First Solo! - PPL Vlog Ep. 9

In this episode I take to the skies by myself for the very first time!
Flimed at www.highlandaviation.com
Filmed on a GoPro Hero 5 Black
Copyright © 2020 - Doofer911 - All Rights Reserved.

[@shubham.1172]

Plot twist: This was the new Microsoft Flight Simulator.

[@aaronmclean2515]

Wow, Doofer, that was such an amazing landing. 10/10!

[@Doofer911]

It was one of my better landings :)

[@JT-ep5ew]

Congratulations my friend ...... You will remember that flight forever :). I did all my flight training in a Tomahawk here in NZ. A great little trainer. Now looking forward to seeing your 1st cross country flight.

[@Doofer911]

They are fantastic little aircraft, although quite twitchy when it gets windy which is often up here in Scotland

[@JT-ep5ew]

Yes Sir, You are so right there. Plus you never know which way the little buggers are going to drop a wing when doing your stall exercises. Keeps you well and truly on your toes so to speak. I did notice it moving around a bit on your solo flight. Sure bought back a few memories.

[@imtiazmohamed6778]

Congrats on your first milestone and here's to many more in your flying career. Excellent job.

[@Doofer911]

Thank you very much!

[@AV4Life]

You’re meaning to tell me that the person I’ve leaned just about everything aviation related from is only just now on his first solo? Everything I thought is a lie

[@Doofer911]

Haha, I did hide a little disclaimer under every video saying I wasn't a real pilot ;)

[@billymkirkwood4956]

He actually did say that in his videos, but now he can say that he is a real world pilot 😎👌👌 nice 1 Joss

[@RipVanAllan1983]

Congratulations!! Great landing too, thank you for sharing your solo.

[@Doofer911]

Thank you, it was my pleasure to share this experience!

[@turbofanlover]

Congrats, Doofer!...and thanks for taking all of us along for the ride. :)

[@Doofer911]

Thank you, it was my pleasure :)

[@martinforbes7803]

Congratulations Joss, that was awesome. I’m loving this series. I hope you get back up in the air soon mate. Take care.

[@Doofer911]

I've been fortunate to have flown in the past few weeks after we reopened after the lockdown. I'm much further ahead in the syllabus than these videos show and just completed my Solo Cross Country last week. Hoping to do my main skills test in the next couple of weeks.

[@marklowe7036]

Congratulations, you were born to fly.

[@Doofer911]

Maybe, it's definitely where my passions lay.

[@EWForbess]

Looking forward to it. Of all the things I remember about my first solo, the one that I will never forget is how much quicker I got airborne without that bulky instructor in the right seat! :-D Have fun!

[@Doofer911]

Yeah haha, one of the main points my instructor made before jumping out!

[@gbhoday7160]

Congratulation on your first solo! You’ll remember and cherish this moment for the rest of your life! Boy does INV look different from a tomahawk 😂!

[@railman6868]

A brilliant acheivement...well done Doofer and for making it look so easy. Relax now until the next time you're at the controls LoL !!

[@FrancoCingolani]

I'm watching all your tutorial videos, preparing myself for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020, and now I watched you on your first solo! That's very exciting! Congratulations!! And thank you so much for your tutorials, they are really useful! Greetings from Argentina

[@Doofer911]

Glad I could help!

[@AnthonyChew]

Thanks for pilot 'locker room talk' in the beginning, I laughed so hard! Keep those great videos coming.

[@ethiobeat360]

Same landing on your one of your tutorial. Pls dont stop learning, educating, sharing😊

[@Doofer911]

Thank you, I will :)

[@stormaurora5536]

Ooh it's so exciting! At last you have done it! Well done you 🙂💖

[@Doofer911]

Thank you!! 😊

[@CMDRRustyDog]

Congrats man ! Must be exhilarating.

[@dhruvmishra229]

That's awesome! Congrats

[@peterroper6055]

Oh wow! while you were flying the circuit I thought back to the dark time when you missed the ATC application and what a wonderful outcome this now is. Superb achievement! (Envy!)

[@Doofer911]

Yeah it's quite a change in fortune!

