No matter how much flying a pilot does over a lifetime in aviation, the first solo flight is a memory second to none. Whether a pilot soloes at the youngest age permitted by regulations, or later in life as the fulfilment of a long-nurtured dream, the memory of rising from the runway truly the pilot in command of your training aircraft, with the instructor’s seat vacant beside you—go ahead, check again, it’s unoccupied—will always bring a smile.
You are not the only person who feels that way about your first solo. Your flight instructor also sees it as a gratifying milestone on your way to becoming a certificated pilot. It’s the culmination of volumes of learning acquired over a short span of time that raises the curtain on the next phase of your training. This is a good time to reflect on how far you’ve come since those first few flight hours to accomplish something most people could never imagine.
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