Time to Solo

[supsup]

solo

I soloed at about 12 hours in a c-152 (heavy). As i remember the flight went perfectly. My second solo flight was not so perfect. Lets just say I learned first hand what a 737's wake can do to a cessna. I was able to recover without incident but landed with a severe case of the shakes. As a CFI I spend a fair amount of time on wake avoidance and unusual attitude recovery prior to solo.


"looks like I picked the wrong day to quit sniffing glue" -chief

 

[PilotOnTheRise]

I soloed with about 8-10hrs, dont remember exactly, I will have to look it up later. My instructor didnt tell me when. Which is probably good, so you arent nervous the whole time up until the point.

 

[CaptBuzzard]

I soloed with 8 hours in my logbook. I'll never forget that day. 90 degrees and with my instructor in the plane going around the pattern in a 150, we were getting about 300 fpm if lucky. When he stepped out and I took off, I got about 400 fpm. What a rush. I was dripping wet when I got back to the hangar. I guess I was just a little nervous.

 

[oilcanbland]

I just had my first solo about 3 weeks ago. I had 15.5 hrs and it was a blast! I was a little nervous, but not really. It went fine. I was on a bit of a high the rest of the day though.

Now I'm up to about 30 hrs, and had my first solo cross country last week. I enjoy the solo flying a little more now than I do flying with my instructor, just because I know that it is a little more of a challenge and it forces me to learn from my mistakes faster. Plus, it is very rewarding to know that I can fly a plane all by myself.

Don't sweat it. If you can fly the thing with him/her in there with you, you can fly it with him/her not in there. Have fun. (I did).

 

[Mr. Irrelevant]

Solo'd in a C172 with about 17 hours accumulated over a three and a half month period. My Instructor just jumped out of the airplane and said to give it three times around the pattern and that he'd inform the tower. Nearly ran off the left side of the runway on the first TO because I forgot about throwing in enough right rudder, bounced all three landings, but it counted as a solo. Only thing I did right was handle a runway change after my first or second time around.

It did however become much easier for the next solo. My only advice would be to have your airspeed pegged on final. Relaxing is pretty tough on the first solo. Just get the airspeed right and it'll be a cinch. Good luck.


Mr. I.

 

[wil]

Solo

Don't worry about the hours it really does not matter when you are ready your Instructor will sign you off. I had the best luck when my students did not know when they were going to solo. After bouncing around the patch I would have them pull to the runup area and I would sign them off and off they would go. I taught at a 141 school so there was a TCO to adhere to so my students pretty well knew when they were supposed to solo, my job was to elimate as much as possible the pre-solo jitters! But, this will be a landmark in your life. Of all the ratings, checkrides, stage checks, 135 rides, FAA observarion rides, 121 checkrides, Pro checks and Lofts my first solo was still the most incredible! As for the shirt You will get the back of your shirt and your instructor should get the the last 1 inch tail strip of the bottom. I have all my students tail stripes in my office. Fond memories buzzing along in the early morning hours with my cup of joe! All the best! Wil