[@ammarabid2077]

From watching your tutorials on fsx to your first solo, i grew up thank you doofer

[@theundercoverguy]

Greetings! I learnt FSX from you and now you are on your way to becoming a pilot! I wanted an update on tutorials for the PMDG 777 and 747. You made quality tutorials on the 737 and A320 but now I am eager to know a bit about these large planes. You need not hurry, take your time but please try to upload videos on these jets so that we can learn more as well. Have a nice day!

[@billymkirkwood4956]

Joss absolutely well done mate, you have exceeded me and my flying ability. Really proud of what you have achieved for yourself since leaving London, great work mate.

[@Doofer911]

Thank you for the kind comment. It's been a lot of work but the flying adventures have just begun!

[@1Miguellima]

Congrats, what a landing, so smooth

[@Doofer911]

Was one of my better ones :)

[@bobgallagher8185]

Congratulations on your first solo. I only found your channel a couple of days ago after getting back into flight sims after a 20 year gap (bugger, I’m getting old) and I have really enjoyed re-learning stuff with your videos. You do teach very well and I’m looking forward to watching a lot more of your videos and reconnecting a neuron or two. It’s really good to see someone achieve his dream and you did it on that day. On camera too, not many people can relive the moment they fulfil a lifetime dream (good thing that you nailed that landing...). All the best and stay safe. Bob

[@Doofer911]

Thank you for the very kind comment Bob, I'm really glad my videos could help! Yeah it was a very special day :) Got my main Skills Test flight (final exam) tomorrow!

[@bobgallagher8185]

Doofer911 Blimey! I don’t wish to sound like a dad (but it does come with age) but get some bloody sleep! Big day tomorrow; all the very best.

[@Soundguydan]

Awesome!

[@PedroAugusto-ye7qw]

Wow, Doofer, congrats!

[@charlieohalloran7452]

That landing was butter. Congrats on your first solo!

[@Doofer911]

Thanks!

[@robertfeal-martinez3065]

I'm not a real life pilot but learned a lot from your videos, flying FlightGear Sim. Over the moon you have finally achieved your long term dream. My home airport for my sim is Inverness as I live on Rosneath Peninsula. All the best for the future. Hope to see some more real life videos.

[@losmosquitos1108]

Nicccce! You must have made your coach proud! 👍👍

[@plaady]

Congrats!

[@hugglebear69]

Congrats to you.... well done!!!

[@Doofer911]

Thank you so much 😀

[@jirelbyu]

CONGRATS!

[@thelastpilot4582]

Congratulations I bet you felt proud of that. I would like to see some of those photos as they gave them all a good laugh.

[@Doofer911]

Trust me.... you don't haha.

[@thelastpilot4582]

@@Doofer911 "OH YES WE DO". (He said in a loud pantomime voice)

[@mazo2267]

Awesome...very well done indeed......

[@Doofer911]

Thank you so much 😀

[@LuisPerez-vs6ou]

Nice video, nice traffic pattern for a first solo (one can feel the mixture of nerves and excitement before taking off), and nice airport and surrounding area!!

[@Doofer911]

Yeah it's amazing up here!

[@flankerskioneniner4290]

Congratulation buddy 👍👍 That was butter landing for first solo. 1 to 10 *10*

[@Doofer911]

haha, thanks very much. Was one of my better ones, not my best and I've definitely had worse!

[@thiscorrosion900]

