When did you solo??

12-16 hours @ age of 18. I knew it was coming, it was me and another student who soloed in the patter together :)

I never did enjoy solo flights for some reason, I like having a 2nd person beside me.
 
PGT said:
I never did enjoy solo flights for some reason, I like having a 2nd person beside me.
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I didn't really grow to enjoy solo flights until I was a CFI. Mostly because by then I wasn't trying to fill some kind of flight time requirement or training or anything, I was flying for my own enjoyment. It came to be thereputic. I don't care how bad my day was, I could go up for an hour and just fly around by myself, just me and the sky, and for that hour all my problems would dissappear. Its that kind of thing that reminds you why you love flying so much.
 
7 hours back in 2003. Very similar experience to what everyone else has...normal lesson then coming back for a full stop and the instructor got out of the plane and off I went. I do the same thing to my students now.
 
8.2 hours in 512WW. I had a total of .4 in that aircraft...it was the fancy '98 model, I was more used to the '78 model. It worked out well, nonetheless. And my mom still hates the idea of me soloing.
 
flyguy said:
I didn't really grow to enjoy solo flights until I was a CFI. Mostly because by then I wasn't trying to fill some kind of flight time requirement or training or anything, I was flying for my own enjoyment. It came to be thereputic. I don't care how bad my day was, I could go up for an hour and just fly around by myself, just me and the sky, and for that hour all my problems would dissappear. Its that kind of thing that reminds you why you love flying so much.
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That's probably true, I was getting really burnt out toward the end of my PPL training.
 
I soloed somewhere in the high twentys@ ENW on runway 24L [C152] which is only 3300ft. Originally my CFI was gonna take me to UGN where they have a longer rwy[6000ft] but the pattern was too crowded. It was over so fast tho and due to my nerves/excitement I did an extra trip around the pattern. John Magda= thanks for the gr8 memories!!:)
 
I soloed on my 16th birthday on August 27, 1995 at 3:01pm PT (the time I was born) with a total of 28.1 hours. We had moved on to the cross-country phase by that time. Of course my mom was nervous, but luckily I had enough support from my dad, and she had total confidence in my CFI.

I've since soloed a 16-year-old kid, who was actually a much better stick than any of my other students, and fortunately the maturity level to go along with it. I don't try to draw lines in the sand and apply them to everyone (i.e. certain age or certain number of hours). Each student is different, and you have to consider the person individually.
 
C150, May 1979, KBIX, Keesler Aero Club, Age 16

T-37, March 1986, Williams AFB UPT, Age 22

T-38, August 1986, Williams AFB UPT, Age 23

Everyone memorable..... and a day I will never forget.
 
I don't really understand the whole "whip it out and measure up" thing that comes along with soloing times. Another instructor and I had a conversation about soloing this morning and we both agreed that there are a lot of factors involved in when a student goes solo and sometimes, as a poster stated above, you can get as far as cross countries before being sent out solo due to spring time gusty winds, etc.

A person that soloed at 6 hours isn't necessarily a better pilot down the road than a student that soloed at 20. Usually younger students solo sooner because they pick material up quickly, have better reflexes, and a little less fear than older family-based students.

Just have fun, study hard and be a good, responsible pilot.
 
Thanks everyone. My mom is slowly getting more open to me soloing when I am 16. I just explain to my parents that my instructor is covering almost anything that could possibly go wrong during my solo flight and how to correct for it.
 
like 35 hours. it was a 141 course though, and solo was one of the last things on there so...
 
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