Failed my first opportunity to solo

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Aim

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Aim
I don't know what happened yesterday, but I was supposed to solo and didn't. I can't sleep. I can't stop thinking about it. I am so unbelievably disappointed. And I also just don't get it.

When I showed up yesterday for my flight lesson, I was told if I could do 2-3 touch and go trips around the pattern without my CFI saying a word, I would solo. My CFI proceeded to endorse my log book and excitement was in the air! This all happened inside the FBO in front of another CFI (who was pumping his fists in the air with excitement - LOL!) as well as the person who worked the front office. It was cool to see and feel their belief in me. I couldn't believe what was happening!

I walked out to do my pre-flight (and I texted my husband about what just happened -- he's never seen me fly before and he very much wanted to be present for my first solo). Then I started doing my pre-flight checklist.

Everything was going well, we do the run-up checklist and discover an issue with the comms. Taxi to maintenance, get the comms issue fixed and we taxi back to the run-up area again. So it's definitely not a smooth start, but it gave my husband time to arrive at the viewing spot, and in my head I can't believe that all I have to do is work the pattern and it'll be time to solo!

We take off and my CFI says nothing at all the entire time. I took this as a positive sign, based on what he said in the FBO, and I'm proud of my landing (which is rare for me to feel!) I'm on the go into the upwind for my 2nd trip around the pattern. My CFI starts talking this time...gives a couple critiques. I have another nice landing. Time for my 3rd trip. Again, on the upwind, he starts telling me everything I did wrong. The rest of the time in the pattern, he says things like, "Roll wings level, you haven't squared off a single pattern all morning. Where's the wind coming from? Watch your airspeed. You aren’t looking at the runway enough", etc. We land and he has me taxi off the runway. He looks at me and says he won't be soloing me today. And he has me get back in line to do more pattern work. We work the pattern the rest of the time (7 landings total) and at the end he goes, "Had you flown the first 2 the way you flew these last 2, I would have soloed you." And then it was back to the hangars.

Wow. Just....the dejected feeling I had / still have is unbelievable. He seems to want perfection, and I am never going to be perfect. I have flown with 2 other instructors who have each told me what a great job I'm doing -- only one time with each instructor. And both of those CFIs gave me (and my primary CFI) very positive feedback.

It seems when I flew with the other 2 CFIs (once was for my pre-solo eval and the other was because I needed help with my flares), it went really well. I was initially nervous to fly with someone other than my primary, but I quickly felt very at ease once we got going. It feels like my primary CFI wants me to be absolutely precise and absolutely perfect. I feel like I've let him down (and I've definitely let myself down!), yet I also can't figure out why sometimes he thinks I'm doing well and other times I just can't seem to ever perform to his standards. My confidence is on a total roller coaster ride. I never know what days he's going to say I'm doing well and what days he'll act like I can't do anything right. And, rightfully so, I never have a day without any critiques...but some days he just seems harsher than others.

Maybe you guys can help give me some insight. Does it make sense that he wouldn't let me solo at all yesterday because I wasn't perfect on the first few patterns? At the end, when he said, "Had you flown the first 2 the way you flew these last 2, I would have soloed you", well, then why didn't he solo me at that point? Is it critical that I get it completely accurate right out of the gate? Maybe it is. Just curious / wondering.

I know...I know you can't truly tell me...only my CFI can. But I'm just so down right now. I actually have a really good rapport with my CFI, but I often feel he's very hard on me sometimes and then more loose other times. And I get it....if he even had an inkling that sending me solo was not the right call, then he had to follow through and go with that instinct and that decision. And I know I'll get another crack at it. I just can't believe I failed on that first opportunity. He obviously saw and experienced things I didn't and made the call he felt was best for me.

I guess I just needed to share here with a community who "gets" how I'm feeling. I've felt like giving up a couple of times in this whole journey...and right now...yeah, I feel like giving up...like I'm just not good enough. I'm pursuing my PPL as a hobby. I know I owe it to myself to keep going. I just don't know why sometimes I meet his standards and other times I feel he's extremely nit-picky about everything I do...like yesterday.

Thanks for letting me share.
 
In my time it was rare to announce ahead of time when a person would solo. I would typically take the student to a non busy airport, do a couple landings then I would get out with his logbook and send them around the pattern. Some students may need to prepare for it to happen, but in that preparation they will second guess their actions, and fly differently in anticipation.

It could also be your instructor woke up on wrong side of bed that morning, or their significant other rejected their advances the night before.