I ordered the (US) PPL checkride study book today, just for simming purposes. After simming for five years, watching your videos, and others on here, I was told by one real life pilot and streamer that I seemed to be confusing VFR and IFR procedures, which is likely because simming confuses a lot of the two, in a not very realistic way, in many cases. I already own FAR AIM, PPL and IFR textbooks, and an ATC textbook that one guy on here told me today was useless but which in fact is considered a solid text in the States. It's difficult to take some of these people seriously, and/or know if they know what they're talking about. You, I know you know what you're on about, since you're a real pilot now. Anyway, I ordered the checkride book because this one Cessna pilot IRL told me to concentrate on VFR, sensible advice. For example, I learned how to set Baro minimums on the Garmin G1000 for instrument approaches, whereas another guy online told me you wouldn't need to do that for VFR flying, then yet another bloke today told me you would set them as a reminder, even for VFR. This is all conflicting information, so I ordered the book that presumably will explain exactly what to do in VFR. I don't like being given erroneous information, even for simming purposes. There are a lot of people on here who seem to think they know what they're talking about, and don't. i was studying today for hours on airspace classifications, a very complicated topic. For VFR, you may only need to know 2-3 of them, but, if you're gonna be a pilot, you have to KNOW ALL OF IT. No excuses. But some of these people seem to think they have flown in a sim for a week, and they're a real pilot. Also, some freakin' glider pilot in Idaho is probably not going to be able to tell you how to do a full IFR flight in Class A airspace from NY to Chicago. There are limits. But I at least have an idea, having done hundreds of hours on the sims of biz jet and 737 flights long haul. Though I haven't used VATSIM and all that, because I'm no expert yet on the radio procedure. Joss, I don't think I have the patience for it. I'd probably be a better VFR pilot since I like to just do my thing and I don't take direction very well. I can only imagine what a nightmare it must be to be flying out of JFK or Heathrow or places like that, especially in crap weather. If you screw up once in IFR as a commercial pilot, you are outttt. Fired. Anyway, MSFS 2020 is ok, but it also has its limits, of course. I'm enjoying it for what it is. What would scare me in real life is not so much the plane, but dealing with ATC and getting comfortable with flying the plane and having to deal with them as well. I wouldn't relish it. It seems like a lot to deal with at one time.

[@faridlarkem8225]

I wish you all the best, nice landing congratulation for your first solo

[@Doofer911]

Thank you very much :)

[@garyhodgson8344]

Great stuff Well done

[@Doofer911]

Thank you kindly

[@dave8540]

Well done old mate , I enjoyed the experience !

[@Doofer911]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@pbadman6290]

Absolutely amazing - fantastic effort - I know I followed you for a reason.

[@Doofer911]

Thank you very much!

[@mrjim12miller]

I learned a lot about flight sim from you. Congratulations on your success.

[@Doofer911]

Thank you very much!

[@michaelr.9363]

Congrats, well done, Nice stabil flight and great landing. How many hundred times you started and landed at this airport in the all your sims. Must be a great feeling to do that 1st time in real. I sure you can get adicted to that. Thanks Joss Greatings from Vienna

[@redsix49]

Congrats on your SOLO... What is the tradition here after this achievement... a tattoo of the tail# or what...would be cool to see ? Nice Patten.... Hell yeah ...awesome job Whats the next step ... In Scotland I would think Instruments is a must... things can change on a dime in those parts...

[@jimrobin]

Congratulations! Must've been a wonderful moment, landing safely! Just an afterthought - the checklist casts quite the reflection on your windscreen... is there a door pocket to stow it in? 😉

[@Doofer911]

Not in the Tommy, I think it was something I saw the instructor do on my first ever trial lesson experience and I've done it ever since.

[@weatherbog]

Good on ya , bud

[@PGoomba]

So jealous mate but well earned. You must have put so many simulated hours into doing solo circuits and now's your first time doing it for real. Well done!

[@Doofer911]

Yeah, a fair bit of time practicing in the circuit before and after this solo as well!

[@TheAviationChannel]

11:23 Flybe Dash 8? It just felt weird seeing it in this video taking off and flying. Of course, this was before its collapse. Anyways, congrats on yoyr solo. You've taught me a lot for the past 5 years+

[@MALCFWATT]

Hi Doofer, congrats on your first solo, looked a job well done too although I am sure you have knocked your pan in getting to this stage. Maybe we could meet up for a coffee after covid relaxes a bit more , I stay just along at Westhill and do a bit of flight simming too though nowhere near as good as you. Anyway thanks for the video and all the best with the rest of your training.

[@Doofer911]

Yeah we could do, will see how things with work pan out but never say never!

[@seanother8854]

1. Congrats, 2. Can we expect a redo on all your fsx tutorials in FS2020? They are excellent 👍 and I definitely will need some for the big boys and glass cockpits

[@Doofer911]

Not sure if I'll redo all of them. I didn't make it onto Microsoft's "media list" of online creators who have early access to the sim to release videos etc. So I can't get ahead of the game to prepare any videos.

