flight in the clean configuration. I maintained each slow flight configuration for about two minutes, making slight turns to get used to the mushy controls.With that out of the way, I was ready to head to Castroville for a couple of landings. I radioed SAT to let the know my intentions and to tell them that I had Castroville in sight. They immediately had me switch over, so I tuned in the Castroville CTAF and made my first call. With the wind direction and my location, I decided to make a straight in approach for runway 15. There was no one else in the area, so I felt like I was talking to myself the entire time!My first landing was surprisingly good. In fact, I was wishing Rodrigo was there so that I could show him that I can make an occasional smooth landing. I checked my watch and decided that I would only have time for one more before I would need to head home.I taxied back while checking the weather. Still, no one was heading in or out of Castroville, so I was alone in the sky. I took off and remained in the pattern. This time, I had a small bounce on the landing, but the wheels hit the ground smoothly (both times).I was having fun and I would've loved to do a couple more patterns, but I didn't want to return late as I knew someone had the airplane after me. So, I took off and exited the pattern to return to San Antonio.As I realized it was only going to take me 10 minutes for the return trip, I was kicking myself for not doing one or two more patterns at Castroville. I was vectored to the SAT VOR and then handed off to the SAT tower shortly thereafter. Moments later, I was on the ground taxiing to Wright Flyers.Next came the most difficult part of the entire flight...parking the airplane! I pulled past my parking spot, shut the airplane down and grabbed the tow bar. At first, I thought I was going to successfully push the plane into its parking space on the first try, but I over shot. I pulled forward and then back and then forward and then back and then forward...finally after about five attempts, I had the airplane situated (more or less). After securing it and gathering my gear, I headed inside. Rodrigo was gone, so all I had to do was sign the invoice and proceed direct to home while maintaining best forward speed.What a great day. The most surprising part was that I was never nervous. I just did what I was instructed to do...HAVE FUN!!!
Two entries with podcasts in two weeks. Somehow, I don't think I will keep up this pace for long. However, I was finally able to record in flight audio which really helps when putting the podcast together. Rather than scripting or talking, I can just edit and publish. Today, the plan was for a flight which I'm calling my first complete solo. For the first time, I would complete a short flight without ever having an instructor in the airplane with me. I would takeoff from San Antonio International (SAT), navigate to the practice area, perform some maneuvers, navigate to Castroville airport (T89), do a couple of landings, and return to SAT all by myself. Surprisingly, I wasn't really nervous about this either...just anxious and excited. This, I knew, was going to be fun. This was what flying was all about. I had the airplane (N1281U - Rifle 12) scheduled from 9:30-12:00am local. However, no one was scheduled in this airplane before me, so I decided to arrive early in order to complete my weight, balance and performance calculations before my scheduled start time. For such a simple flight, this work didn't take very long. I gave myself a half hour to finish and I ended up with 10 minutes to spare. Good, a little time to relax might be helpful. When Rodrigo arrived at 9:30, he quickly checked the weather with me again before we sat down to discuss the flight. I was expecting to have to go through an additional oral exam, but Rodrigo didn't seem to have a lot of questions for me. I like to think that this means he thinks I know my stuff (probably not the case though). Rodrigo and I only talked for about 10 minutes. Most of that time was spent giving me my instructions for what to do during the flight. He wanted me to keep it short, simple, and fun. I decided I wanted to go to the west practice area, so the plan was for me to do a few maneuvers in the practice area, then head to Castroville (T89) for two full stop landings, then return home. After those simple instructions, I was handed the keys to the airplane and sent on my way. I ran through my pre-flight and, when everything checked out, settled myself into the cockpit. As I started the engine, checked the ATIS and contacted clearance/delivery, everything was feeling good. I wasn't nervous at all. I just wanted to get into the air. A few minutes later, I did just that. As soon as I had my takeoff clearance, I shot down the runway. The temperature was a mere 10C, so my little Cessna leaped from the runway and climbed like an F-18! OK, it was only 1200 feet per minute, but it felt great! Moments later, I was cleared to resume own navigation and I turned into the wind and towards the practice area. With a strong headwind, I wasn't able to make very good time to the practice area. It took me about 20 minutes to travel 20 miles. There was another Wright Flyers airplane behind me also headed to the practice area. Fortunately, we had a very good controller watching over us. Once we entered the practice area, he continually called out positions to each airplane. Even though I could not see the other airplane behind me, it was good to know I was being looked after. Once I was deep into the practice area, I started the maneuvering prescribed by Rodrigo. First, two steep turns. One right, one left, both OK, but both could have been much better. I then set up for slow flight in the landing configuration, followed by slow flight in the clean configuration. I maintained each slow flight configuration for about two minutes, making slight turns to get used to the mushy controls. With that out of the way, I was ready to head to Castroville for a couple of landings. I radioed SAT to let the know my intentions and to tell them that I had Castroville in sight. They immediately had me switch over, so I tuned in the Castroville CTAF and made my first call. With the wind direction and my location, I decided to make a straight in approach for runway 15. There was no one else in the area, so I felt like