ED SOLO

I showed up at the field that day thinking I would never fly a plane by myself. In the days prior I would carefully select my shirt in the morning (aware of the tradition, of course)... "how much did this shirt cost?"; that morning I didn't bother. $79 at Banana Republic?, who cares -not going to happen. I had the taxi, takeoff, communications, and operating skills dialed in, but was still struggling with landings (trust me, it'll be the hardest part of your training). I was discouraged; Reza was not. "You're getting there, I know you don't see it, but you are." After lunch, I had a revelation in the afternoon session. It clicked. It was like the end of The Matrix when Neo sees the world as it is. After 3 great landings we headed back to the terminal to refuel. "I'm liking what I'm seeing, Ed!" Reza said. I've never seen the guy so excited. As the plane was refueling I looked out on to the runway and watched some other Cessna's land. "Do mine look like that?", I wondered. As I turned back toward the plane, Mike, the fuel guy, drove away. "Good luck", he said to me. I wasn't sure what he was talking about. Reza pushed me toward the plane with a smile on his face. "This one's all you pal!" Instantly I knew what it meant. I wasn't as nervous as I thought I'd be. Mainly because I trusted my instructor. If he said I was ready, I was ready. As I gave full power on the runway and lifted the nose up is when I realized, "I have to land this thing!" But I knew what to do. I had the confidence Reza instilled in me. I came in at a steady 65 knots and touched down on 29 Right. Afterwards Reza showed me pictures of my landing (yeah, I guess I DO look like that!). That night my wife and I went to dinner. I felt different. I did something that day that, more than likely, no one in this restaurant will ever do. Why did I wait so long? I'm glad I wore my favorite shirt. It will hang in my office the rest of my life.