fly: July 2007 Archives
Today was my first full flight as PIC (pilot in command). Technically it's my second solo, but the first one doesn't feel much like a solo -- it's just the tail end of a flight with your instructor, and you're not allowed to leave the traffic pattern. Today was the first flight where my instructor wasn't standing at the edge of the runway with his fingers crossed, and it's the first time I ended communication with the tower ("Frequency changed approved. Good day!").
My office's annual picnic is today, and I finished the work I needed to do, so I took an off-campus lunch hour and drove to SQL. Winds were a bit of a concern -- 10 degrees @ 6 knots, but that was within the limits of my solo endorsement, and in any event I figured I needed to get used to the normally windy conditions during the day at San Carlos (as opposed to my usual early-morning flights, which are almost always zero-wind). Preflight fine, ATIS Uniform, runway 30 in use. My plan was to take off, do a Bay Meadows departure, fly over OSI, and come back in for pattern work.
That's pretty much what happened. Before departure I tuned in the nav for OSI, and during my climbout after turning past Bay Meadows I dialed in the right heading in the OBS. I climbed to 3,500 feet and saw OSI, but I decided not to fly over it because fog was beginning to creep over the hills, and I didn't want to come anywhere near violating the FAR student-pilot requirement of maintaining ground reference at all times during solo flight. So I called back in to SQL Tower and began my flight back. I didn't ask for closed traffic because I was concerned about crosswinds. In addition the pattern was quite crowded, so I didn't want to add midair collisions to my list of things to worry about (at least, any more so than it always is).
I crossed 101 at 1,400 feet but was descending too quickly, so I had to push in the throttle to comply with the Tower's mandate of crossing the field at or above 1,200 feet. Entered right downwind, told to wait for departing aircraft. Then cleared to land on 30.
As I turned to final I asked for a wind check. 340@8. Very quickly looked up the crosswind component: 5.5 knots, just a hair under my endorsement. Yikes! I could go around and hope for calmer air in 5 minutes, or just give it a try. I decided to press on.
My landing was fine except for the crosswind. I landed left of centerline and didn't remember to hold the ailerons to compensate for the wind from the right of the plane. So as I tapped on the brake there was a bit of a screech, but not enough to leave a flat spot (as I later checked back at parking). Next time remember: climb into, dive away! I should have had the yoke pulled all the way back and turned right. (I also should have landed on the centerline, of course.)
While taxiing back to parking I realized it was VERY hot in the cockpit. I'm still not sure what percentage of that was ambient temperature and what was stress.
0.6 hours logged. 4.0 more to go before I complete the non-cross-country solo part of the private-pilot requirements to take the checkride. I'm not quite ready to call this fun; I'm still thinking too much. But I suppose this is what it was like when I was 15, learning to drive. I'm sure it'll get better.
