Well, what can I say....my first solo was on the 30th of December 2009, and all I can say is...WOW!
After starting training in 2009, I really didn't believe that I'd be solo before the year was out because of all the bad weather that was going on, but Alex found a gap in the weather and we went for it!
A HUGE thanks to the Rhino Park team - Shaun Schouten, Alex Rudd & Marius Nel for getting me where I am today. One giant step closer to being a microlight pilot
A big thanks also goes to Braam Hechter. Although I only flew once with Braam, that one flight changed the way I did my landings. I didn't realize it until that lesson that I was looking at the ground on landing and not ahead of me (probably fixated on the airspeed indicator as usual
)This fixed my landings straight away after that. Thanks Braam!Once I got over the nerves after the first landing, I actually was almost laughing I was smiling so much by the time I started my crosswind turn
I've read many comments on the forums about how it feels to do your first solo, but I NEVER expected it to feel THAT good!
I did everything as I was trained, except I forgot to check the windsock, as a crosswind had developed, so I made a landing without power, and couldn't figure out why I kept drifting to the right
. A less than perfect landing resulted, but it was safe. 
I was still smiling when I left the airfield, and my wife had problems keeping me still
Now to get those exams done
Noel
