Solo in Centurion

[CVStrong]

Hi All,

It's been a while since I have posted on the forum, just been so busy at work, that I just have not had time... Well, except to look at the airies for sale...

Back to the topic at hand though, on the morning of Friday 26th April, I alone and unassisted did take off from Eagle Creek, and safely land back on the runway... Even though I have gone through a similar experience in my PPL(h), it is still an awesome experience to break away from the bounds of earth on your own in something new…

Flo and Francois at Centurion Flight Centre do things differently to my previous experience, in that there is not a pressure build up to your solo, you don’t know that you are going solo until you get an inkling that something is up when you take off, and you are being reminded how different things will feel when you are on your own, and then you know it is now happening when you have done a couple of circuits, and you get told to land, and you get a pep talk from both Flo and Francois, and next thing you are off down the runway on your own… It is not made into a big event with other people and the performance pressure that comes with that, it is just you, your instructor, and the aircraft before take-off, then just you and the reassuring voice into the radio while you do that first flight…

It is awesome how the trike virtually jumps off the runway, now a whole person lighter, and how much lighter the controls are…

So all I need to do now are my formal solo hours, which will be in my new baby APE (thanks Alkemac for letting me take your baby and make her mine…) and I will be able to actively join in with this awesome flying fraternity we have…

Hope to see you all in the air soon

Craig

[Bundy]

Well done Craig and congrats on the new wings too! I remember meeting you at FABA when you were about to start.

Enjoy and fly safe mate.

[nicow]

Congrats on your first solo in your trike

[bobthebuilder]

[CVStrong]

Well done Craig and congrats on the new wings too! I remember meeting you at FABA when you were about to start.

Enjoy and fly safe mate.

Thanks Bundy, Next time I come through to Microland, it will be by air, not by road... And there are a bunch of fly ins which need to be attended... Now just those solo hours I need to take care of...

[Loco]

Congrats well done! Which trike are you going to get yourself, surely a GT?

[CVStrong]

Congrats well done! Which trike are you going to get yourself, surely a GT?

Hey Loco, no such luck on a GT... I have taken on ZU-APE from Alkemac, which is a Raptor... Flo is in the process of making her even more beutiful than when I got her... Can't wait...

[Martinvt]

[CVStrong]

Thanks Martin I am going to have to come up to Potties sometime soon... Hopefully drag a good friend up with me who used to live there and is now stuck here in the big smoke...

[Thatchman]

Congrats Craig

Just a correction though. If Flo was your instructor then the trike would be about two normal people lighter when he got out. He is a big boy.

Also congrats on the Raptor. Very strong trike. Really enjoyed mine and its still going strong at Petit.

Reilly

[Alkemac]

Awesome stuff Craig!

[Tribal Croc]

Well done and enjoy the solo time

[CVStrong]

Congrats Craig

Just a correction though. If Flo was your instructor then the trike would be about two normal people lighter when he got out. He is a big boy.

Also congrats on the Raptor. Very strong trike. Really enjoyed mine and its still going strong at Petit.

Reilly

Thanks Thatchman,

My instructor has mostly been Francois, but have done a few flights with Flo so it was only a 75kg reduction...

Flo may be a big lad, but he really knows what he is doing both flying and fixing a trike, which makes up for the weight... Couldn't ask for a better pair of instructors... I am not a small oke myself either, so all is good in the land...

I feel the need for airtime though... Francois was away from last Wed to today, so will get back in the air on Wed morning if the WX cooperates...

[CVStrong]

Well done and enjoy the solo time

Hey Tribal,

Thanks man, I remember the day you got your GT, when I saw you at Flo's... I know exactly how you felt that day now, when you get your new baby... I will have to bring the primate trike "APE" through to your spot in the bush soon...

[Alkemac]

Craig - I heard a reported conversation between a previous owner of APE and an ATC somewhere... (names and places have been changed to protect the people involved )

Along the lines of...

APE "APE calling ATC"
ATC "Last caller repeat"
APE "This is Alpha Papa Echo"
ATC "How unfortunate....."