Solo Flight!

I did my first solo yesterday afternoon!  We went up for just a few minutes for a couple ground reference maneuvers, and a couple landings to be sure I wasn't rusty from a week out of the cockpit, then Russ got out and I went back up.  

I did 4 landings to a full stop without any problems.  I was pretty surprised how much faster the plane climbed and took off with only one person, it nearly jumped off the ground!  Russ said to expect better performance, but I didn't think it would be that much better.  

After landing, I lost the back of my shirt for the first solo tradition.  

"In aviation lore, the traditional removal of a new pilot's shirt tail is a sign of the instructor's new confidence in his student.  In the days of tandem trainers, the instructor would tug at the student's shirt tail whenever he was getting himself into trouble.  After the first solo, the new pilot is competent in the air and does not need such a safety device."

(wikipedia)

I'm on my way now to getting my private.  I will continue with my solos, and do a solo cross country soon.  I waited to solo until I did almost all of the dual instruction time, so I will now spend the rest of my time preparing for my checkride.  I'm at about 28 hours so far.  The required ten solo hours will put me under 40, then a few more hours of dual checkride prep.  Depending on when I feel ready, I could get my license in just a little over the required 40 hours total time!