About to solo - kinda nervous

drew09

Well-Known Member
Hey guys, so I am about to solo this week with atleast one, if not two more flights before I do. However, I don't feel that I am ready but when I think about it, I pretty much know what to do for it. I don't want to freak myself out but I don't want to go thinking I know what to do when I may not. If this just pre-solo nervousness?

Thanks guys,

Drew
 
Your CFI would never sign you off if he was not 100% sure you were capable of flying the plane. Just fly the plane like you have every other time. Be ready for the plane to perform slightly better with just you in it. You will do fine. Enjoy it and good luck. This is one day you will never forget.
 
I felt the same way before I soloed. The reassurance from my instructor helped me through it. He always told me that he would not sign me off if I was not ready. It was a phase that has followed through all my checkrides. It is an awesome feeling after your instructor gets back in the aircraft after the solo! Good Luck!
 
If you are just nervous, take a deep breath and relax, it is normal. As others have said, your instructor would not get out of the plane if they did not feel you were ready.

If you are nervous about a particular aspect of flying, do not hesitate to tell your instructor and work on it before you solo.

Good luck and have fun. It is an incredible experience you will never forget.
 
Don't worry, if your instructor signs you off then he is 100% sure you're capable of making that solo hop around the field. It's normal to feel a little anxious, but you'll do fine.

Get someone to film it if you can, maybe get some friends & family to come out - I've got mine on tape and it's fun to watch it every once in a while. It was on my 16th birthday and I looked like a damn 12 year old getting out of that 172. :laff:

It's an awesome feeling of accomplishment that very few will ever experience. Let us know how it goes! :)
 
If your signed off then the instructor is positive you will do fine otherwise he wouldn't of signed you off because he will have more stuff riding up his rear end than you if something were to happen. Just relax and have fun, once you take off it will be a blast, I know i did.
 
Oh, if anything not important to the saftey of the flight occurs, don't worry about it, just keep flying the airplane (well you should always do that, but you know what I mean, lol).

In my case the passenger door wasn't latched prior to takeoff and popped open a bit in flight - I just let it be, wasn't going to hurt anything. I secured it when I got on the ground and didn't tell him I had forgotten to lock it before takeoff, :laff:
 
Hey guys, so I am about to solo this week with atleast one, if not two more flights before I do. However, I don't feel that I am ready but when I think about it, I pretty much know what to do for it. I don't want to freak myself out but I don't want to go thinking I know what to do when I may not. If this just pre-solo nervousness?

Thanks guys,

Drew

It's kind of hard to say this without sounding like a a schmuck or scaring you, but...

Take into consideration that no instructor will EVER sign you off until you're 110% ready to solo that airplane. To be frank, soloing an airplane has NOTHING on the adrenaline rush you get the first time you solo a student, or at least the was the case with me! Heck, I think with the first student I soloed they had to do a go around on their first landing attempt. I mean you can't imagine the kind of terror I was experiencing while I watched my student line up high and to the right of the centerline, nor how happy and proud I was that the next thing he did was put in the power and go around.

With that, I wouldn't have ever put him in that situation until I was 110% sure that he was going to make the right decisions when he got into the airplane by himself. He wasn't the perfect pilot, but he had great decision making skills and understood when he was in over his head and needed extract himself from a bad situation pronto. In my mind, that's what I was looking for more than anything else. Botched approaches happen to everybody, myself included, and knowing when to throw in the towel means a lot more than greasing on every single one of your landings.

So go enjoy it when you solo, and take some confidence from the fact that your instructor knows you're ready to fly that airplane safely by yourself! I soloed 10 years ago this last summer and I can remember like it was yesterday :)
 
Everyone is nervous on their first solo! I wouldn't want to meet the student who didn't at least feel a LITTLE apprehension.
 
If the instructor is willing to get out, you have been capable to solo for a little while now. These last few flights are just reassuring him.

This is why I don't tell my students when they are going to solo or even getting close.

You are about to do something you will never forget.

If you honestly feel like you are not ready when the time comes and the instructor starts to get out, stop him and tell him you are not ready and come back again another day or go up one more time with him to build confidence. I had one student do this, I was proud of him for putting the brakes on. After two more lessons I jumped out and he did great.

I had some serious tunnel vision when I lined up on the numbers for my first solo take-off, then procedure kicks in.
 
