On the Friday my wife Theresa joined us for a site seeing tour over Fort Worth for my final lesson. Slow gentle turns around the Downtown area provided some fantastic views of the towering buildings we'd been looking at from the ground. Jake directed us away to the west where the airforce base he served at was located. I got to fly over the runway at 2000ft - it was a quiet day.
We returned to Spinks and did a few patterns with Theresa still on board and then Jake called the tower and asked for permission for the two of them to go up there. He gave me some last minute advice - Don't worry, they know what you're doing. They all hopped out and I was on my own. Three patterns was the plan and I was feeling pretty good. My radio work was a bit shabby - calling ground when I should should been calling the tower. That was quickly fixed with a quick Garmin button press. My first two circuits were below average, but I successfully perfomed the touch and goes without breaking anything. A few minutes of excitement came when the tower asked my to fly a right hand circuit rather than the left hand I'd been doing all day. That went surprisingly smoothly once I got over the initial shock - I hadn't heard that request before! My final approach and full stop were much better and before I knew it I was taxi-ing back to the tower to pick up my passengers.
Jake had his own special way of celebrating a new solo pilot - cutting the shirt tails. It seems to stem from his Air Force days. I hope that's a hundred dollar shirt he said! I've had a brilliant few days and Jake and his team have been fantastic teachers as well as excellent companions. I'll certainly have Texas on my mind for future US flying.
So that was it! My first solo. In the USA at least. I still need my UK medical and Air Law exam before I can do it over here, but the confidence and 8 hours practice in Texas have made the world of difference.
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