Hi Guys,

Well today I finally did it, I took my check flight and was given permission to be a solo pilot, so I took my trainer up and flew on my own, it is great.

However on my second flight I was practising my touch and goes and I got it a bit wrong, I did some damage to the nose wheel as you can see in the pics, so now I have an interesting fix ahead of me however I am thinking of redo the nose anway.

But hey I am still smiling and will be for like a week, tomorrow I get to maiden my T34, I got to fly my instructors today and boy what a great plane.

J

JPGale,
[sm=thumbup.gif][sm=thumbup.gif] . Great job. Now all you have to do is get that silly little smile off of you face!!! Aww, don't worry about it, I had the same smile for about 3 weeks after I soloed!!!!

A solo flight is a great accomplishment and that wins you one genuine RCU ATTABOY (Suitable for framing, wrapping fish, or lining trashcans).

Ken

Congratulations JPGale on your solo, a pity about the rough touch and go, doing damage to the firewall, but hey , it can be repaired , and the smile will last for 3 weeks at least. Just be careful with the T34 for starters , don't get too carried away. Just remember practice practice practice is all that matters now, taking small steps to become a great pilot. Once again congratulations.
Bill from down-under in Australia

Congratulations!

Fixin' 'em is part of the fun.

Throttle for altitude with a trainer. Don't try to make 'em stick with down elevator.

One of my early touch-and-goes I spoikked the ground and stalled the engine. Unfortunately, I had speed up and bounced her to about 12 feet, and adding up elevator only stalled the lift. Snapped the wing mounts right out of the fuselage, along with big pieces of the fuselage, when the wing tip came cartwheeling around. It was only then I noticed most other trainers had rubberbands instead of metal wing bolts. Hmmmmm. Had it ready the next day - but with Nylon wing bolts.

Battle scars give 'em character. You'll try things with a chewed up plane that you never would with a prissy one.

JPGale,

Congratulations on the solo. It's a big accomplishment to stick with it and solo. You'll find after a few more flights it'll start to become much easier and you'll enjoy it a lot more. From the pictures your trainer doesn't look too bad. Take your time and think the repair through and it'll be back flying like nothing happened to it at all. And take it easy with T-34. Get your experience on the trainer first and you'll enjoy the T34 even more in the future.

Hogflyer

It's a great feeling... I know. Congrats my friend and welcome! It feels good to be part of a club and be apart of AMA and know we're doing everything right .




Peter Dowling aka Luftwaffe Oberst
AMA District II # 56404
Aero Modelers Club
Pulaski, NY

congrats and welcome to the addiction.......errrrrr hobby i mean. as for the repair, everyone's right, it isn't that bad, heck my first "mishap" resulted in my avistar being brought home in a plastic walmart bag, i built it back and she still flies today!! but if you don't want to bother with repairing the firewall, stick a piece of wood in the hole to keep anything from getting in and convert it into a taildragger. best thing i ever did to my trainer.

I admitt it... I sniff Glow exhaust, Ahhhh[sm=lol.gif]


Peter Dowling aka Luftwaffe Oberst
AMA District II # 56404
Aero Modelers Club
Pulaski, NY

Congrats on the solo!!! What are these guys talking about? The smile last for 3 weeks? Heck it has been 3 years and I still have that stupid smile. ha ha When you repair your firewall, you could switch to the fults style dual spring nose wheel setup. It can be a little more forgiving and it might move the mounting holes away from the damaged area. This is just 1 man's thought. Congrats again

Congratulations! I damaged my Avistar exactly like that due to too much wind and too little experience on landing shortly after soloing. When I saw the damage I almost felt ill, but it only took a few days to get it as good as new. Your unbroken positive attitude despite the damage really shows the great hobby spirit. Welcome!

I'm still smiling after my Solo, I'm afraid of the guys at my club though... I'm afraid they are going to have me committed. I'm wondering if me smelling Glow exhaust and or fuel is doing it. Ahhhh [sm=lol.gif][sm=bananahead.gif]

Naw, keep smiling Bro... you are now a official small aircraft pilot.

Peter Dowling aka Luftwaffe Oberst
AMA District II # 56404
Aero Modelers Club
Pulaski, NY

Congrats, JPGale.

You've soloed, so you obviously know the right way to land. Just move your main landing gear forward, add a tail wheel, and take that nose wheel off. I too ripped up my firewall on a nose hard landing. Not gonna do that again.

Good luck in the future, and happy flying,
E J

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all the congrats, I am still smiling, I have started on the repair, I am going to keep it tricycle as my girlfriend has expressed an interest in using it to learn to fly her self, while at this repair I am doing another to the front which is older, from my second flight, the piece of wood on one side that makes up the nose was broken so I am replacing it, I found tonight that I cut the wood slightly wrong (doh!) but it will still work, for those who are interested I will be making a personal website, which will have details and pics of the repair once I have finished the repair, I will post the address later.

On flying the T34 you guys are correct it will be more of a handful and I do need to be careful, but I am sure I can handle the plane as I have already flown (landed and took off) the exact same plane with the same engine. I also will ask someone to help (needed for range checking anyway), who I could give the TX to in an emergancy if I can. I could not get out to fly it on Sunday, I would never have guess rain at the start of October in California.

Thanks

Happy flighing.

J

Also I asked alot of the guys and they all said I should manage it, including my instructor, who when I first talked about it, wanted me to do my first solo on it.