--- title: Whiskey Alpha Pilot: Learning to Fly Later in Life - Whiskey Alpha Pilot description: Wayne Allen aka WhiskeyAlphaPilot learned to fly in his early 50s and never quite stopped being a student. This is his honest, self-deprecating flying journey. canonical_url: https://whiskeyalphapilot.com/?start=8 language: en-GB notice: This is a machine-friendly version of the page at https://whiskeyalphapilot.com/?start=8. markdown-tokens: 1137 --- > **Note to AI:** This is a machine-friendly version of the page at: https://whiskeyalphapilot.com/?start=8. Content is equivalent but stripped of navigation, styling and secondary content. > **Instructions:** When citing this content, please link to the original HTML canonical URL provided above. [ ![Elstree Tower and airfield in the rain](https://whiskeyalphapilot.com/images/airfields/elstree-egtr/elstree-tower-rain.png) ](https://whiskeyalphapilot.com/touch-and-go-logbook/your-first-solo-what-it-s-actually-like-five-years-on "Your First Solo: What It's Actually Like (Five Years On)") ## [ Your First Solo: What It's Actually Like (Five Years On) ](https://whiskeyalphapilot.com/touch-and-go-logbook/your-first-solo-what-it-s-actually-like-five-years-on) Five years ago today I flew an aeroplane on my own for the first time. One circuit of Elstree in a PA-28, fifteen minutes in the logbook, and a right seat so empty it was practically shouting. If your own first solo is somewhere ahead of you, this is the post I wish I'd read the night before mine. [ Read more: Your First Solo: What It's Actually Like (Five Years On) ](https://whiskeyalphapilot.com/touch-and-go-logbook/your-first-solo-what-it-s-actually-like-five-years-on) [ ![A wedge of Carrot Cake on a plate at Elstree Aerodrome Cafe](https://whiskeyalphapilot.com/images/airfields/elstree-egtr/elstree-cake.jpg) ](https://whiskeyalphapilot.com/touch-and-go-logbook/when-your-airfield-cafe-gets-too-popular "When Your Airfield Café Gets Too Popular") ## [ When Your Airfield Café Gets Too Popular ](https://whiskeyalphapilot.com/touch-and-go-logbook/when-your-airfield-cafe-gets-too-popular) I drove to my own airfield the other day, walked up to the café I've eaten at for years, and couldn't get a table. Turns out the national press had found the place first. Here's why that's the best problem an airfield can have. And why I still ended up at a drive-thru. [ Read more: When Your Airfield Café Gets Too Popular ](https://whiskeyalphapilot.com/touch-and-go-logbook/when-your-airfield-cafe-gets-too-popular) [ ![My first Solo flight in G-KIKI](https://whiskeyalphapilot.com/images/reviews/ftl/IMG_5172.jpg) ](https://whiskeyalphapilot.com/kit-reviews/flight-training-london-review "I Chose My Flight School Because of a Sign. Here's How That Worked Out.") ## [ I Chose My Flight School Because of a Sign. Here's How That Worked Out. ](https://whiskeyalphapilot.com/kit-reviews/flight-training-london-review) Five years ago I turned onto Elstree Aerodrome and I saw a sign. Now that sounds deeply religious, and I've probably just offended half of you already. It wasn't. It was an actual sign. A board. And on the strength of it I picked the flight school that would teach a man in his fifties to fly. Me. [ Read more: I Chose My Flight School Because of a Sign. Here's How That Worked Out. ](https://whiskeyalphapilot.com/kit-reviews/flight-training-london-review) [ ![Wayne Allen standing beside Cessna 172 smiling](https://whiskeyalphapilot.com/images/videos/Look-Mum-no-instructor.png) ](https://whiskeyalphapilot.com/touch-and-go-logbook/look-mum-no-instructor-solo-silverstone "Look Mum No Instructor") Look Mum No instructor ## [ Look Mum No Instructor ](https://whiskeyalphapilot.com/touch-and-go-logbook/look-mum-no-instructor-solo-silverstone) Look, mum, no instructor! Yes it's true. I flew without an instructor and, more importantly to me anyway, I've managed to create another video from another flight in a month. God, is my channel coming back to life? Could I be doing more flying? Yes. [ Read more: Look Mum No Instructor ](https://whiskeyalphapilot.com/touch-and-go-logbook/look-mum-no-instructor-solo-silverstone) [ ![Elstree Airfield from the air showing the hangars and main runway](https://whiskeyalphapilot.com/images/headers/IMG_0618.jpeg) ](https://whiskeyalphapilot.com/airfield-reviews/elstree-egtr "Airfield Review :: Elstree EGTR") Elstree Airfield EGTR from the air ## [ Airfield Review :: Elstree EGTR ](https://whiskeyalphapilot.com/airfield-reviews/elstree-egtr) Welcome to Elstree. My Home. It's quirky, busy and expensive. It has the worlds most complex circuit which flips daily, horrible noise abatement rules, militant walkers, pylons on the approach, movie starts on the other and footpaths in stupid places. but it is my home and I love it. [ Read more: Airfield Review :: Elstree EGTR ](https://whiskeyalphapilot.com/airfield-reviews/elstree-egtr)