FMA Solo 2015 – FMA Solo Program

BIG NEWS

Pilots and musicians,

I have some very exciting news. Saturday, October 11, which also happened to be the day of my school’s homecoming dance, I performed my first solo flight! I was
anticipating a routine hour or so of further perfecting my landings,
but after a few very solid ones, my instructor asked me if I
would like to do the next one by myself. I didn’t understand what he
meant at first, but after figuring it out and contemplating the idea
on my downwind leg, I decided to give it a go. I hesitated at first
because of the unexpected nature of the proposition, but the conditions were
good and I knew I was ready. It was an incredible feeling. On my first landing, I was substantially high on final. I utilized a forward slip and managed to lose enough altitude to bring the Archer in for a decent landing. My second and third landings were both good, though my next goal is to land shorter. I’ve included a video of the event. I want to thank everyone at FMA for your help and words of encouragement. I am honored to be part of such an amazing group of people!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/wb8l5nfmtgckl8d/Video%20Oct%2010%2C%202%2043%2058%20PM.mov?dl=0

Sincerely,

Drew Medina

Update 9/20

Sorry for the delay in my updates. School is in full swing and finding time for anything between classes, band, college applications and flight lessons is proving difficult. Nonetheless I am thoroughly enjoying my senior year. My training is going great. I’ve included a flight track from one of my recent lessons (as a picture because I had trouble with the Google Earth file), which have been a lot of pattern work and perfecting my landings. I should be soloing within the next two weeks for which I am both excited and nervous. On the musician side of things, myself and a few members of our high school jazz band have gotten together to form a jazz combo, in which we will play everything from classic jazz standards to contemporary arrangements (if we can find the time to rehearse). I look forward to posting some musical updates in the near future.

Update 8/24

Today was the first day of school of my senior year. Throughout most of my classes I’ve found myself yearning to get back in the air. I am now up to 8.3 hours of flight time, with which I’ve begun to get a good handle on power-on and power-off stalls, ground-reference maneuvers, and steep turns. I’ve also become much more comfortable on the radio, and I am now making the majority of calls during flights. Being a member of the Air Force JROTC at my school also allows me another outlet for aviation advice and knowledge; one of my instructors, Col. Zoller, is a retired Air Force C-5 pilot. Below are some more pictures from my training.

MyGoFlight Custom Flight Bag

I”d like to thank MyGoFlight for this incredible custom flight bag. Looking forward to putting it to use!

Update 8/18

Hooked

This past week I began my flight training with the Cherokee Flyers Association. I’ve been able to get airborne twice between band and bad weather, and I’ve loved every minute of it. I have become very fond of the beautiful aircraft I am so lucky to be able to learn in, a Piper Archer III with Garmin G500 avionics. I am starting to get a good handle on preflight, startup, and taxiing procedures, as well as level flight, turns to headings, and climbs/descents. I have also begun to work on stall recovery and understanding the physics involved. Sporty’s Learn To Fly course has also been a huge asset in my training, with engaging videos and coursework. I’ve included a few pictures from my training.

Greetings

Hello all,

I’d like to begin by saying that I am extremely grateful for this scholarship and the generosity of its sponsors. I am greatly humbled by the immense collective talent and experience of the Flying Musicians Association and look forward to meeting new pilots and players in my travels. I hope that in the keeping of this blog I can encourage more young people to bring their own aeronautical and musical dreams to fruition, as the wonderful people at FMA have helped do for me.

Best regards,

Drew Medina