Without being there it's impossible to tell.
 
Aim said:
I don't know what happened yesterday, but I was supposed to solo and didn't. I can't sleep. I can't stop thinking about it. I am so unbelievably disappointed. And I also just don't get it.
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You didn't fail anything. You will solo when you solo. As an instructor, I don't know when I will solo a student until I get out of the airplane. Trying to set a solo for a certain flight or predict what day a person will solo typically leads to bad outcomes. I will tell students that they are getting close, but that's it. Anything more is added pressure that typically decreases the student's performance and a set-up for disappointment. Relax and focus on flying smoothly, precisely, avoiding mistakes, improving any weak areas, and it will happen.
 
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I would never tell my student "today you will (conditionally) solo". They would know they are close, but when a few trips around the pattern go extremely well, I'd just tell them to pull off the runway and give me their logbook. I'd sign it, and step out. I think your CFI put too much pressure on you, especially with your husband there to watch. You will solo soon and in a year, the extra lesson or two will not matter at all.

Your CFI is there to keep you safe and has to be 110% sure you are ready. You didn't fail anything.
 
I suspect this was more about your instructor’s nerves than about your skill. There have been a couple of high-vis student solo crashes recently, and he suddenly imagined his (I suspect) newly minted cfi signature in your charred & smoking logbook.

Frankly, it was very unprofessional to announce your solo ahead of time. It puts too much public pressure on you both. If you have a random bad day in the pattern, then you’re both embarrassed. Soon, when all the parts are coming together for you, your instructor will step out of the plane & tell you to “give me 3 good trips around the pattern.” I hope it’s with a different cfi in charge.

If nothing else, you need to have a ❤️ 2 ❤️ with this instructor about embarrassing you in public. Solo is a very personal & cherished aviation milestone. An induction into the family of pilots. Don’t let this guy spoil it for you.
 
How experienced is your instructor?

That can be a BIG part of it. As others have mentioned, your instructor may not be comfortable, and not due to your performance.

Also, you could have had a slightly off day.

But interestingly, if he endorsed your logbook, you ARE cleared to solo. :D
 
Hard not to feel down about it. But, just let it go. It won't matter at all soon. You'll be soaring high!
 
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Aim said:
I don't know what happened yesterday, but I was supposed to solo and didn't. I can't sleep. I can't stop thinking about it. I am so unbelievably disappointed. And I also just don't get it.

When I showed up yesterday for my flight lesson, I was told if I could do 2-3 touch and go trips around the pattern without my CFI saying a word, I would solo. My CFI proceeded to endorse my log book and excitement was in the air! This all happened inside the FBO in front of another CFI (who was pumping his fists in the air with excitement - LOL!) as well as the person who worked the front office. It was cool to see and feel their belief in me. I couldn't believe what was happening!

I walked out to do my pre-flight (and I texted my husband about what just happened -- he's never seen me fly before and he very much wanted to be present for my first solo). Then I started doing my pre-flight checklist.

Everything was going well, we do the run-up checklist and discover an issue with the comms. Taxi to maintenance, get the comms issue fixed and we taxi back to the run-up area again. So it's definitely not a smooth start, but it gave my husband time to arrive at the viewing spot, and in my head I can't believe that all I have to do is work the pattern and it'll be time to solo!

We take off and my CFI says nothing at all the entire time. I took this as a positive sign, based on what he said in the FBO, and I'm proud of my landing (which is rare for me to feel!) I'm on the go into the upwind for my 2nd trip around the pattern. My CFI starts talking this time...gives a couple critiques. I have another nice landing. Time for my 3rd trip. Again, on the upwind, he starts telling me everything I did wrong. The rest of the time in the pattern, he says things like, "Roll wings level, you haven't squared off a single pattern all morning. Where's the wind coming from? Watch your airspeed. You aren’t looking at the runway enough", etc. We land and he has me taxi off the runway. He looks at me and says he won't be soloing me today. And he has me get back in line to do more pattern work. We work the pattern the rest of the time (7 landings total) and at the end he goes, "Had you flown the first 2 the way you flew these last 2, I would have soloed you." And then it was back to the hangars.

Wow. Just....the dejected feeling I had / still have is unbelievable. He seems to want perfection, and I am never going to be perfect. I have flown with 2 other instructors who have each told me what a great job I'm doing -- only one time with each instructor. And both of those CFIs gave me (and my primary CFI) very positive feedback.

