Solo Flight

Clayton · #1 12-19-2013, 08:24 AM

Thought I would share a few pictures of my son Cutler's solo day (December 16, 2013). He started his flight training over the summer, and is home from college on Christmas break after his first semester at Colorado School of Mines:

He is very fortunate in the fact that he is being taught by Gary Platner (Navy Pilot, Retired Southwest Airline Captain / Check Airman, and all around good guy):

He is also fortunate in the fact that he is learning in a tail dragger (albeit not an RV). This little C120 was purchased this past summer, after spending a number of years on the ground, and is now the talk of the airport. (If I could only get him to finish the polishing job!)

He was a little surprised to find that Gary was cutting the tail off of one of his favorite T-shirts. According to Cutler, there was lots of pain involved in acquiring the Buffalo Hot Wings Challenge shirt:

And as you can probably imagine, I could not be more proud of my son:

Mike S · #2 12-19-2013, 08:46 AM

Congrats to Cutler, this is one of those memories that will last a lifetime

rockwoodrv9 · #3 12-19-2013, 09:14 AM

Clayton, you must be very proud. What an accomplishment and that 120 looks pretty sweet. What you need to do is have your son contact the many builders near his school and get him riveting! He would probably love the break from all that boring college partying!

N941WR · #4 12-19-2013, 09:54 AM

Outstanding!

Congrats to all three of you! (CFI, Dad, and Student)

jeffhickman · #5 12-19-2013, 10:12 AM

congratulations, that's a great looking 120. I learned to fly in our 140 and if you can fly the 120 any tailwheel RV will be easy. Oh btw after seven years I still haven't finished polishing.

Jeffrey Hickman
Advanced Flight Systems

DaAV8R · #6 12-19-2013, 10:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeffhickman

congratulations, that's a great looking 120. I learned to fly in our 140 and if you can fly the 120 any tailwheel RV will be easy. Oh btw after seven years I still haven't finished polishing.

Jeffrey Hickman
Advanced Flight Systems

That's what I'm hoping

Here is mine. It needs polished too. Looks like us 120/140 rebels are going to take over this site

The 120 seems like an honest little airplane, but the spring gear can be a challenge, especially when wheel landing.

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Clayton · #7 12-19-2013, 12:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rockwoodrv9

Clayton, you must be very proud. What an accomplishment and that 120 looks pretty sweet. What you need to do is have your son contact the many builders near his school and get him riveting! He would probably love the break from all that boring college partying!

His summer project this year will be to build the empennage for an RV8. Could not think of a better hands on experience for a future engineer. I know that reading and making sense of the engineering drawings will help a lot with his future course work. Fortunately for him, there is a wealth of knowledge here on the field when it comes to RVs and building airplanes.

Looks like Front Range is probably the closest airport with active builders to Golden CO. Hopefully he will make it out to FTG someday and see what is going on there.

Doubt if he needs any help when it comes to the partying

!

All the Best,

Clayton

scrollF4 · #8 12-19-2013, 01:55 PM

Clayton,
That's just tremendous news! Glad to see he and Gary got it done...whoot! A great reason to hit Reno Red's for lunch and put Cutler at the head of the table (or at least the center where he can tell us all about the solo).

Gary,
How's the C120's landing gear?

Smilin' Jack · #9 12-19-2013, 02:18 PM

Congratulations to Cutler, his solo day will forever be a part of his spirit.

You have got to be proud.

Smilin' Jack

Steve A · #10 12-20-2013, 12:35 PM

I graduated from Colorado School of Mines in 1075 with a BS in geophysical engineering. The first thing I did on my first job is learn to fly in an old Cherokee
140. The great thing about an engineering degree is you have all the skills to build an airplane. Understanding autocad drawings, following complex directions, wiring electrical instruments, and completing the task at hand are all things you learn with a very tough academic program.

Quite a few "miners" as well as "aggies" and the rest of the "hard school" grads seem to do well in the building process. Getting a private pilot's license is a great place to start. Keep in mind, the PPL is a license to learn.

S S Anderson
Lafayette, La.