From photo batch review, May 2026. El Monte Airport, early 1990s.
El Monte Airport. Rental Piper PA-28, tail number N5480F. Me, with a beard.
“This is me, can you believe it, when I first solo’d.”
A first solo is one of the things that can’t be explained to someone who hasn’t done it. You’ve had someone in the right seat the whole time, and then you don’t. The plane feels different — lighter, higher, more responsive — because the weight is gone and now everything is just you. The radio is still there; ATC is still there; but you’re making every decision, and nobody is going to reach for the controls.
I landed. I took off again. I landed again. At some point the instructor walked back out and it was done.