My first solo flight

As a young boy I would look to the skies in amazement searching for the airplane above.

How did that plane get there? How does an airplane fly? Where is it headed? Were just some of the thoughts of wonder as I watched that airplane fly over head.

Then, one day while attending our town’s annual Maple Festival, I had an opportunity to talk with the helicopter pilot that was giving rides to festival participants.

Unfortunately, I never got his name, but his conversation had a profound impact that led me to our local airport (N03) aka Cortland County - Chase Field, the very next day.

It was here where I met a wonderful Flight Instructor (Mary) whose contagious spirit for flight and teaching sticks with me to this very day. She listened to my story and with my families support and a part time job, I began taking flight lessons which led to that once in a life-time event – My Solo Flight.

To this day it is still as vivid as the day it happened over 30 years ago.

Mary and I were practicing takeoffs and landings one day, then to my surprise, Mary looked over at me from her pilot seat and said, “give me 2 more landings like that last one and you are soloing today”. I was suddenly filled with excitement and a sudden dose of nerves as the reality of what this possibility meant, that I will soon be alone in the airplane, flying without Mary’s comforting reassurance that I relied on.

Success! After those next two touch-and-go landings, we exited the runway on to the adjoining taxiway, stopped, and Mary exited the airplane. She gave me a smile and waved her hand gesturing for me to proceed to the runway for my first solo takeoff and landing.

That moment changed my life and soon thereafter, I went off to Spartan School of Aeronautics and have stayed engaged in aviation ever since.