It's kind of hard to say this without sounding like a a schmuck or scaring you, but...

Take into consideration that no instructor will EVER sign you off until you're 110% ready to solo that airplane. To be frank, soloing an airplane has NOTHING on the adrenaline rush you get the first time you solo a student, or at least the was the case with me! Heck, I think with the first student I soloed they had to do a go around on their first landing attempt. I mean you can't imagine the kind of terror I was experiencing while I watched my student line up high and to the right of the centerline, nor how happy and proud I was that the next thing he did was put in the power and go around.

With that, I wouldn't have ever put him in that situation until I was 110% sure that he was going to make the right decisions when he got into the airplane by himself. He wasn't the perfect pilot, but he had great decision making skills and understood when he was in over his head and needed extract himself from a bad situation pronto. In my mind, that's what I was looking for more than anything else. Botched approaches happen to everybody, myself included, and knowing when to throw in the towel means a lot more than greasing on every single one of your landings.

So go enjoy it when you solo, and take some confidence from the fact that your instructor knows you're ready to fly that airplane safely by yourself! I soloed 10 years ago this last summer and I can remember like it was yesterday :)

I don't think that came off as being schmuckish or scary. :) If anything that allows him to see if from a CFI point of view.
 
Hey guys, so I am about to solo this week with atleast one, if not two more flights before I do. However, I don't feel that I am ready but when I think about it, I pretty much know what to do for it. I don't want to freak myself out but I don't want to go thinking I know what to do when I may not. If this just pre-solo nervousness?

Thanks guys,

Drew

Your CFI would only sign you off if they knew you were ready! Keep it simple up there. Blue side up, greasy side down! And don't forget to step on the ball. Talk yourself through everything and most important HAVE FUN!
 
Don't worry about it. I was also very nervous when I did my solo. I kept thinking 3 touch-and-goes? That's crazy! But after the first one I got used to the idea that my instructor wasn't in there with me.

Honestly, all you have to get through is that first round in the pattern, and after that you settle down. You'll be too busy flying the plane that you will forget that you're in there alone. After you come down from that 3rd touch-and-go, you'll want to stay in that plane all day long.....I promise.

Don't worry, every student is nervous, you'll be just fine.
 
To be honest, I was nervous up to the point of pushing the throttle foward, but after that, my fear was *mostly* eliminated. Just keep yourself busy, concentrate on flying, and most of all, HAVE FUN!!
 
Hey, thanks guys, the reassurance helps. And the fact that my instructor would never sign me off unless he was sure I was capable. That should be common sense from me haha. Well thanks again guys, I'll keep everyone updated in the member announcements section!
 
having just done two solos in the last 4 weeks, i can tell you it's a BLAST! My instructor was very kind and we flew to an airport that was experiencing an inversion for my first touch-and-go x3 solo attempts so there was a nice density to the air and not a breath of wind. The second solo, I went out to the practice area, tried some slow flight maneuvers and otherwise just enjoyed the view of Long's peak, boulder, and the front range in general. I stayed tuned to the ATIS frequency of the home airport the whole time and wandered back home when the winds started to kick up.

Now, dont tell my instructor, but I plugged my IPOD into my headset and listened (at a very low volume) to the Dali Lama's "chanting for healing" while i did my second solo....it was very peaceful/calming and fit perfectly with the peaks in the distance. It was one of the more sublime moments of my life.

All of this is to say: once you get in the cockpit and IT'S YOUR COCKPIT.....everything will just mellow out and feel much better.
 
It only took me three laps around the pattern (in the Navy you had to do 5 touch and goes before you could head off into the hinterland) solo before I even realized that I was up there by myself. And that it was up to me to get the beast (T-28B) back on the ground in one piece.

IT WAS AWESOME!

Your solo will be, too.
 
It only took me three laps around the pattern (in the Navy you had to do 5 touch and goes before you could head off into the hinterland) solo before I even realized that I was up there by myself. And that it was up to me to get the beast (T-28B) back on the ground in one piece.

IT WAS AWESOME!

Your solo will be, too.

Nice haha, I'm actually in Air Force ROTC hoping to get a pilot slot when I commission. Hopefully I'll know how to fly by then :D
 
Im sure most everyone on JC was in your position. I know that I was. You will do great, just focus on what your doing, think about what you what to do next and your training will take over!
 
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