Solo question

stevenhmiller

stevenhmiller

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Steve's Archer
I solo'd today without any issue. No butterflies in the gut, no hesitation, nothing. Flight was quiet and performed well, just as if the CFI were sitting next to me. Communications with the tower and ground control were fine.

In order to take the plane up by myself, do I have to let the CFI know I'm going up every time and get his approval, or do I just take the plane and practice within 25nm and log the time?
 
He should have communicated that to you.
I would ask him.
 
Regardless of whether or not the regs require it, you need to preserve the trust of your instructor. Do whatever he says in this regard.

When I did it, I spoke with my instructor on the phone, every time.

Regs require review of flight planning day of flight for cross country, but not for solo pattern work or air work.
 
I'm not sure on the legalities of that issue as I'm not a CFI, but someone will chime in shortly. I would ask you to think about your question for a brief minute. Even if you're not required, unless he states explicitly so in his endorsement, why not talk about your plan with your instructor? I'm sure he would take the few minutes to talk to you and make sure you've covered your bases. After a few times he might tell you that you have it and drive on. It never hurts to talk about your flight with someone more experienced.
 
I own my plane and plan on flights in the early morning and after work, weather permitting. In thinking about it, it's his license that is on the line if I screw up and he didn't know I was in the air. That answers that! :) I'll ask him what he prefers. If he wants notification before heading out, that's what I will do.
Thanks for the advice.
 
As a CFI, I'd want to know. Maybe others are different. Especially since you own your own plane. At least at a school I could count others CFI's for a little help keeping an eye on things.
 
After my solo, my instructor said I could go up within 25 nm anytime I wanted, Pending ----> I visit no other airports, the Cross Winds are less than 10 knots, Visibility is greater than 5 nm and Ceilings greater than 3000'.

I didn't have to call him to go fly. Just respect his rules, weather minimums and distance from the airport.
 
Just gave him a jingle. He prefers I let him know when going up. Question answered.
Thanks.
 
CFIs are entitled to include limitations in the solo endorsement. They include not only the common wind limitations but may include many other things, sometimes they are part of the rules of the flight school itself. One flight school at which I used to teach required a CFI to approve every solo flight.

Except for the few regulatory restrictions requiring specific endorsements for certain types of flights, the rules are mostly between you and your CFI/flight school.

I'm a little surprised this was not covered as part of your pre-solo knowledge test.
 
One of my students owned his own plane. I signed him off for solo, and to solo to another field or two we'd been to within 25 nm, and between then and our next lesson, he logged almost 100 landings. :eek:

He didn't bother to call me or let me know when he was going up - and I didn't care if he did or not. My limitations for him were in his logbook, and I don't recall my limitations saying he could only fly on days ending in "aturday"
 
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As a CFI I'd prefer if you let me know when you are going to fly solo. My CFI put a limitation on my solo flights and I had to call before each flight.
 
Why the need to know before s/he goes on every flight, even if just in the pattern? You signed them off but don't trust them? Maybe they shouldn't have been signed off to begin with.
 
EdFred said:
Why the need to know before s/he goes on every flight, even if just in the pattern? You signed them off but don't trust them? Maybe they shouldn't have been signed off to begin with.
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I'm a newly minted CFI (only 2 weeks) so I'm still learning a lot and getting comfortable. I'm sure as a gain experience things will change.
 
jordane93 said:
I'm a newly minted CFI (only 2 weeks) so I'm still learning a lot and getting comfortable. I'm sure as a gain experience things will change.
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I know that, and you probably haven't even signed anyone off yet. ;) The question was directed more at everyone else who's a fraidy-cat. :D
 
EdFred said:
I know that, and you probably haven't even signed anyone off yet. ;) The question was directed more at everyone else who's a fraidy-cat. :D
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Yep! I'll definitely be nervous for my first sign off but I'm looking forward to it.
 
My CFI put the limitation in that I needed the approval of him or another CFI at the FBO since it was their companies planes I was renting. They said they don't put those restrictions on those that own their own planes.
 
Legally, you can do anything not prohibited in either 14 CFR 61.89 or the limitations in your instructor's solo endorsement. Beyond that, it's up to your instructor to explain it to you.

Personally, as an instructor, I'd say that when operating outside a flight school environment (where there is usually written guidance on Student solos when the Student's own instructor is not present), you should talk to your instructor before flying unless other specific arrangements have been made between the two of you.
 
Mine just wanted a text to know I was going up. And he would use the opportunity to quiz me about weather, winds, conditions etc. just to make sure I was considering them.

As I progressed, he got more and more comfortable that I was doing my preflight homework, but he still asked I just text him before going up.
 