It seems when I flew with the other 2 CFIs (once was for my pre-solo eval and the other was because I needed help with my flares), it went really well. I was initially nervous to fly with someone other than my primary, but I quickly felt very at ease once we got going. It feels like my primary CFI wants me to be absolutely precise and absolutely perfect. I feel like I've let him down (and I've definitely let myself down!), yet I also can't figure out why sometimes he thinks I'm doing well and other times I just can't seem to ever perform to his standards. My confidence is on a total roller coaster ride. I never know what days he's going to say I'm doing well and what days he'll act like I can't do anything right. And, rightfully so, I never have a day without any critiques...but some days he just seems harsher than others.

Maybe you guys can help give me some insight. Does it make sense that he wouldn't let me solo at all yesterday because I wasn't perfect on the first few patterns? At the end, when he said, "Had you flown the first 2 the way you flew these last 2, I would have soloed you", well, then why didn't he solo me at that point? Is it critical that I get it completely accurate right out of the gate? Maybe it is. Just curious / wondering.

I know...I know you can't truly tell me...only my CFI can. But I'm just so down right now. I actually have a really good rapport with my CFI, but I often feel he's very hard on me sometimes and then more loose other times. And I get it....if he even had an inkling that sending me solo was not the right call, then he had to follow through and go with that instinct and that decision. And I know I'll get another crack at it. I just can't believe I failed on that first opportunity. He obviously saw and experienced things I didn't and made the call he felt was best for me.

I guess I just needed to share here with a community who "gets" how I'm feeling. I've felt like giving up a couple of times in this whole journey...and right now...yeah, I feel like giving up...like I'm just not good enough. I'm pursuing my PPL as a hobby. I know I owe it to myself to keep going. I just don't know why sometimes I meet his standards and other times I feel he's extremely nit-picky about everything I do...like yesterday.

Thanks for letting me share.
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Well you didn’t crash so you didn’t fail. Don’t be so hard on yourself. It takes time to build the skill set.

Mind if I ask what your CFI has in the way of experience?
 
Ah you'll get there. My solo was a surprise. Instructor told me to pullover on a taxiway, he endorsed me, told me to do 2 touch and goes and a full stop and I was off, not much time to think about it.
 
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Meh… it’s not about you. Poor instructor technique.

The solo is about ONE thing, confidence. He has now screwed with yours… THAT is the bad technique.

An instructor CAN NEVER be 110 percent sure. Can’t. THIS is why being an instructor is hard, and where most fail.

You lose a little bit of “specialness”, he lost his BEST opportunity to gain YOUR trust. It happens.
 
Tools said:
Meh… it’s not about you. Poor instructor technique.

The solo is about ONE thing, confidence. He has now screwed with yours… THAT is the bad technique.

An instructor CAN NEVER be 110 percent sure. Can’t. THIS is why being an instructor is hard, and where most fail.

You lose a little bit of “specialness”, he lost his BEST opportunity to gain YOUR trust. It happens.
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Yeah, it’s really never 110%. Soloing a student is a hugely responsible decision for the CFI.
 
You're putting too much pressure on yourself. If the instructor didn't think you were ready, you probably weren't. Even if that instructor messed up, you don't have enough experience to know that the instructor was wrong. Second, perfection is not the standard, but reasonable proficiency and safety is.
 
I think soloing is both confidence and demonstrated ability. I’ve had students in the past who technically handled the plane great. However, they couldn’t make a decision to save their life. They didn’t solo until I saw a fair amount of PIC mentality.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
NO DOUBT! I don’t mean to diminish that.

So there I was…

New Navy TA-4J advanced strike instructor. Just got my qual to do a FAM 7X, safe for solo ride. My first one was a Thai student having problems. He was given extra time without the benefit of a “down” for political reasons.

I didn’t know this…
Skeds didn’t know this…

All I knew was it was a FAM 7X and I was qualified. He passed, BARELY in my opinion, grades reflected that, but I gave him the go ahead.

Ops Officer sees him scheduled for his solo flight after flying with me… calls a meeting…

Tools, this was just extra training.
Uh, sked said 7X,

Quick impromptu investigation shows no way I could’ve known. Now the meat of the story…

Rather than cancel his solo, since he was given the pass, they really quizzed me (rightfully so since I had such ZERO experience). I explained my rationale, they were impressed, let it go ahead. The kid did well.

Moral of the story is, it’s important to NOT screw with a students confidence just because the instructor side is messed up.

Caveat, Safety prevails, had I not been able to convey my opinion well enough, would have been best to pull the plug.


