I soloed July 18, 2011. The feeling of doing your first solo is amazing and scary at the same time. My solo was totally unexpected. All my life I have wanted to fly and I finally accomplished my goal. It was better than I could have ever imagined.
Although I have soloed my pilot training is far from over; it’s just beginning. My solo occurred round 8pm and while I was taxiing to the runway a cat jumped out in front of me. I reacted quickly and correctly. I flew around the pattern twice and had two soft smooth touchdowns.
My favorite memory was when I turned final for the runway, and all the runway lights were on and the mountains were dark blue and haze was setting in and car lights and street lights were flashing. I approached the glide slope and slowly and smoothly touched down on runway 28.
I thank everyone from Randolph-Macon Academy for all the congratulations and handshakes. I will return home to Chesapeake, Virginia, to continue flight training and soloing.
Editor’s note: This was Ryan’s second summer at the R-MA Summer Flight Camp. All of us at R-MA congratulate him on this wonderful accomplishment, and wish him the best of luck in his future!