My First Solo

It was around 4 years ago that I originally applied to Able Flight, a program that helps people with disabilities learn how to fly. My application was rejected the first time around. It was disappointing, but didn’t really work with my schedule at the time anyways. Two years later, I was given another chance and this time I got in. I was just coming off of 9 months of dealing with a pressure wound and the timing couldn’t have been better.

 

I got to Purdue  University and began my flight training. Flying is already an amazing thing to be able to do, but going from being on total bedrest to being able to fly every day made the experience even more incredible. Even though I had flown before, the first time up in a plane was exhilarating. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but I also had a lot of anxiety. There was so much to pay attention to and I felt overwhelmed. Could I actually do this? Did I sign myself up for something I’m just going to fail at?

 

As I got into the training, I started to do better. The problem was with my landings. My approaches were all over the place. I executed more go arounds than I can count. My classmates all started soloing, and I couldn’t get in a good landing. How was I going to fly if I couldn’t get the plane down? Again, I started to doubt whether I was made for this or not.

 

It took a couple days of flying around in the pattern and making approach after approach, but eventually it just clicked. I was performing good landings consistently. I knew my time was coming. There was some great weather one day, I showed up for my flight lesson, and my instructor told me she wasn’t going with me. It was time to solo. Throughout my flight training up to that point, my anxiety had been high. For some reason, I was totally calm for my solo. I was excited, but confident. I did my preflight, got in the cockpit, and fired up the engine. I called tower, lined up on the runway, and took off.

 

 

 

 

It’s hard to describe the feeling I had. It was both energizing and calming at the same time. I felt content. All that time I had spent healing from my wound faded away as I felt an immense sense of freedom. The limits I normally deal with disappeared.