So there I was…

My first civil solo was MY SON! Ya, no pressure… you can see it on you tube, search NX2RN. In a Pietenpol! At about 8 hours… hand propped him and sent him out, shakin in my thit!!! All I could think was the horrible death that awaited me by the hand of his mother (who lost her first husband in a PLANE CRASH) if he didn’t return!
 
I don't say a word about ready to solo until it's Solo time. The hint is that I put 30 gallons of fuel in the tanks, just prior to endorsing the log book.

I want it to fly exactly as if I was sitting there.
More than one has said, as if I was sitting there, calling out the airspeed every about 10 seconds on unicom.....

To the OP: eventually you will take a dozen or more evaluation rides. After #5 or 6 it'll stop being an event. So, "Carry on!".
 
I have trouble letting go of the memories of the times I have said to the learner “my aircraft” because I was afraid we were about to bend something.

It often keeps me up the night before a solo endorsement.

It may be that you did something that reminded him of a “my aircraft” experience that was particularly challenging.

My learners don’t improve in a straight line and most have good days and bad days.

I don’t tell my learners when I am going to solo them so they don’t over think it.

My technique is divergent from your instructor’s and that does not make it better.

Most of my learners don’t square their turns well and for me that is not a reason to not solo a qualified learner.
 
Pinecone said:
How experienced is your instructor?

That can be a BIG part of it. As others have mentioned, your instructor may not be comfortable, and not due to your performance.

Also, you could have had a slightly off day.

But interestingly, if he endorsed your logbook, you ARE cleared to solo. :D
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Thanks for making me laugh! I needed that.
From an experience standpoint, he's been a CFI for about 2 years.
 
Tarheelpilot said:
Well you didn’t crash so you didn’t fail. Don’t be so hard on yourself. It takes time to build the skill set.

Mind if I ask what your CFI has in the way of experience?
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Thank you for your encouragement. I really do appreciate it. (He's been a CFI for about 2 years now and has about 1,100 hours.)
 
I really can't thank you all enough for taking the time to read my post and respond to me. Reading your supportive and understanding comments has really helped me to realize that at the end of the day, my CFI has a HUGE responsibility when it comes to making the call whether to solo a student or not. I do respect that he listened to his inner voice. Whatever the reason was, it just wasn't my day. Your comments have encouraged me, helped me and even made me chuckle. I appreciate the insight, experiences and stories you've shared with me. And when my time actually DOES come, I'll be sure to circle back and share the story. Until then, I'm just gonna do my best...try to enjoy flying (and soak in those fun and encouraging moments!)...and just keep learning. I've come a long way...I can do this.
 
I think what's turning me off in a few of the replies is that the word confidence, by itself, is not a good indicator of safety. I've had a few students who were very, very confident, but their confident attitude was not based on demonstrated core abilities. Maybe the phrase "justified confidence" would make me more comfortable?
 
I know it's a milestone to reach, but try not to be disappointed. You WILL solo eventually. At more than 300 hours, it still doesn't get old.
 
The only thing my instructor said before my first solo was, "Do you have your medical with you?"

Your instructor just created a level of anxiety that didn't need to be there. I think first solos should really be quiet and private - no build-up, no drama, no spectators, no Go-pros, etc.. It's just you and an airplane without an instructor in it.
 
In more than 2000 hours of IP time, I have never told a student when they were going to solo.

My normal "speech" is to ask the pilot how they think they are doing. Normally will reply that they feel good and are confident. My response is typically "good, because your scaring the crap out of me. I'm getting out. Bring the aircraft (helicopter or airplane) back after 20 minutes."

I then get out right on the side of the taxiway and walk back to the hangar. To this day, I have never watched the first pick up into a hover of any helicopter student.
 
Like others have said, I never tell a student that they would solo on the next lesson. It’s always a “how are you doing today” decision. More than once, I’ve called parent or spouse so they could be there when they taxied in, so there would be no undue pressure.

I would also evaluate them on the next lesson or two before letting them solo again. It’s not just first solo and then “here are the keys, have fun”.
 
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OP, I woke up this morning feeling a bit disappointed myself. Its hard not to take it personally when things dont go well. You will solo and you will do all those other things. I am sorry that the cfi put you in that position. I never knew when I was going to solo. When my cfi said drop me off here and you go up by yourself I couldnt believe it. During my taxi to the runway solo I remember saying hoooooooly ****...am I really doing this?

Yesterday, I was doing some commercial maneuvers and I was allover the place and not doing much right. lol
This morning I felt like I should have done better blah.
All we can do is practice and keep getting better.
 
