However, this morning was clear over the airport. The original plan was to have me fly my first solo cross country. (cross country here is defined as landing at an airport at least 50 miles from where you begin)
But, of course, the place I was going to solo to had some weather. It was moving in steadily and I wouldn't have beat it. So, we changed the plans so I'd do my necessary 3 solo takeoffs and landings at a tower-controlled airport.
I've had a real fear of talking to towers. I don't know what to say and when to who. Depending on the size of the airport, I have to tune in up to 4 different frequencies and talk to 3 different people. Scared me to death. So last week, I bought some VFR communication training software. That really seemed to do the trick.
So, I wasn't too scared of this flight before takeoff. But during my first landing, a little crosswind gust came out of nowhere and I landed on 1 wheel and almost went off the runway. Scared the living crap out of me. It's been over 2.5 hours and I'm still on-edge.
Of course everything else went better than expected, and everyone has bad landings. No damage done. But, as I've read and almost experienced, it doesn't take much to scare a student pilot into quitting. Sometimes I get lulled into a false sense of security and forget that flying has a much smaller margin of tolerance than most of the rest of life.
Anyway, all is good. I'm just still freaking out a bit about that landing. I've got another flight at 3:00 and I know things will go better then.
Meanwhile, enjoy a couple more pictures. (larger versions plus another new flying picture is on Flickr)
Here's my mug right before takeoff.
Here's my airport from the air right before I entered the traffic pattern for landing.
1 comment:
You know that really freaks me out right?
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