Basin Bum,

I had been flying solo all that time since being off of the buddy box. Normally, I put in around 5-6 flights a day when I go to the field. My trainer keeps a logbook of every flight, etc and I picked up his habit too. I had a free planner book and tossed it in the flight box just to put down time on each plane, damage, etc. It's kinda interesting to go back and see how much I flew, what came loose or broke, deadsticks, etc.

A lot of us fly alone at the field. I intentionally flew alone for my first true solo flight. I went out and made my mistakes with great nervousness. It worked out the rough spots and forced me to relax and have fun. Anyway, it was something that I had to do to get over the hump and really feel like it was a solo. Nobody to nurse me through startup. Nobody to help me out of a jam. Nobody to land the plane for me. I had to think of everything on my own and make sure I had everything right. It was good training. I messed up a few things and learned from it without crashing my only plane. I always get a lot of help, advice, etc at the field. Lots of good guys there who take the time to walk over and be friendly.

I don't agree with hard rules against using the field alone. I've driven out there many times and nobody showed up. Why lose a good day of flying? The club president always seems to be out there alone...until one of us shows up and finds him. Practicing alone is sometimes a good thing.