After completing Solo flight...

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Viper.R6

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Viper.R6
Good day folks..

I know the saying is no question is a stupid question...
but what happens after the completion of the solo flight....
I know that I still will be working with my CFI to continue progressing thru the lesson...

And once I've completed the solo flight am I able to go up without the CFI to work on TO & landings?
 
Viper.R6 said:
Good day folks..

I know the saying is no question is a stupid question...
but what happens after the completion of the solo flight....
I know that I still will be working with my CFI to continue progressing thru the lesson...

And once I've completed the solo flight am I able to go up without the CFI to work on TO & landings?
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Yes. And you'll be doing some solo Cross Country flying
 
you jump up and down, post a "I just solo'd!" thread on PoA, probably have a beer, maybe a few more beers, and then get ready for the next flight.
 
Congrats. you should ask your instructor.

A lot depends on your school & your instructor. At first, your instructor might insist that he be on the field when you fly & approve each flight. Usually halfway through a lesson, when he sees you are up for it, he’ll turn you loose for awhile.

In any event, you’ll likely get crosswind & ceiling limitations as well as be limited to the pattern at first. Later, as you master crosswinds, that limit will be eased. Eventually, you’ll be cleared to the practice area back. Etc.

A lot of schools—particularly those with rigid curriculum feeding professional programs—do progress check rides with another instructor as milestones you have to achieve before you are granted more liberty, like flying out to the practice area alone. Some schools want an instructor, any instructor, to sign-off on any flight to ensure you don’t misjudge conditions.

Be patient. Often these are insurance regs they are fulfilling. You might be the next chuck yeager, but you don’t just don’t have the minimum PIC hours to go to the practice area by yourself under the ins policy.

Good luck.
 
My initial solo was a week a ago Friday, the 20th. Went up by myself on Sunday the 22nd.
Flew with my instructor the following Friday and alone again last Saturday.
This weekend it'll be dual cross country and a solo cross country.
 
rhkennerly said:
Congrats. you should ask your instructor.

A lot depends on your school & your instructor. At first, your instructor might insist that he be on the field when you fly & approve each flight. Usually halfway through a lesson, when he sees you are up for it, he’ll turn you loose for awhile.

In any event, you’ll likely get crosswind & ceiling limitations as well as be limited to the pattern at first. Later, as you master crosswinds, that limit will be eased. Eventually, you’ll be cleared to the practice area back. Etc.

A lot of schools—particularly those with rigid curriculum feeding professional programs—do progress check rides with another instructor as milestones you have to achieve before you are granted more liberty, like flying out to the practice area alone. Some schools want an instructor, any instructor, to sign-off on any flight to ensure you don’t misjudge conditions.

Be patient. Often these are insurance regs they are fulfilling. You might be the next chuck yeager, but you don’t just don’t have the minimum PIC hours to go to the practice area by yourself under the ins policy.

Good luck.
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Thanks for the reply...
I will definitely discuss with my CFI tomorrow...

I believe I have a ways to go before I solo & I'm not in a rush to do so....
Again I was just curious and wanted to get an idea of what to expect....
 
At least at the school I am going to you'll need to be able to answer parts of this question yourself before you are allowed to solo. Read up on parts 61.89, 61.93 and 61.95. That tells you more of what you can't do rather than what you can with your solo endorsement, but its worth knowing for sure.

Managing your solo flight with for sure be based on where you fly. For me I need a CFI sign off for every solo flight, but after my first couple solos in the pattern I was allowed to go out to the practice area and encouraged to get as much solo time as I was able.

As for post-solo training, for me it was all about preparing for the cross country flights. Learning about navigation, dealing with flight services and other radio work, new emergency procedures, short and soft field landings, weather, etc. The good stuff ;)

But for practical purposes I second eman1200. The obligatory post on POA and some beers seems like a great idea after your first solo!
 
Also look at 61.87 for what you need to learn and be proficient in in order to solo. Many CFI forget that reg!
 
After my solo, my CFI told me I could come down any time I wanted and fly, whether that was pattern work or manuever work. For the xc, she liked to note I was cleared to fly to that airport in my logbook first, but with just a little planning, I could go anywhere I wanted. I had a crosswind limitation, but that's it. I soloed late, though, so she was very confident in my ability to bring the plane back safely. This was an independent CFI so your situation may vary greatly.
 
