And... another T-shirt is sacrificed to aviation!

[AKsoldier]

My first solo finally happened today! I have roughly 20 hours, spread out over the last ten months. I've flown two C172s, and the plane I soloed today: a PA11 Cub. I had about 7.1 hours in the Cub, half on skis and half on wheels. Then today after a few laps in the pattern, Artic had me stop, climbed out and said "Give me three stop and goes".

I couldn't ask for a better instructor, and he's also my Boss. He hasn't yet charged me a penny for any of my flight time, and that's just his character, I'm sure many of you here know him.

[Troy Hamon]

Congratulations pilot!

Sent from my LG-D801 using Tapatalk

[4merguide]

A great big congrats to you...!!!

[EMoss#83]

you will never forget it, i remember looking over at the empty seat as i went around the pattern. great job!

[Grizzly 2]

That little airplane felt a log lighter without another soul aboard, didn't it! And climbed a whole lot faster than you were expecting, too. Yep, you'l never forget that first solo flight. Congratulations. You're now in a very special fraternity.

[AKsoldier]

That little airplane felt a log lighter without another soul aboard, didn't it! And climbed a whole lot faster than you were expecting, too. Yep, you'l never forget that first solo flight. Congratulations. You're now in a very special fraternity.

Darn right, In a plane that light, even a small weight change makes a difference in how it flies. Without Artic on board, I reached pattern altitude before turning downwind, so I just backed off the throttle a bit and cruised until it was time to start configuring for landing.

Thanks for the congrats everyone. It was a bit challenging for a first solo. Some knucklehead in a 150 with no radio pulled in front of me while I was on final for my first landing, so I was forced to abort and go around. Then the same guy switched from 34 to 16, (favored runway was 34 and everyone else was using 34.) and took off heading right at me on my second landing! Fortunately, he was on asphalt and I was on gravel, but my heart rate went up a few notches.

[stid2677]

Congrats!!! I remember my first solo,, Ford Island, Hawaii, I bet my finger prints can still be seen on the yoke of that 152.

[brhrdr]

Congratulations!!

[Monguse]

Nice going and good for you doing it in a tail dragger. That'll set you on a good course for maintaining strong stick and rudder skills. Ken is a good guy...you're lucky to have him as an instructor.

[AKsoldier]

Nice going and good for you doing it in a tail dragger. That'll set you on a good course for maintaining strong stick and rudder skills. Ken is a good guy...you're lucky to have him as an instructor.

You're right, but one minor correction - Ken is the Boss, but not an instructor. Artic is the other owner with Ken, and Artic has been instructing for over 20 years. He's a 737 captain for Northern Air Cargo. He just teaches people to fly because he loves it. Ken is an awesome guy to work for too.

[Float Pilot]

Bravo!

PA-11s are a super nice plane... Probably the only type that actually makes me love them and not just like them like other planes....

And the one you were flying has FLAPS.... Very interesting... not really needed but interesting...

[AKsoldier]

Bravo!

PA-11s are a super nice plane... Probably the only type that actually makes me love them and not just like them like other planes....

And the one you were flying has FLAPS.... Very interesting... not really needed but interesting...

Nice catch! This one was built for very short gravel bars, etc. It gets in and out of some pretty short strips. At my skill level, I come in and touch down at about 50 MPH, but Artic can set her down safely at under 40.

[Snopro81]

Congradulations! Awesome to hear another success story!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Monguse]

Now I know why your flight school is named Artic's Air Academy...sorry for the mistake, just assumed they were one and the same.

[AKsoldier]

Now I know why your flight school is named Artic's Air Academy...sorry for the mistake, just assumed they were one and the same.

No worries. The spelling causes some confusion occasionally. It's the word "arctic" without the first C. He jokes that his parents didn't know how to spell.