Broken Aeroplanes, Green Lasers And First Night Solo

Your first ever solo flight during initial PPL training is an achievement and a milestone in your journey to becoming a pilot, as it rightly should be. You’ve just been given solo control of a rather expensive hunk of flying metal and told to fly it around the circuit… preferably without bending it. My first solo was memorable but I wasn’t anxious. I was excited, but my early training was keeping me “grounded” (pardon the pun.)

Unlike the US where getting a PPL gives you night flying privileges, the UK has an additional course and rating for this purpose. And so you have your “first night solo” to contend with — five solo take offs and full stop landings. The night I was to do my solo circuits I was excited and really looking forward to nailing my landings on a strip of tarmac that looks like a deep black void as you get ever closer.

First, get a couple of circuits with my instructor done — they like to know you can still remember how to take off, land and all the other good stuff. Easy…

First, the pre-flight.

“Here we go,” I muttered to myself. In nearly 3 years and 140 hours of flying, this is the first time I personally rejected an aircraft. It took me less than thirty seconds to identify a perfectly good reason not to fly it — Cessna 172 aircraft sit in a rather pronounced way when their nose wheel oleo (the compressed air/nitrogen and hydraulic “suspension” on the nose wheel strut) is completely deflated. A deflated oleo doesn’t allow for any shock absorption from a poor landing or a rough runway surface, and increases the risk of a prop strike. I’ve heard they’re an expensive endeavour, best avoided.

On to the next plane…

Fortunately nothing wrong with aeroplane number two as I got the pre-flight done, hopped in with my instructor and took off. Crosswind, downwind, final and a reasonable touchdown… first circuit went down well. Flaps up, full power, rotation, settle into the climb on instruments and then transition back to visual at 300ft. Calm, composed, ready. Until…

“Tower, Golf Whiskey Kilo.”

“Golf Whiskey Kilo, Tower, go ahead.”

“Be advised someone just shone a green laser at my aircraft during climb out, somewhere to the…