Pilot Life: Solo Landing Practice (Breaking 70 Flight Hours!)

I scheduled myself to fly some solo pattern work for today and tomorrow. And I couldn't ask for better weather this afternoon! I met with my instructor briefly to go over what I was planning on doing and then he cut me loose. The only thing I was planning on doing the next two days was polishing up my landing techniques as the past few flights with my flight instructor showed that I needed to make little improvements; I've got the major techniques down, but it's just the little details that needs polishing up, hence the solo flights in the pattern I've scheduled for myself.

Flew in N802CT again as part of my practice.

After I pre-flighted, I hopped in and got the engine started up. I taxied a short distance and did my run-ups short of the runway. Once I verified everything was normal, I taxied to the runway, made my radio calls and took off via Runway 30 with a short-field takeoff. From there I made left-closed traffic and began doing my pattern work with the airport and airspace all to myself... Well, actually mostly to myself; as I was doing my circuits, a DA-40 Diamond Star came in behind me on one of my passes and a Cessna 172 on the ground called me on the radio asking how the air was as I was working the pattern. That Cessna took off after I landed at the end of my flight around the pattern.

I logged multiple landings, practicing both short-field and soft-field techniques with regular touch-and-goes or stop-and-goes where appropriate. Needless to say, most of my landings were pretty good! And honestly, it felt good to get some practice by myself in! Now that it was the fall season, it's starting to get dark earlier so I called it quits once the sun really started setting; by the time I taxied off the runway, the entire airport was already in the shadows of the mountains. I taxied over to the fuel pumps and ended the flight there because my instructor asked me to re-fuel the plane for a student and an instructor who were scheduled to take it out first thing tomorrow morning. So I fueled the plane by myself for the first time! After I topped off the tanks, I walked over the hangar and grabbed the tow tug so I wouldn't have to kill my arms and legs dragging the plane under my own strength alone! I hooked up the tug to the nose wheel and tucked the Katana I've been flying consistently into the barn for the night.

I filled out my logbook and realized that I've broken the 70 flight hours mark as of today!