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I'm guessing your CFI is a child who has very poor teaching skills. What he did was unprofessional and cruel.
His actions and decisions were more about him than about you.
In addition to all the above suggestions, mine is to make him eat his words.

Perhaps a stage check with the head CFI is in order. "Just to get another viewpoint." ;)
 
Well, I knew what day I was going to solo long before I actually did: My sixteenth birthday was the day. That was 60 years ago. When I became an instructor a few years later I told students when they were going to solo way before they did, too: "When you can make four out of the five previous landings totally unassisted, including no more than one properly executed go-around, if necessary." That was not a low bar at a 2200' strip with real trees right at the end and a sloping runway with a hill in the middle. Timely go-arounds were a mark of good judgment, but the ability to avoid them was a mark of good skill. Taken together, it would be obvious to the student when soloing was getting close. And for the OP — is there a chance the CFI was intentionally trying to motivate you to fly to a higher standard by denying the reward of soloing even though he didn't think you were ready yet?
 
Domenick said:
I'm guessing your CFI is a child who has very poor teaching skills. What he did was unprofessional and cruel.
His actions and decisions were more about him than about you.
In addition to all the above suggestions, mine is to make him eat his words.

Perhaps a stage check with the head CFI is in order. "Just to get another viewpoint." ;)
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I disagree. Most of what the OP described is quite reasonable. Many students psych themselves out a bit when they know that they are close.

The more I think about this, the more I think that the OP needs to put the immediate past behind, and do the next thing as well as she can. If you take the constructive feedback that the CFI gave, and just concentrate on the next landing, forgetting the mistakes you've made before, I think that the solo will happen fast. Instead, my read is that the mistakes are getting in your head and compounding, and that indeed is an issue. A captain can't crash the plane with the excuse that something went wrong five minutes before and that distracted him.
 
Aim said:
We take off and my CFI says nothing at all the entire time. I took this as a positive sign, based on what he said in the FBO, and I'm proud of my landing (which is rare for me to feel!) I'm on the go into the upwind for my 2nd trip around the pattern. My CFI starts talking this time...gives a couple critiques. I have another nice landing. Time for my 3rd trip. Again, on the upwind, he starts telling me everything I did wrong. The rest of the time in the pattern, he says things like, "Roll wings level, you haven't squared off a single pattern all morning. Where's the wind coming from? Watch your airspeed. You aren’t looking at the runway enough", etc. We land and he has me taxi off the runway. He looks at me and says he won't be soloing me today. And he has me get back in line to do more pattern work. We work the pattern the rest of the time (7 landings total) and at the end he goes, "Had you flown the first 2 the way you flew these last 2, I would have soloed you." And then it was back to the hangars.
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So go out and fly the way you flew those last two landings!
Honestly, him not talking, and you being proud of the landing, but then him having a list of critiques means that you should try to tighten up the things you already know to do, and not cut yourself slack on precision. It sounds like he was ultimately critiquing your ability to self-critique. That's about good judgment, and an important thing for a solo student.
Maybe you guys can help give me some insight. Does it make sense that he wouldn't let me solo at all yesterday because I wasn't perfect on the first few patterns? At the end, when he said, "Had you flown the first 2 the way you flew these last 2, I would have soloed you", well, then why didn't he solo me at that point? Is it critical that I get it completely accurate right out of the gate? Maybe it is. Just curious / wondering.
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Did someone have the plane after you? Was he on a time crunch for another student, or his family at home? If not, he also could have felt like you were too fatigued to solo safely. Many students early on tend to degrade quickly after about 1.5 hours of flying.
 
Someone should talk to this CFI with a synopsis of this thread, with many posts by experienced and high time flight instructors as well as high time pilots who aren't instructors.
 
You don't have to be perfect, you just have to be proficient and safe. Confidence is not a good indicator. If you aren't confident, it can mean that you know you aren't ready. Alternately, that lack of confidence can be a good thing that will keep you out of trouble. On my first solo, as soon as the wheels left the ground I'll never forget the thought, "you got this thing up in the air, now you've got to get it back down in one piece". Mental visions of all the R/C aircraft that I crashed in my youth came to mind. That sounds grim but it kept me on my toes with 100% focus. Despite the stress, soloing was was a life-long dream and one of the high points of my life that I'll never forget.
 
The confidence is what the student has AFTER the solo. That they really can do it themselves. Not their confidence before.

