student pilot solo - spending hours at destination?

[mondtster]

Any particular one(s) you suggest?
I've looked at a few professional pilot boards but they came across more strongly geared towards those in the airlines and those wanting to be.

There are a couple decent groups on Facebook where questions like this might be more suited. But I would suggest running this sort of thing past other local instructors, if you know some, to see what they think or recommend. You could also call the FSDO for an opinion.

Personally, I'd sign the guy off for the whole trip with the expectation that the student would call me prior to departure on his return leg. I wouldn't be signing someone off on a trip like this unless I trusted their judgment anyway, so the expectation for a call would simply be to have an extra set of eyes looking at the weather and notams in case something popped up.

 

[Doggtyred]

A question for instructors (or students who've had a similar experience)...
I've got a private pilot student with his own plane who wants to do his long solo to an airport in another state (~250 miles away) to visit a friend. He'll spend most of the day there before returning.

This is probably typical of the type of flight he'll do once he gets his license so I want to use it as a learning experience for planning and doing real world cross country flights.

I'm not concerned about his ability to get there and back safely if the weather is good. And of course I'm not going to let him go if I have concerns with the weather.

My question is related to endorsements for the flight: can I endorse him for the whole flight (there and back) before he leaves? Or, given that the return flight will be around 8 hours later, do I need to give him a separate endorsement for the flight back (maybe via text after talking with him on the phone about the plan)?

I'm leaning toward the latter, but if one endorsement for the whole thing is both safe and legal, that would be a lot easier for both of us.

Thoughts?

Legally you can do it. Do everything you are supposed to.. review, etc.

Now... whether it is wise... this is the sticky wicket. This involves how you feel about the decision-making and skill of the student, and his maturity. Flying a long cross country solo to a destination with a purpose (visiting his friend for hours during the ground stop) invites the idea of him taking friends for a ride, etc. Nobody on the other end would be the wiser. And it wouldn't necessarily be your fault if your student bent the rules.

I had a very loose reign by my instructor. He was an old and wise CFI and we had a good working relationship. I'm not sure he would have given me such leeway, but it wasn't with a personally owned plane either. Whats your gut tell you that your student is going to do while 250 miles away under your endorsement? That might be the deciding factor in whether to green light it, or suggest something closer to the traditional long cross country to destinations without distractions waiting for him on the ground... And he does his own thing once he gets his ticket.

Phone call before return sounds okay to me, but I'm just another student myself.

If you do it this way, part of planning should consider the situation where he can't return that day. Hotel? Stay with the friend? Rental car? Any pressing engagements the next day? Will he have just Hobbs hours to pay for the plane, or is there an extra charge?

All these things can exert pressure to fly. It would be a good learning exercise to get him to think the whole thing through.

He owns the plane. Hobbs and hours are his to worry about, No factor for the instructors decisionmaking.

 

[Lachlan]

Yeah... I'm that guy who wants to do a 1500 mile solo XC.

There's a difference between 250 miles and 1500 miles. Any student pilot will understand that, especially those with a student pilot certificate, a medical certificate, and a few hours in their log book. The fake student pilots don't actually learn anything but they know everything.

 

[Caramon13]

I'll echo what @Doggtyred said above and add that one of my solo XC's before I got my ticket was to Boca Raton on the east coast of FL from Sarasota on the west coast. Took a rental Skycatcher.

I was going to visit relatives and while I knew I couldn't do it, I REALLY wanted to take them up. I think along with the fact that I was a student and had a rental plane, the aircraft had weight limits anyway. Made it easy to turn down any requests.

Later on after getting my ticket I went back in my own plane and took everyone for a ride.

Perhaps if the plane is owned by this student and depending on the family it could be hard to turn down a "quick trip around the pattern". I think I'd have trust issues, but I don't know your student so..maybe those don't exist. Did he buy the plane by himself or did family help out? Would there be a situation where someone says.."You know, I helped you buy that thing, least you could do is take me up for a quick flight".

My instructor put trust in me on my trip, but I worked hard to earn it.

Isn't there anywhere closer that he could go?

 

[Caramon13]

What are you smoking? Student pilots are forbidden to take on any passengers!!

Of course I know that . Doesn't mean I didn't want to take them.

Wanting to and actually doing are two different things.

 

[Davecat]

Gotcha. The wording and context do not come across clearly. Deleted my post. This is why I rarely post on Forums. The information is usually bad and the most of the posts are pure drivel.

 

[1RTK1]

My instructor was willing to do exactly what you mentioned. If you both do your due diligence and you have him text you before leaving so you can check the weather, I see nothing wrong if he is capable in your eyes.

 

[Ravioli]

There's a difference between 250 miles and 1500 miles.

1250?