25 August 1971 – Saskatoon, Saskatchewan: First Solo!

Piper Cherokee PA-28-140, CF-YTZ, Ray’s Flying Service – Vern Forbes, instructor: 10 minutes; one circuit on runway 08 !

First solo! WOW!

I was not certain that this day was going to be “the day”; Vern had only previously mentioned that he thought I was ready; on final approach of the second of touch-and-go when I heard him tell the tower that we would be making a full stop, I knew this was “the day”! damn! sure enough, we pulled over to the side, he gave me a quick pep talk and said “see ya in a few minutes”; OK, here I go! thing is, I was not as uptight as I thought I may be; I had been training on a fairly regular basis and felt up for the task; I guess Vern thought so too; that 10 minutes was over way too soon; yes I did remember to stop and pick Vern up and he was very pleased with what he had seen from his vantage point; I was too, as the landing was one of my better ones; no cutting the shirt tales afterwards as they didn’t really get into that sort of thing at Ray’s Flying Service, but I didn’t mind; I had done it, and that is all that mattered.