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First solo...

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unreal

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 28, 2004
Posts
574
I'm a basketcase! I'm soloing my first student tomorrow. The weather is forecast to be great, and there's usually light traffic around here on sunday afternoons. He's more than ready, but it's still a very nerveracking prospect. So far I've come up with a list of things I need:

Binoculars
Transceiver
Pack of cigarettes (I don't smoke :laugh:)

Okay, I guess it won't be that bad, but damn! I'm more nervous now than when I did my own first solo. :D
 
After the first one it's not as nerve racking. I would say it's like a right of passage. I think I have soloed about 30 people. Now I watch the first landing and then go lay on the couch inside and take a nap.

Don't talk to the student on the handheld. Let them sort it out. We have someone at my airport that coaches their students while they solo. It annoys me to no end. Good luck.
 
joepilot29 said:
After the first one it's not as nerve racking. I would say it's like a right of passage. I think I have soloed about 30 people. Now I watch the first landing and then go lay on the couch inside and take a nap.

Don't talk to the student on the handheld. Let them sort it out. We have someone at my airport that coaches their students while they solo. It annoys me to no end. Good luck.
Click to expand...

Thanks! Nice to hear it gets easier. :)

Actually, I shouldn't have said "transceiver." Just a scanner, really. We're a towered airport.
 
Have your student tell the tower controller he or she is on their first solo. Hopefully that will clue the controller into watching your student in the pattern and not sending them on a 10 mile downwind for traffic.

Always seemed to help when I instructed.
 
good luck man. that is one of the reasons i am thinking of bi-passing the CFI route, im kind of weary of handing my license off to a student on their first solo or cross country.
 
epic! said:
good luck man. that is one of the reasons i am thinking of bi-passing the CFI route, im kind of weary of handing my license off to a student on their first solo or cross country.
Click to expand...

Well, don't get me wrong. I'm nervous, but I'm not dreading it one bit. In fact, I'm very excited. It's awesome seeing one of your students you built from scratch do well.
 
Well, that's two flightinfo.com basketcases today then. You are not alone.

I'm soloing my first student in a little bit as well.

I guess I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue. :)
 
epic! said:
bi-passing the CFI route
Click to expand...


What? Is this a clever way of saying you're getting in to 2 on 1 po(r)n instead of flying?

And do things the old fashioned way.....the suspense of not knowing what(or how) the he!! your student is doing until he crashes or comes back is half the fun. But not all are a purist as I.
 
Ugggh...

Winds when we got into the plane: Variable at 4
Winds after run-up: 120 at 14 on runway 21L.

We're not authorized to conduct solos over 10 knots of wind or 5 knots of crosswind, so that's that. I can't solo him on runway 12 either. BAH. I'm an idiot for scheduling him at 1300. :angryfire
 
You think you're nervous now? Wait till you're first solo X-C sign off. On the first solo, everything is pretty much under control. The first solo X-C you just know that everything is going wrong...
 
Just wait till the student's second solo. They seem to regress to their old habits. I had a student hit a "porpoise" on his second solo. I saw my medical flash before my eyes with the near heart attack I almost had. He got out of it and did a go around after the second cycle. One more week of being a CFI. Been a very rewarding and challenging expierence.
 
joepilot29 said:
Just wait till the student's second solo. They seem to regress to their old habits. I had a student hit a "porpoise" on his second solo. I saw my medical flash before my eyes with the near heart attack I almost had. He got out of it and did a go around after the second cycle. One more week of being a CFI. Been a very rewarding and challenging expierence.
Click to expand...
Had a student on a "stage check" freeze up on the controls on the check instructor.

That always makes ya feel good...a check instructor telling you that your student, in the flare, froze up and almost stalled it after ballooning it to 50'.

Students do the darndest things.

-mini
 
Stage check.......jeez. How I long for the good ole days. you know, "back then". Before all of ____. Once upon a time. Back when an instructor could teach how he saw fit.
 
Well, my guy did just fine this morning.

We went around the patch together once, told the tower we were going to taxi back to parking for a minute so I could hop out and off he went.

He did a great job and made three of his best landings yet. Me, I paced in the cold chain smoking. Once I saw how well the first approach and landing went I was able to relax and enjoy the moment.

I'll tell ya, it's a weird feeling watching a student climbing out after takeoff on their own for the first time. It's a rush, that's for sure. Makes all those hours rattling around the pattern so worth it.

And yes, I cut his shirt tail and signed it. I guess I'm just old-school that way. :)
 
woutlaw said:
Well, my guy did just fine this morning.

We went around the patch together once, told the tower we were going to taxi back to parking for a minute so I could hop out and off he went.

He did a great job and made three of his best landings yet. Me, I paced in the cold chain smoking. Once I saw how well the first approach and landing went I was able to relax and enjoy the moment.

I'll tell ya, it's a weird feeling watching a student climbing out after takeoff on their own for the first time. It's a rush, that's for sure. Makes all those hours rattling around the pattern so worth it.

And yes, I cut his shirt tail and signed it. I guess I'm just old-school that way. :)
Click to expand...

Congrats!

You're making me jealous. My student and I are trying again tomorrow at 9am after the wind decided to spoil our fun yesterday. Though, I did watch my student put it down with no sideload and no drift in a 14 knot crosswind yesterday. Now that makes ya proud. :D
 
Hey, good luck tomorrow.

The look on my guy's face when he got out of the airplane was priceless. I don't know if I've ever seen somebody so happy. Pretty cool to be a part of it.

Enjoy it and tell your student to have fun. Take pictures, don't forget the scissors and get some sleep tonight. (I probably got an hour last night, max. )

It's a day they'll always remember, so no shame in making a big show once it's all over.
 

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