Viper.R6 said:
what happens after the completion of the solo flight
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First, your CFI will come at you with a pair of scissors, grab the back of your shirt and cut it off... Do NOT attempt to defend yourself... this is a tradition (use the Googles to look up why). If your CFI doesn't do this, go find a new CFI. Then do what @eman1200 said. Do the part with the beer multiple times. Then do what Seth and Tommy G and others said about checking the FARs. This will also impress your CFI and will be good prep for later on when you take the written and practical. After that, it think it depends on your school/CFI.... (had to look back in my logbook for the endorsements)... I have an endorsement for 90 days worth of solo-ing. I also have an endorsement for solo landings and takeoffs at another airport 25 NM away. Then I have endorsements for my solo XC and my long solo XC...

That's what you have to look forward to! Solo-ing was amazing. Solo-ing cross country was even more rewarding, in my opinion. Good luck and keep us posted!
 
Depends.

Some places won't let you solo unless the CFI is on site, watching you, whispering in your ear on the radio, telling you everything is going to be OK, all the while billing you. Then you have the other end of the spectrum where I signed my students off for solo and signed them off to nearly every airport within 25nm (yes we flew there pre-solo) and said have fun, if you do anything stupid, I don't know you.
 
Deelee said:
First, your CFI will come at you with a pair of scissors, grab the back of your shirt and cut it off...
Click to expand...

Did not happen, and it's a good thing because I was wearing a $100 shirt. There would have been much throat punching. I also never cut off any of my student's shirts. It's a stupid tradition.
 
Solo flight as a student pilot is under some level of supervision by the instructor who endorsed you for solo flight. That is the person who will tell you what you can do, what you should do, and what he or she hopes you will accomplish with your solo flights. It could be anything from “only fly after I have approved your specific flight that day” to “go forth and have fun.”

Cross-country solo flight requires specific endorsements for where you will be going. Usually, for each flight. And all solo endorsements will have some limitations on things like weather, mostly winds and visibility. Don’t do something illegal, regardless of how loose of a leash your CFI gives you.

Use the solo time to find maneuvers you could use more instruction on, by practicing all those you have done well with the instructor so far. This will help maximize the benefit of your remaining lessons and get you to the check ride.

You don’t legally have to post about your first solo here. It’s not in the rules of conduct or FARs. I didn’t do it and they gave me the keys anyhow. But it’s definitely encouraged to share your learning process here to help others who are at the same point or behind you in their training find their way.
 
EdFred said:
Did not happen, and it's a good thing because I was wearing a $100 shirt. There would have been much throat punching. I also never cut off any of my student's shirts. It's a stupid tradition.
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what if your students feel otherwise? a lot of things are stupid 'traditions' but we do them anyways........saying "bless you" after a sneeze (probably the dumbest of all), holding the door open for a woman (you got two hands, use 'em!), washing your hands after you pee........no wait, that's a good one, please keep doing that....I'm sure there's a laundry list of others that we do that are stupid. but maybe it's not so stupid to your students. I know, I know, it's a major inconvenience for you.......
 
eman1200 said:
washing your hands after you pee........no wait, that's a good one, please keep doing that
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Now you're just trying to spin the thread into a debate about reasons to get the vaccine. Reported. :)

I agree with the rest, though. I think that cutting the student's shirt to mark the first solo is a stupid tradition and I do not have a shirttail to mark my first solo. I have my logbook and a couple pictures for that. But if the whole world had to follow my ideas of what is and isn't stupid, I promise you there would be nothing but rebellion (which would also be on the stupid list). When my friend had his $100 shirt cut, I just laughed and told him congratulations. If I become a flight instructor and a student wears an uncharacteristically cheap T-shirt for his first solo, I'm going to cut it because that's obviously his expectation and it's no skin (or shirt) off my back.

Of course, @EdFred probably attracts students who agree with him about which traditions are stupid. I haven't met the man in person but he strikes me as one of those people who doesn't keep his opinions much of a secret. So his CFI bag just doesn't need a pair of scissors.
 
EdFred said:
Did not happen, and it's a good thing because I was wearing a $100 shirt. There would have been much throat punching. I also never cut off any of my student's shirts. It's a stupid tradition.
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And wearing a Gucci shirt for your solo is a cool tradition? When was that? What would it be in today’s dollars? Do you still have it?
 
luvflyin said:
And wearing a Gucci shirt for your solo is a cool tradition? When was that? What would it be in today’s dollars? Do you still have it?
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Gucci? I had pictured chain mail. Good luck cutting my $100 shirt, Mr. Flight Instructor and your stupid traditions!
 
for the record, I haven't worn a $100 shirt in my entire life, fuhgedabout while training in a hot stinky airplane.
 
