Solo Review

3/7/13

    My 16th birthday is rapidly approaching and I'm trying to reach my goal of soloing on my birthday. Having said that, I want to get in as much practice as possible so I am able to be a competent student pilot on my solo flights. 

    The flight started wonderfully. We were cleared to taxi to 32 and were in the pattern for 32 before we knew it. We practiced normal power-on landings. All of my approaches were fast. Later, we realized the RPMs were 200 revolutions high. That explained the problem.

    Then, Craig requested runway 6 for some crosswind takeoff and landing practice. I'm still working on my crosswind practice so I was getting frustrated here and there. 

    We decided to head to the practice area for a few maneuvers. We practiced slow flight, steep turns, and various ground reference maneuvers such as s-turns and turns around a point. I managed to get a stall in there too. 

    We then headed back to JXN and landed on 32. I hadn't flown in awhile so this lesson was well needed. I need to get up a few more times before my solo!