Flight Training - July 2013 - 8

CENTERLINE

By Adam Smith

SOLO TOGETHER

AVIATION IN HARMONY

he BBC has been airing a new TV series that follows the
work of Ben Robinson, who surely has one of the best flying jobs in the world. As an aerial archaeologist, Robinson
uses his trusty Cessna 172 to survey the historic landscapes
of Britain, his eye trained to spot tiny differences in ground conditions
caused by buried features.
In one episode of the show he became
intrigued by what looked (to me) like a
few scratchy chalk marks in a plowed
field. But when a team of ground archaeologists dug the site, they proved that
humans had been living at Stonehenge
3,000 years longer than anyone thought.
Good eye, Ben!
Watching The Flying Archaeologist
brought back memories of learning to fly
in Scotland where my home airfield, Cumbernauld, was situated next to the ruins
of the Antonine Wall. Built in the second
century A.D. on the orders of Antoninus
Pius, the wall’s original purpose was
to keep the marauding Scots out of the
Roman Empire.
Today the wall has a use that no one
could possibly have imagined 1,800 years
ago—as a handy reference point for
airplane pilots. The ruins run parallel to
Runway 8/26 and are perfectly placed to
help space a downwind leg.
Cumbernauld will always hold a special
place in my heart as the location of my
first solo flight, on November 28, 1998, in
a Piper Cub registered G-BWEZ. “Solo” is
a solitary word, but in an aviation context
it describes a common bond shared by
every pilot that has ever lived. It ranks
among the most special experiences not
just in my flying career, but in my whole
life. For example, I have a much more
vivid memory of my first solo than of my
first kiss!
For some strange reason, as soon as
the Cub’s wheels left the ground, I burst

loudly into song. Perhaps it was a way
to release nervous tension, or compensate for the absence of my instructor’s
reassuring voice. Whatever the reason, I
serenaded myself the whole way round
that first solo circuit. In the merriment
afterwards I kept quiet about the singing;
it didn’t seem quite in line with the macho
pilot image.

IN SCOTLAND, first solo is recognized by a toast
from an inscribed silver tankard.

There is an excellent tradition in
America of cutting off the student’s
shirt tail after solo. The Scots are far
too stingy to waste a good shirt, so our
celebration consisted of warm McEwan’s
beer drunk from an inscribed silver
tankard. Research tells us that celebrating milestones and building community
bonds are critical parts of keeping students engaged in aviation. This certainly
worked for me. That silver tankard, presented by friends in the Popular Flying
Association, was a big deal at the time,

"SOLO" IS A SOLITARY WORD,
BUT IN AN AVIATION CONTEXT IT
DESCRIBES A COMMOND BOND.
8/

FLIGHTTRAINING.AOPA.ORG

and I proudly display it on my office
shelf to this day.
Along with several AOPA colleagues I
recently attended the annual banquet of
Able Flight, an organization that provides
flight training to people with disabilities.
It is inspirational stuff, and we were there
to announce the AOPA Foundation’s support of a full Able Flight scholarship for
each of the next three years.
One young man helped by the organization was brought up to the stage and
introduced as “Pavarotti,” after the famous
Italian opera singer. Various people in the
audience laughed, and I realized it was
some kind of in-joke.
We chatted later, and I learned he is
a budding young architect named Jorge
Urrea. A childhood auto accident in his
native Colombia left him paraplegic and
with no hope of achieving his dream to
become a pilot. That was until he moved to
the United States and learned about Able
Flight’s training program in a Sky Arrow
LSA fitted with hand rudder controls.
After 14 years in a wheelchair, Urrea
became a certificated pilot in 2008.
I asked what the nickname was all
about and he said, “They call me Pavarotti
because I sang all the way through my first
solo.” Cue a moment of instant bonding!
Able Flight videotaped his flight and
uploaded it to YouTube called, “Pilot Sings
on First Solo.” I must say that Urrea is a
much better singer than I ever was, and
his smooth first landing beats my bumpy
effort in the Cub. One of my slight regrets
is that I never got a video or even a photo
of my first solo. Although the memory is
vivid, it would be nice to have something
to show others. With several thousand
viewers of his YouTube video, Jorge Urrea
does not have this problem!
Email Senior Vice President Adam Smith at adam.
smith@aopa.org.
Learn more about the Center to Advance the
Pilot Community (www.aopa.org/CAPComm).

http://www.aopa.org/CAPComm http://FLIGHTTRAINING.AOPA.ORG

Flight Training - July 2013

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