Brand New Private Pilot

Well it happened. 8 weeks, 52 hours flight time and alot of studying and preparation have paid off. I got my private pilot's license this morning.

Just as I thought the examiner was getting into the meat and potatoes of the oral exam, he said "OK, let's go flying". I couldn't believe it went so smoothly and was over so fast.

The flight was uneventful. It was a brisk 36c degrees on the ground. The only problem I ran into was minor. I had a little trouble coordinating my power on stall. We discussed it and the adjustments necessary due to density altitude and tried again. It went without a hitch.

He cut my engine over Phoenix Regional Airport (A39) and we actually glided in to a full stop. I hadn't done that before and it was fun. He also had me land at Williams Gateway (IWA) with zero flaps, which I had only done one other time with 15-20 knot crosswinds at Falcon Field in Mesa (FFZ). It was fine. We came it at about 75 knots, ground effected to the 1,000 foot markers and, with a little left crosswind correction, touched down smoothly and uneventfully (a little right of center, but good enough for the DE).

He issued my temp and said I'd have my hard license in about 100 days. The funny thing is that it will be obsolete when I get it because I'll have my instrument rating by then. When I get my instrument rating, it too will be obsolete due to my commercial. Hopefully in about a year, I'll get a hard license that I can actually keep and use ;)

SIGH. Breath. Relax. It's over...for now.

By the way, the DE was a great guy. I won't mention his name for privacy. We had alot in common. He took the same path in life as me. Started flying at 35 while working full-time and raising a family. Like every other pilot I've met, he wouldn't change a thing if he could.