First solo flight!

Today was the day when my flight training had advanced to the point that I could fly solo for the first time. I would very much like to write the traditional story here, where I'm at first extremely nervous and then embark to the skies and come down safely with a huge sense of relief and personal accomplishment.

But... this was the fourth "first solo" for me, so I genuinely wasn't nervous at all and the flight wasn't anything mindblowing, although it felt nice of course. However I don't remember being especially nervous before and during my true first solo with a glider. I'm not saying I'm better than others in any way but somehow flying for me feels very natural and I just somehow know I can manage whatever comes up. Sometimes I bit envy some of my coursemates who have come to the school with zero hours of flight experience. Everything is so new and exciting. I suppose I'll have to wait a while before something totally new comes to me, since this PPL course has been very familiar so far.

Still, it's always nice to fly without an instructor. There's always these waypoints in flight training where having an instructor on board doesn't really add to the experience and you'll have to fly solo for a while to make progress. So now it was fun to fly alone and enjoy the silence and Cessna flying.

The day's sortie was a flight in the traffic circuit, where I had to make five touch and go landings in the vicinity of Malmi airport. After this it was time to park the plane and head for the hangar to receive some applauds and congratulations.

...and yes, there came the cold water! :)

I flew a regional airliner over the Austrian Alps...!

...in the simulator.

In flight training there's sometimes quite a lot of waiting involved, for example when the other pilot from your flight group is in the air with your plane or when the weather doesn't aallow for immediate departure. What a better opportunity to catch up on some checklists, school SOP's and brush up on some theoretical knowledge...

Or alternatively, play with our nice flight simulator :)

The sim in question is a usual Microsoft Flight Simulator X, which is located in the crew lounge in our hangar. However, we have a nice, large flat-screen TV, a proper control yoke, a throttle quadrant and rudder pedals to enchance the feeling and realism.

In the cockpit of an ATR, ready for taxi!

In addition to playing with different airplanes and landscapes, you can actually benefit from the simulator. By choosing the Cessna 152 and Malmi airport it's easy and convenient to practice SOP's, checklists and other procedures especially in the traffic circuit. Everything works like in real world, with the exception of a real feel for the controls. Also, the pitch attitude compared to speed and power setting isn't quite there.

Flying between mountains.