Rising above Fear - My first Solo Flight

Overcoming your greatest fear is the biggest achievement in anyone life. It takes a lot of courage and strength to face the challenge and pressure situations in life when you have to take the big step. Life is all about taking risk and capacity to bear it and fight it till u succeed.I was in Miami for my pilot training course in order to become a commercial pilot. During initial days of my flying training, my first few flights were not very smooth ride and often after the flight, I had issues of headache, vomiting and stress. It was something which was common during the initial flight hours but somehow I managed it. But this took a lot of effort and courage to overcome my fear and obstructions which came every time I was flying.One of most important part of my training was getting my first solo flight sign off by the instructor and have the privilege to fly the Cessna single engine airplane and land the aircraft runway as Pilot in Command.After 20 hrs of flight training and ground school, my instructor thought that I was proficient enough to fly Cessna 152 and land it myself. My instructor had a faith in me but I was still lacking confidence if I will be able to do it myself or not. I had a fear of flying alone as there will be no instructor with me who could help me out with radio communications call and scan the environment for potential traffic and emergency issues.

Next morning, the weather was clear at Ta-Miami Airport and my instructor called me up for morning schedule flight. I did the pre-flight checks and was little nervous too as I knew it was the D-day for me. While taxing the aircraft, my instructor told me important things and we did a two takeoff and landing circuit. Then he told me to taxi back to the ramp and asked me about emergency procedures in case of engine failure, fire and stall. I told him the steps to follow and the directions. After listening to my answer, he was satisfied and came out of the plane.He asked me that if I was ready to go solo now and fly the plane. At the point of time, I paused for a while and took the courage to say yes.


Final Check before Solo Flight

Taxing for Solo Flight


Before Take Off Solo Flight

I taxied back to the runway and told the tower about my first solo flight.This time while holding short of the runaway, I was more vigilant and performed the before takeoff checks twice. I could see from the window that my instructor was looking at my every move and smiling too. Then the call came from tower and I replied that I am ready to take off. I pushed the throttle forward and my focus on keeping the airplane straight on the centre of the runway.

First Solo Take Off

 Leaving all the fears behind, I took off with pride and focused on my flying. Next followed the traffic pattern and answering the radio calls, I entered the final phase monitoring my airspeed and getting the landing checks done; I descended down and landed the plane on the runway centreline. After landing, I pushed the throttle again and followed the pattern two times before making a soft landing to the runway and getting back to ramp. I could see the excitement and thrill in my instructor face when I came back. This was the moment for me when I put the fears behind and got the courage to fly the airplane as Pilot in Command.


After Landing Solo Flight
After my solo flight,I was full of confidence and had no fear.Everyone in life have fear about something and if you have one,do watch this awesome video from Mountain Dew and visit their Facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/mountaindewindia. Share your ways to overcome fears and be brave.


This post is written for #RiseAboveFear event in association with MountainDew India and Indiblogger.

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