EdFred said:
I was wearing a $100 shirt
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They make shirts that cost $100??? I may have seen one on TV once...

EdFred said:
It's a stupid tradition
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I thought it was pretty cool. A nod to aviators of olde... made me feel like a real pylot and stuff... plus I framed the tail and it looks really cool hanging on my wall. Now anyone who comes in to my office asks about it and I get to tell them how I am a pilot. Which is the goal of any pilot... to be able to tell everyone else that they are a pilot within 30 seconds of meeting.
 
luvflyin said:
And wearing a Gucci shirt for your solo is a cool tradition? When was that? What would it be in today’s dollars? Do you still have it?
Click to expand...

I didn't come from an aviation background. I wore what I wore. It was a golf shirt I had got from what was at the time the nicest course I had played. I knew I was soloing that day, because I got bumped from soloing the day before. I didn't even know about the cutting of shirts tradition until years later when I stumbled on AOPAs message boards.

All of my students have also wore nice shirts on the day they soloed. They never know the day they are going to solo, I like for it to be a surprise. I do contact their families as part of the surprise and they found that to be much more rewarding when they get out of the plane and their family is there to congratulate them than a hunk of dirty t shirt.
 
Deelee said:
They make shirts that cost $100??? I may have seen one on TV once...



I thought it was pretty cool. A nod to aviators of olde... made me feel like a real pylot and stuff... plus I framed the tail and it looks really cool hanging on my wall. Now anyone who comes in to my office asks about it and I get to tell them how I am a pilot. Which is the goal of any pilot... to be able to tell everyone else that they are a pilot within 30 seconds of meeting.
Click to expand...

People have known me for years and still don't know I'm a pilot and it's usually someone else that tells them. I've found most people don't give a **** that someone is a pilot.
 
EdFred said:
I've found most people don't give a **** that someone is a pilot
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This is incredibly true. But I have also found that many pilots, especially new ones, give many ****s that everybody else knows they are a pilot.
 
I did not get the tail cutting experience 30 years ago. I love traditions so I always felt a bit cheated. Back then the standard MO was to surprise the student. I had no idea it was coming, so I could not have worn a sacrificial shirt. We were knocking out T&G's at the local Class C and the CFI said "hey, pull over here by the tower and let me out."
 
EdFred said:
Did not happen, and it's a good thing because I was wearing a $100 shirt.
Click to expand...

I had a VP who tried to impress folks in the office (we called him "Skippy") that he had his shirts hand made. I said "So, you buy your shirts at Kohl's who source from China and Vietnam sweat shops?"
 
My CFI asked if I wanted to solo one cold Dec morning .
"Go get your airplane and give me 3 take offs and full stop landings and when done park out front. "
Off I go to hanger hoping the engine would start . Taxied my C172 to fuel pump filled the tanks , preflight'd it and took off . Three fine take offs and 3 no bounce landings later I pulled up to the parking ramp and went in.
Another student was in there and he aske him the same . Sure was the other fellows reply.
The CFI and I got into his truck to watch the other student do his 3 . Second student was flying a nice Piper .
Afterwards He took pictures of us with planes parked side by side.
First time the CFI had ever had 2 students solo on the same day.
No cut off shirt tails but the CFI wanted a bottle of whiskey .
I had been up to the Canadian Duty free store and bought him a 3 liter Jug of Crown Royal a few weeks before the Canadian border closed . Last time I was in Canada before they shut the border down.
All in all it was a pretty low keyed event.
 
It depends on the syllabus your CFI is using. One popular syllabus has the student completing an initial 3 landing solo, then a trip to the local practice area and TO and LNG practice on the second solo. After that instruction in slips to landing, short and soft fields, night and XC instruction before you are released for XC.
 
Ha! Y’all think a Gucci shirt costs $100? Try adding a zero to that.
 
The walls of the FBO I’m learning at has its walls covered with backs of shirts cut off, and memorialized. It’ll be a while before I’m close to solo, but I want a shirt back on that wall, too. I have an old T Shirt with the original FBO name: Amelia Reid Aviation. I’d rather not sacrifice that shirt, not even if I solo a tail dragger. (The back says: Real pilots fly tail draggers, and I started learning in a Citabria). I’d be willing to sacrifice that shirt after soloing a tail dragger if I had another shirt like it.

A plain white T shirt would do just fine.
 
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