Thanks to personal and professional responsibilities, I had been out of the cockpit for a few years. Eventually, the time and cash-flow limitations lessened and I found myself at the local FBO signing up to participate in their “rusty pilot” training program. The airplanes were in good shape and I was happy with the instruction, so it wasn’t long before I had completed the curriculum. Then someone took pity on me and signed off a BFR. I was good to go! A few days later, not having flown solo in several years, I scheduled a 172 for a late afternoon flight, just me and the airplane.
All was well when I took off for that solo flight. I wanted to just see the world from the air again, since the training regimen I had been in didn’t allow much looking at the scenery. I cruised over some landmarks I knew and eventually ended up headed toward a nearby non-towered airport my instructor and I had practiced at. I tuned its CTAF and didn’t hear anyone, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to get in a few solo landings before taking the Skyhawk back and calling it a day.
