Words by RAAus Pilot, Olivia Daniel.
It was a cool, cloudy day—the kind that feels calm but a little dramatic—and I already knew what was coming. Today was the day I’d be flying my first navigation solo… to Truro Flats.
Before that though, I headed out for a quick test flight to Murray Bridge. Everything went smoothly, landed, and taxied in. Then came the moment: “Alright, you’re good to go solo to Truro Flats.”
Even though I knew that was the plan, hearing it out loud still sent a jolt through me. This was really happening.
I lined up on the runway at Rollos, heart thumping away, and just as I was about to go, a helicopter casually drifted right over me. Of course. So I sat there, waiting for it to pass, trying to look chill even though my brain was doing cartwheels.
Once it cleared, I powered up, took off, and climbed overhead to 3500 feet before turning north toward Truro. I settled onto my heading of 008… or at least I tried to. A few minutes in, I noticed I was drifting left. So I corrected, re-trimmed, and everything snapped back into place. Little victories.
Somewhere along the way, I flew through what I can only describe as cloud sneeze—just a sprinkle of light rain on the windscreen. It honestly made me laugh.
When I was about 10 miles out from Truro Flats, I made my radio call. Soon after, the little runway appeared ahead. I crossed over the road to join midfield crosswind, dropped the second stage of flaps, and repeated my usual mantra: airspeed, runway… airspeed, runway…
The landing? Smooth… ish. Not terrible, not perfect. But I was down, safe, and proud. I taxied off, parked to the side, and of course took a selfie—first nav solo deserves proof.
When it was time to head back to Rollos, I started taxiing and… yeah… went onto the wrong runway. Quick spin around, pretend like it never happened. All good.
I lined up on the correct runway, made my call, and took off again. I circled overhead, pointed the nose south, and climbed to 2500 feet. Just like earlier, I found myself drifting off my heading, so I adjusted from about 183 up to around 185–190 and held it steady.
The flight home was peaceful and familiar. At 10 miles out, I made my Rollos radio call and joined midfield crosswind for my final landing of the day.
This time? Honestly, I think it was pretty smooth. And that’s how my first navigation solo went—some light rain, one helicopter, one wrong runway, a lot of learning… and one very proud pilot at the end of it.