I have my students call or text me at some point before they go up. I don't think it's much of an imposition, nor do I see it as them having to ask permission. Rather, it accomplishes two things:

1) I can make sure they've checked the weather and NOTAMs and understand them. Keeping in mind that these are very green pilots - they don't have a lot of experience making go/no-go flying decisions. Maybe the wind is in the limits I set but there is an AIRMET for turbulence. Or things are good now but the forecast changes in 2 hours. "Did you catch the NOTAM that the runway is closed?" Just a double-check and to help them learn what to consider and look for, helping them develop a good decision-making process.

2) It gives me a chance to recommend something to work on. "The wind is perfect for ground reference maneuvers", or "why don't you work on steep turns today based on our feedback from last lesson?" Stuff like that. "Guided" solo practice so that it's an effective use of their time.

I've never had a complaint, in fact most of them seem to appreciate the advice.
 
My instructor wanted a call before I went up. We would talk about what I was gonna do, talk about the weather and anything else that may affect the flight. He also wanted a call after I landed and we would debrief the flight. I learned quite a bit from those calls. Sometimes I would tell him I was just going on a joyride and he would give me some ideas on cool things to see. We would still debrief afterwards. Call your instructor and clarify.
 
I had my own plane during my PPL and my 'deal' with my CFI was that I'd just call or text him when I wanted to go up. He was a pretty laid back guy - we didn't really talk too much about what I was going to do as I was limited to either flying in the pattern or heading to the east of my airport to the designated 'practice area'. I wasn't allowed to do anything other that anyway. When we'd meet for the next scheduled lesson I'd brief him on any solo flying I'd done since we last flew together and anything that I'd worked on, etc...

Once you get signed off for solo XC you can do as many as you want but you absolutely have to have your CFI's signoff for those. Hell, you could fly all the way across the country if you wanted to - as long as he/she signed off on it. One of the partners in my plane flew from Austin to New Orleans for one of his XC's.

But I'd agree with the other folks - you and your CFI have to work that out. I'm sure there are specific rules they want you to adhere to even if they tell you take it up whenever you want to and you don't have to tell anyone. I know my school has wind limits that no student pilot can solo in if they exceed a certain level.
 
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EdFred said:
Why the need to know before s/he goes on every flight, even if just in the pattern? You signed them off but don't trust them? Maybe they shouldn't have been signed off to begin with.
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Possibly to give a sanity check on the student's pre-flight planning (weather conditions, NOTAMS, TFRs, etc)? At least for the first flight or two after solo.

disclaimer: I'm not a CFI and I haven't stayed in a Holiday Inn Express lately.
 
Even for experienced pilots, make sure SOMEone knows where you are going, when you expect to be done, and when you really are done. For students, the instructor is obvious. For others, it can be a spouse or buddy not in the plane with you.

Basic safety, very much like looking for potential emergency landing sites. No one will go looking for you before they know you are missing. And you can crash just outside the pattern and have no one realize it, even in the burbs. Unless you light the airplane on fire, you are next to invisible on the ground.

This stuff is all real eye opening when you go searching for downed aircraft. The ones that survive have a spouse calling the Air Force when they are 30 minutes overdue. ELTs are not as reliable as we might hope, since they are fairly easily destroyed in a crash.
 
Way back when I instructed, the flight school I worked for had a policy of three supervised pattern only solos. After the third they were allowed unsupervised solo at their discretion, as long as the weather was within prescribed limits.
 
I've started putting a limitation on student's endorsements for them having to contact me (which could be a text, email, quick phone call, etc). The reasons are mainly what has already been said (verify they checked weather, notams, tfr's, see how their progress is going, gives advice/tips, etc) but also because sometimes we'll be having frequent lessons and I'll give a student a 90-day endorsement, then I don't hear from them again for months. This isn't an issue in itself, but if the student decides to take an almost 3-month break from flying, then decide to go fly solo, it's still legal.
 
My CFI put solo limits on me - 5000' ceiling and 12kts I think. it was not written, but I had to contact him before each solo and discuss what I was going to do. We would discuss weather of course. I am not sure if the lady at the flight school counter (who dispatches the planes) was involved, but I never took the airplane without checking with my CFI. I knew I was flying on his ticket.
 
Man now I have to go back and look at my log book tonight. I don't recall every really soloing for something other than getting a specific requirement done. I remember my solo and never really considered going up on my own just to practice or fly around. As I recall and without looking the next few lessons were cross country. First with the instructor then the same one solo. Then planning for the long cross country.
 
DFH65 said:
Man now I have to go back and look at my log book tonight. I don't recall every really soloing for something other than getting a specific requirement done. I remember my solo and never really considered going up on my own just to practice or fly around. As I recall and without looking the next few lessons were cross country. First with the instructor then the same one solo. Then planning for the long cross country.
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Same for me.
 
I was signed off to fly to a couple local airports and the practice area within the weather and wind restrictions that were written in my logbook. No notice was needed to my CFI. I knew he trusted me to be safe and stay within the limits and didn't want to lose that trust we had. I owned my plane and he was a free lance CFI.
 
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