After SOLO ?

[MiragePilot]

I was just wondering if anyone could tell if training got easier, harder, or stayed the same after solo. I soloed today (Thank God) and am happier than ever, but I got home and started lookin past today to the next few lessons. The SOLO was awesome but I can't wait till the x-countries.
Thanks

 

[Kream926]

congrats!!


i cant remember if things got easier after that but im sure youll do fine. the only thing i can remember is that nothing felt the same after the first solo.

 

[midlifeflyer]

Not easier or harder, just different. New skills building on the old.

Have fun!

 

[Flechas]

Congrats dude, have fun witht he rest of your training!!

 

[User546]

Congrats on the first solo! You'll always remember it!

I agree that training didn't necessarily get easier or harder, cause after solo I started working on a new school - cross countries.

I tend to think though that it got a little bit easier for me, because after I soloed and had flown the aircraft all by myself, I was now more confident and that made everything else I was doing and learning a lot better and exciting for me.

 

[cforst513]

mirage, did your CFI ceremoniously destroy a t-shirt of yours?

 

[Folding_Expert]

Congrats!

 

[liv'n_on_credit]

Congrats on your solo! Having a student solo for the first time is one of the most satisfying parts of being an instructor.

The good part...you have your first solo done and behind you. The fear of being in the airplane(if there ever was any fear) should be almost gone. With that fear almost gone, it's easier to concentrate on the next phase of training.

The bad part...now comes the dreaded (but very necessary) cross-country work. A lot of work goes into cross-country planning, and for most people it's not as fun as training for your first solo. Pilotage vs. Dead-Reckoning, learning how to work an E6-B, fuel management, more communication procedures, more weather planning, etc. In my experience as an instructor, most of my students did not like the "cross-country phase" of training, mostly because it's not as exciting as just learning how to fly the airplane. But, once it's over and your Private license is in your hand, it's well worth the hard work. The first time you take a friend on a cross-country trip will feel great.

So, to answer your question about whether it gets any harder, to me the answer is not really. Rather than using the word "harder", I would use the words "not as exciting". Just keep looking to the day when that license is in your pocket!

 

[check6]

Good job. . . now you get to do shorts and softs. Crosscountry flying will be great as well.

 

[nosehair]

Harder. Much Harder. The worst thing that could happen to you on a solo flight around the pattern is...engine failure on take-off at an altitude to low to turn around, and no good place to land in front of you. That slight risk you and your instructor were willing to take for the solo accomplishment. Congratulations on that momentous occasion.

Now you will learn to do much planning in flights that take you out away from the traffic pattern and the familiar practice area. Flights that have the very real potential of getting lost and running out of gas...flying into deteriorating weather conditions...flights into temporary flight restricted areas...flights into strange traffic areas that are not at alll like the one you are familiar with...the list goes on, and on, and on...it never stops. For the rest of your aviating career you will study, study, study. You will not have a friendly CFI to tell you what to do.

Those first hours to solo are the only ones we are allowed to have without the burden of responsibility...now take the yoke. You earned it.

 

[Mach1]

I think of getting past the solo as getting over the hump. You know the basics of flying, now it's just adding some new skills. Congrats!