“It is possible to fly without motors, but not without knowledge and skill.”

— Wilbur Wright

My instructor had told me that for the next few flights, plan A would be my third and final supervised Solo and Plan B would be hood work.  Can you guess which one I would rather do?  The weather seemed perfect except for the airplanes arch nemesis. Frost on the wings in a below freezing situation.  It was supposed to be cloudy all day with little chance that the frost would melt off without the temperature increasing or sun shining.  However, about 30 minutes before my scheduled flight the sun came out and made the evil frost go away.  Plan A it is!!

Not a whole lot of new stuff here.  I went up with my instructor and we performed 3 touch and go landings.  The wind was either calm or gusting about 6 kts with about a 3-4 kt crosswind component.  Not a big deal but it was quite turbulent all the way around the pattern.

After the third landing my instructor asked “Do you want to go by yourself or is the air too bumpy?”  I replied, “I am comfortable with it if you are”  So off I went.  Nothing exciting to note other than a big bump that caused my wing to dip and I made the comment to myself that “No one is here to save me now”.  It was a moment of hesitation but then took care of business.

After my final landing, I picked up my instructor and she said that I am now signed off to fly the airplane by myself in the pattern or to the practice area and gave me my limitations.  I am super excited and it is a milestone on the road to my license. I still have a lot to learn and luckily I am a member of a fantastic club full of experienced pilots.  I know that even though I am safe enough to fly by myself, that I still have a ton to learn about the art of aviation.  I will continue to absorb as much as I can and sharpen my skills.  In the mean time… going to schedule my first solo session!  Yay!