Getting Ready to Solo

GaryV said:
Let us know how it goes. We are all pulling for you
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Ditto!

Oh, and no pressure. :p

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I Soloed on my 16th birthday. Play your favorite song in the car, sing it in your head as you fly. You'll never forget it. Just be cool, because you'll be the coolest kid in school and the girls will be impressed :cool:!
 
The OP is my son (and I would have coached him to not use his real name had I known he was going to sign up for PoA so soon). He's read a lot on the forum and is learning quickly many of the different personalities, egos, helpful and not-so-helpful PoA members that reside here. Thanks to those who offered him good guidance and didn't misread his post, take things out of context, or make assumptions as is so often the case on PoA. To clarify, he has flown quite a bit right seat with me and left seat with our friend/CFII before ever beginning his license - so the 7 hours of actual training doesn't really equate to those beginners who really ONLY have 7 hours behind the yoke. That said, his instructor flies a 737 by day and owns the flight school, so we're very comfortable that the solo will only come when he is absolutely sure Nash has the skills and comfort level to do so. Nash's goal at this time in life is to fly at the military level and then at the commercial level afterwards, so his CFI is trying to hold him to tighter standards than what many of us got in our PPL training. We're proud to see him progress so well, and I enjoy teaching him what I learned at the PPL level as I continue to work on my IR. As the GA population continues to decline, let's welcome a teenager to the ranks of those who have a passion for flight and want to serve our country as a pilot.

Thanks everyone...
 
yakdriver said:
I don't know what it is about instruction these days. Under 10 hrs used to be the norm on first solo. I see some of these posts like kiddbats that has 4 hrs and hasn't done any landings. I look at my logbook and we did fundamentals, stalls and take offs and landings on the first flight. I got my moneys worth as from the time we walked out to the airplane until it was tied down he was teaching. There was no just sitting in the airplane droning around. This was at KSNA in 1976 so I also got to do the radio work from the second flight on. I soloed in 7 hour sand was allowed to go on my own in 9 hours. And yes we did all the stall series A LOT, emergency procedures (most of the time we did power off approaches from the downwind so doing an engine out was a no brainer) every flap configuration slow flight etc. That was the norm at the part 141 flight school I went to. Got my PPL in 35 hrs. Sounds like the OP has a good instructor. Don
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I think it is probably much harder to solo these days for a variety of reasons.

Many flight schools are using aircraft with more complex avionics and the CFI wants to ensure the student understands how to use all of it. A basic trainer with a basic panel is what they need to be using.

With more people moving from the small town to the big city and with small rural airports closing or being all but abandoned, more students are facing primary flight training in more complex airspace and at more complex airports. Also, the trip to the practice area is frequently longer. That takes up time.

The result of these two factors is that the CFI ends up spending time teaching things pre-solo that were never taught before.

It is also more expensive these days so many students fly less often which stretches out the total time.

My motto for any new student would be: Fly Simple, Fly Often.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
1. Just remember you have the go around as an option.
2. If there is lots of traffic, you can say "This is my first solo"
I had a guy doing a GPS approach when I was on base on my 1st solo and It didn't occur to me at the time that I could say that to him. He made a 360 anyway but in hindsight, I think he thought i was ignoring him because I didn't know anything other than my rote radio calls.

Have fun, Report back, post some photos.

Good Luck!
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I trained at a towered airport and for my first solo I was told to tell the tower when I called in that it was my first solo. I'm thinking that was so that she could give me a little more attention and spacing if it looked like I needed it. After my three trips around the pattern and three landings I got a "nice job" from the tower as I was exiting the runway. The other thing my CFI had me do was on all my cross country flights I would add "student pilot" after my tail number when contacting approach/tower/ground. Actually had one flight where I heard SoCal deny flight following to another plane but when I had asked they gave it to me. I may be wrong, but the "student pilot" on the radio call helped. I think of it like when you're driving along and see the "student driver" sign on a car and you give them a little extra attention and when they do something stupid you just shake your head and think "they're still learning."

455 Bravo Uniform said:
I was happy to solo. But like many others, I soloed before I did any cross-country. It wasn't until much later that I thought "what if there was an accident on the runway and I had to divert? Would I know where to go and what to do?". In hindsight, soloing earlier gave me some added confidence, but after I got my license, how early I soled meant zero. Something to think about if you plan to solo at an airport with lots of traffic.
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I was at 15.6 hours when I soloed but prior to that there was a lot of time working maneuvers, slow flight, stalls etc... We had done landings at three nearby airports just in case something happened to close the runway at the home airport. I also had to do a checkride with another CFI from the school. I was nervous but after having two CFI's sign off that I was ready I just kept telling myself to follow my checklists...

Good luck! There is nothing quite like that first time you leave the ground and there is nobody else there in the plane.
 
Skates97 said:
I trained at a towered airport and for my first solo I was told to tell the tower when I called in that it was my first solo. I'm thinking that was so that she could give me a little more attention and spacing if it looked like I needed it. After my three trips around the pattern and three landings I got a "nice job" from the tower as I was exiting the runway. The other thing my CFI had me do was on all my cross country flights I would add "student pilot" after my tail number when contacting approach/tower/ground. Actually had one flight where I heard SoCal deny flight following to another plane but when I had asked they gave it to me. I may be wrong, but the "student pilot" on the radio call helped. I think of it like when you're driving along and see the "student driver" sign on a car and you give them a little extra attention and when they do something stupid you just shake your head and think "they're still learning."
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I found that local tower -- and many of the neighboring towers as well -- just knows when a student pilot is on board, and REALLY knows when a first solo happens. It's incredibly obvious. The same tail numbers show up over and over again, and the tower staff know them. Taxiing off the movement area to drop someone off and then right back on again is a real obvious first solo.

I often hang out at the field as a CAP aircraft manager. I see this as well. Even without a radio, I know which airplanes have student pilots in them. It's not too difficult. Even at a busy training airport like Palo Alto, the same airplanes fly around the pattern all the time.
 
If you are 16 I would not recommend looking for advice on a forum like this. It is hard to separate the helpful advice from the non-helpful. Listen to your dad and the instructor. Also read books like "Stick and Rudder."
 
On downwind, and again during every rollout, say, in your best Richard Prior voice, "That's right, we bad"
 
TylerSC said:
If you are 16 I would not recommend looking for advice on a forum like this. It is hard to separate the helpful advice from the non-helpful. Listen to your dad and the instructor. Also read books like "Stick and Rudder."
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HEY! We resemble that! :D
 
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