Flight Date:07/20/2016
Flight School:Durham Flight Centre
Flight Instructor: Jennifer Borolussi
Comment:July 20th, 11:35, the official date time of C-GRDZ wheels up for what would be my very first solo flight in a powered aircraft at CYOO. After a regular dual circuit flight my instructor Jen, we were taxing and just pulling up to shut down. Just as usual I started my shut down checklist. About a quarter of the way through Jen had stopped me and said “you won’t have to do that, you’re going solo!” I can remember my heart beating fast! Almost as fast when I first went solo in a glider. The trill and feeling you get when you know there won’t be another person in the seat beside you to help you is dreamlike. Once cleared of my Take off on runway 23 all of my emotions turned around and everything was relaxed! Once I was finished the circuit and coming into land what I thought was going to be my last part of my very first solo flight I was just entering my flare. During the beginning of my flare I pulled up aggressively and as a result I did something called “ballooning”. This happens when your airspeed is high and you pull bak on the yoke faster then usual. Oh no is going through my head! The recovery for this is quite simple if you have enough runway available to land the aircraft safely. You simply add some power and try to flare again. But as it being my first solo flight and having neves running trough me I decided that the safest thing to do is overshoot and try to land again! I went around and all I remember thinking was I probably scared my instructor! The second time was the charm and I landed safely. Once back to the apron ATC called RDZ and congratulated me on my first solo! The very last detail i remember from this is the very cold water hitting me one out of the plane! This was most definitely a huge experience in my life that i will never forget!
