Melanie's Experience
Having been fortunate enough to receive the Sir Adrian Swire flying scholarship in the summer of summer of 2006 I was eager to have my first lesson as soon as possible. I remember, at first, being taken into the briefing room by my instructor who explained to me about the use of all the different controls, how a circuit works and the principles of flights. We had hardly been in there for more than 15 minutes when he then said that there was nothing more he needed to say so we could take my first flight now. I felt so excited yet slightly nervous of the fact that I would need to know about all this information before I went solo.
Fifteen minutes later there I was sitting in the little Cessna plane with my instructor next to me, waiting to take off. Once we’d lined ourselves up so that all we could see was the runway I could feel the excitement running through me. I pushed the throttle in completely and we were off! It was the most exciting flight I had ever had in my life simply because I knew that someday it would just be me flying the plane.
Finally, that day came and on 1 February 2007 I took my first solo flight.
I had just been doing some practice circuits with my instructor that day but when we landed he suddenly called up the tower and asked if we could taxi back up the runway because he wanted to send a pupil on a 1st solo. So then it was just me and the plane and an open runway. I could see my instructor watching me from the ground as I took off. I couldn’t believe it; I was flying a plane on my own! About 12 minutes later I was safely back on the ground and was being congratulated by air traffic control and I received a certificate saying that I had now joined the elite in successfully defying the laws of gravity. I very much hope to go on and successfully receive my private pilot’s licence in the near future, that is, if I’m not too busy singing with All Angels!
Melanie Nahkla (Clarence)