What I looked for was that they were solid on patterns and landings on the previous flight. And then they did a few (3 or so) without any REQUIRED input from me. I might interject a teachable moment, but other wise I was sitting there like a big bag of sand.

At the field I instructed, all landings were full stop (2000 feet on a slope). I would have them stop at the turn around, ask for their certificate, and sign it, and tell them to do 3 solo. That was the first idea they had that it was really happening.

And no, the student will not be perfect, but they need to be safe. And fix their mistakes.

In the USAF you knew when were going to solo. It was flight C5201 and C5202. These were flights 15 and 16 in the T-37, assuming you did not have to repeat any flights. If you were not ready to solo, you failed the previous block and repeated until ready to solo. You had to do a minimum 2 or 3 with the instructor (logged as flight C5201), then do a full stop, and taxi back to the Runway Supervisory Unit, and shut down the right engine. Instructor climbed out, and you started the engine and did some patterns with the fuel you had. I had enough gas to do 9 (touch and goes).
 
OP sorry I did not get to read the whole post until now. I just read about the thoughts of giving up part. Please dont ever give up. I dont want to hijack your thread or story but I went through hell and back just trying to get my medical. I have posted about it in the medical forum. It seemed like I was never going to get my 3rd class medical. I almost gave up two or three times but I kept pushing through. I finally got the 3rd class and today I got my 2nd class medical issued.

Please do not ever give up on something you love. I am here for you if you need a friend and a listening ear.
 
The CFI is responsible for you. If he had even the slightest doubt, he would not solo you. Doesn't mean that he is right or wrong about it, but it's his responsibility so it's hard to question his decision. With my first instructor, he also told me if I do three good landings with him the next day, he would let me solo. I showed up all excited at the airport, ceiling at about 1,000 feet so that day was cancelled. Then, I had a family issue unrelated to aviation and was grounded for three months and moved. New instructor obviously didn't think I was ready to solo after a three month break. So, back to pattern work for a few weeks. Then, one day, we did a x-country, which he told me we would do the day before. I did one landing at the other airport, he told me to taxi to the ramp as he wanted to say hi to a friend who works there. We stop, he hops out and says "while I say hi, why don't you fly around the pattern". I had no idea that day would be my solo day up until that very moment. After I did my solo, he said I'm close to taking the check ride so I sought out another instructor to get a feel for flying with a stranger as my examiner would be a stranger, too. That other instructor didn't think I was close to my check ride (at that time, it was a week away), but my own instructor said I'm fine. I ended up taking the check ride the next week, although the stranger instructor did put some doubt into my mind, and I ended up passing just fine. Maybe I was just way off the day I was flying with the other instructor. Maybe he was just an a**hole. If you have a good relationship with your instructor and you don't think he's an a**hole, maybe you just had an off day. That happens. Go back and try again. Simple as that.
 
I knew when I was supposed to solo. I elected not to even though the instructor was fine with how I was doing. Little too gusty with a little too brisk of a crosswind for a first solo for my liking. 50 degree crosswind 10 gusting to 16. Tomorrow will be another day. Why force/push things. It'll happen whenever it happens.
 
An instructor I know tells the story of soloing a student and walking back into the the FBO where the line guy asks if it is a 1st Solo to which he responded "yes, no sense in both of us crashing" at which point the lady in the waiting area freaked out. It was then he found it is the his students Mother watching him fly. Says he has never been able to use that joke since:).

Brian
CFIIG/ASEL
 
brcase said:
An instructor I know tells the story of soloing a student and walking back into the the FBO where the line guy asks if it is a 1st Solo to which he responded "yes, no sense in both of us crashing" at which point the lady in the waiting area freaked out. It was then he found it is the his students Mother watching him fly. Says he has never been able to use that joke since:).

Brian
CFIIG/ASEL
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That's funny right there!

Many moons ago after an engine out and a landing in a field that did some minor damage to the plane we had it repaired and the owner asked if I would fly it to make sure all was well with it. I agreed and while talking to his girlfriend I overheard her ask him if he was going to go with me. "No" he told her, "no point in both of us getting killed." She was kinda freaked out but we had done all the work correctly including very thorough ground testing and were convinced the test flight would go well ... and it did!
 
I took my pulse during taxi on my first solo. It was 64 bpm - very relaxed. On my second solo I taxied to the hold short line and heard a whining sound behind me. I looked back and a 737 was holding right behind me. WTF? Am I supposed to move out of his way? I checked my pulse that time and it was somewhere around 110 bpm. Yikes! :eek:
 
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