[@ricardoroberto100]

Well done. Brilliant job. Now onto the real A320........

[@sarathw5740]

Congratulations!! You are a very cautious pilot. I thought you are not allowed to sit on the runway thinking " Am I going to fly or go home" -)

[@thiscorrosion900]

It's matter of doing what ATC is bloody well telling you to do. If you suspect an issue, or a problem, you can contact them again. If they told you line up and wait, or hold short, you do that until told otherwise.

[@kevkien88]

Suuuper

[@61tree_VR_Gliding]

Congratulations. I wish I had the willpower to do something like this. I've been flying flight sim since Sublogic's Flight Simulator II in the early 80's....It doesn't look like I'll be getting around to learning real flying any time soon lol.

[@Doofer911]

If I've been able to do it... anyone can. Once you find something you're ridiculously passionate about, willpower isn't even a factor, you'll just work hard to get the result you want. I've been "learning to fly" since I made my first tutorial video.... this is just one flight that has been about 6 years in the making.

[@harlansummers8237]

Congrats that's awesome. I'm doing my first solo on my 16th birthday in the tomahawk in a few months.

[@Doofer911]

Best of luck for the solo, you'll have an amazing flight :)

[@harlansummers8237]

Thanks mate, hope ya PPL goes well.

[@glennbanez3959]

Try landing using fsx in my schools runway in the philippines RPUXabout 900m long, today it currently has a 50 ft tree on both ends of the runway. So at about 100ft we chop the power of the cessna to make it sink faster then we raise the nose up just before touchdown.

[@farayidarlingtonchaparadza20]

Congrats. Your videos were inspirational when I did my PPL. Nice greaser there and all the best. Do they do the celebratory water spray over there?

[@Doofer911]

Unfortunately not haha. If we did we'd probably just have a couple of flying school staff with super soaker water guns!

[@encouragemeonline2350]

That was a long wait on hold on the runway. I hope you instructors had a good talk with the controller and told them to get their empathy act together. On my first solo, I had a Tiger Moth take to the runway when I was on finals. I wondered if I should overshoot. I was a teenager and felt quite concerned until the controller said “Carry on son, he will be out your way when you get here.” That is how ATC should handle a first solo. That was at EGBK in 1975. Later flew a few dual flights from EGPE in the 80’s.

[@Doofer911]

I think Leigh might have spoken to them after. Doing the power check where I did was not normal procedure for a student and the lack of info during the runway hold was awkward as well. As I said, 99% of the time ATC are amazing and they normally don't mind a little bit of informality. Like they'll say "Contact Radar on 122.605, see you when you get back!" for example but this controller on this day just gave me the bare minimum. I'd left that all behind though after getting through the BUMFICH checks on downwind :D

[@thiscorrosion900]

@@Doofer911 it is a bit odd, for a first solo. I'd have been pretty irritated myself, and unnerved.

[@japhethwamalwa8775]

You promised to release a video on how to setup HUD. Am eagerly waiting for it.

[@Doofer911]

You do realise in the time between releasing the 737 tutorials and now, you could have looked it up yourself?

[@OZ1967]

Nice work, In what ways have Flight Sims helped to achieve your real life flying goals ? Maybe you could do a video on this subject ? It would be interesting to hear. Cheers

[@thiscorrosion900]

I have another question: if you're a PPL VFR rated guy, and you are doing your first solo or whatever at your home airport, as here, and you suddenly see storm clouds and IMC going on, do you have to immediately radio in and take the plane down for landing, or what? At what point does VFR become IFR and if you're not rated for the latter, how do you know when to end that flight? Or will ATC contact you first anyway to let you know you cannot continue the flight? I'm asking you because I'm tellling you most of the people on here don't know what the hell they're on about.

[@kikuaviation3878]

No clipping of shirttails on this occasion like in the United States? Also, is there any reason for a right pattern at this airport?

[@Doofer911]

Nah no traditions like that here. As for the pattern direction, on the opposite side is a main road and residential area so going over the water is a little quieter for people on the ground although ATC do use both sides if it gets busy.

