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Sunday, June 10, 2007
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Phantastic Phlying Photoblog!
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Well, it all came together last Wednesday. The crowd gathered. The "Mysterious Guy" was there, lurking about. Teds was, well, whatever. The big day had come. After much hard work, training and study, Drewie was scheduled to embark on his first solo flight. As soon as we arrived, the instructor warned us that there was a 90% likelyhood that he would NOT solo that day, due to the windy, gusty weather conditions. He said that he and Andrew would go up, and unless 'Drew was able to "wow me with his flying skills" he would have to reschedule for a more calm day. It was otherwise a cool and clear day, ideal for flying. So like a good pilot does, Drewie did his pre-flight inspection of the aircraft. Here he is about to check the fuel level. That's a good thing to check. Convinced that all was as it should be, he and his instructor, Steve, taxied out to the runway. They took off, flew the pattern around the airport, did a number of touch-and-go landing and take offs. The wind continued to blow briskly, note the two flags below the plane. But in spite of the conditions Andrew exhibited fine form and a steady hand on the controls. So much so in fact, that Steve decided that the time was now. They taxied back to the ramp, and Steve climbed out of the plane (note the big grin on Drewie's face!), and left Andrew as "Pilot in Command." Fully aware of what was at hand, Drewie got real serious and pilot-like. We all watched as he taxied the plane off the ramp, turned onto the end of the runway, opened up the throttle and headed off. My ever-present camera was, of course, there to catch Drewie the moment the he finally "Slipped the surly bonds of earth" and headed skyward. It was quite a moment. Mrs. A stood by capturing the whoe event on video with tears in her eyes. That Mysterious Guy was still lurking in the background. Like the rest of us, his instructor Steve watched from the ground as Andrew made 3 turns around the airport traffic pattern, and did several more landings and takeoffs. In the end, Andrew performed to that fundamental pilot's rule: "ALWAYS have as many landings as you have takeoffs" and finally taxied back to the ramp. There was much cheering and smiles, though I suspect this one was the biggest of all. I suspect that this is almost as much a triumph for the flight instructor as it it is for the student, and Steve was all smiles as well. Perhaps he was mostly glad that his plane made it back, but I don't think that was it. It is a tradition amongst pilots that after your first solo, that the instructor will "clip the tailfeathers" of the student. This consists of the instructor cutting off the back of the students shirt, marking it with the date, and signing it. The instructor then gets to keep the clipping as a trophy, showing that he had yet another successful student. Andrew was in full Andrew form. "I'm the Droob, I'm the MAN!" It was a great day, and a great accomplishment. Congratulations Drewie!! |
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| thus voiced The A, Mistah @ 10:56 AM | |
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