[@samonator9vlogs645]

i’ve flown with Sam before

[@johngeorge5010]

What is the name of the intro song? It sounds cool!!

[@Doofer911]

I don't know I'm afraid! I heard it on another video and managed to extract the music from it and use it myself.

[@thiscorrosion900]

But, did they buy the donuts or what?

[@dancingtango]

Ditto about how quick lift off was with only one in the cockpit!

[@Doofer911]

Yeah, makes a surprising difference!

[@381delirius]

911/10 👍

[@christopherbray9562]

Hello I am interested to know how you gained a Class 2 medical, after you failed the CAD test, I am in the same position, so any information is appreciated

[@Doofer911]

So I contacted an Aeromedical Examiner who wanted me to get an eye test prior to the Class 2 assessment. I raised my concerns about my colour vision and they asked me to get that assessed as well, hence why I did the CAD test which I failed. Took the results of the eye test and colour vision test to the AME and did the rest of the assessment and got my Class 2 Medical with a "Daytime flights only" restriction on the medical. I've learned that you can still get a Class 2 medical but there's several of these restrictions that can be put on. Another common restriction you see is that a person can fly however they must wear corrective lenses (glasses/contact lenses) when flying if their eyesight isn't to the required standard.

[@christopherbray9562]

@@Doofer911 Thank you, that clears up what has been a very grey area for me

[@Johnny_Cash_Flow]

Nice graphics. What GPU are you running?

[@CaptainJadenAR]

?? Are you joking??

[@Johnny_Cash_Flow]

@@CaptainJadenAR No. I'm being completely serious; just like every other person who has made this same joke in the comment thread. We all actually believe that this is video from a video game and not footage from the OP's own first time solo flight, as indicated in his title and description to the video. We are all so incredibly dumb, and you are so incredibly intelligent, that we stand in the shadow of your superior perception powers to differentiate real life from video games. Wow. You are amazing. Thank you for commenting on a 10 month old throw-away comment to ask if the throw-away comment was a joke. You are an amazing person. Please mentor me on the ways of being so insightful.

[@CaptainJadenAR]

@@Johnny_Cash_Flow, Look, I didn't know. Chill

[@Johnny_Cash_Flow]

@@CaptainJadenAR ?? Are you joking??

[@CaptainJadenAR]

@@Johnny_Cash_Flow, No. Thank you

[@rogerstubbs5593]

Hi. This is the most recent of your videos that I can find because I am a frustrated simmer. Three days ago I purchased NavDataPro for my Aerosoft A320 but I can't find an intelligible explanation of how to update the MCDU. I have submitted a ticket to Aerosoft but have had no response. I would very much appreciate some help..................Roger...........If I am out of line I apologise.

[@thiscorrosion900]

Is this one of the trainers with no autopilot? Just wondering.

[@Doofer911]

Yep. We have a PA28 and C172 which have non-function autopilots.... but they're there.

[@thiscorrosion900]

@@Doofer911 I see, someone else was putting up training videos and they mentioned the plane had no AP at all, etc. I would have thought it would have to be there for safety purposes, but maybe not.

[@thiscorrosion900]

@@randomguy555 And you're wrong too, by the way: the autopilot IS for safety and emergency reasons, at times, besides being for IFR flight and procedures. Get your facts right before coming on here and spouting false information, please. It only took me five seconds of study to find that out. You cannot possibly be a pilot, IRL, or you'd have known that.

[@ivanh3]

Well done! Now please go back and re-record all of your videos using MS Flight Sim 2020 after its release. Seriously though, congratulations!

[@DavidFromRI]

FANTASTIC! 👍👍👍 Oh, and yes, I'd do you... but what is Snapchat? 😉

[@Doofer911]

haha.... don't ask!

[@weatherbog]

I bet you didn.t sleep that night!

[@Doofer911]

I slept soundly actually, too much excitement tired me out haha.

[@dreamerweaver]

I used the gender swap on my dog and now my dog looks like a dog.

[@moranmanor6304]

Not the greatest video. No explanation on what your doing before takeoff and the first five minutes of the video is talking about Snapchat. Disappointed.

[@henson2k]

Congrats!