Who remembers their first solo signoff?

middies10

middies10

Well-Known Member
Hey Gents,

Today, after my student did three brilliant landings, I signed him off for his first solo flight. I knew he was ready but i was still sweating bullets while watching him in the tower. It made me realize what a monumental occasion it truly is as an instructor. This was my first solo sign off since I received my ticket. It's crazy to think back to my first solo as a student 4yrs ago and now signing off someone else.

It got me thinking though, what about you guys? How did you feel the day you gave your first solo endorsement to a student?
 
It was quite nerve racking.... It get better as time goes on. But I am always somewhat nervous till the plane is back on the ramp and tied down.
 
I was incredibly nervous but I knew he was ready for it. I sat on the ramp with a transceiver as the previously dead pattern filled with 5 airplanes and he was told to extend upwind, downwind, do 360's the whole lot but he handled it well.
 
I can't remember but I think teaching someone how to fly their first 15 hours and getting them soloed is like a religious experience. It's something beyond cool. Nothing is more rewarding than seeing that guy do his first solo. Just a few hours ago he had no clue and now he's flying.....
 
Over 40ish signoffs that I've done. From the first to the last one that I did, they were SO rewarding. I miss this most about flight instructing. Enough that I want to get back into it on the side. Had the winds pick up on one guy and he knocked the light bulb out of a runway light once though. That was scary to watch! :oops:

As far as the first one goes, he was in the army, started flight training 2 years prior, but never soloed. Still knew what he was doing quite well though. He was easy. The true first was pretty nerve racking. The flying part isn't what ever bothered me, it was other traffic and dealing with ATC. GFK is the 23rd busiest airport in the US or something like that.
 
Just wait until you sign off a guy that you know can do it, but are a little concerned about. Sometimes, you just need to. Soloing builds confidence like crazy. That's when you are going crazy. But yes, signing a guy off for solo is great.... I love the feeling. I had a guy with 80ish hours that had not soloed yet recently. He was so enthusiastic about flying, and loved it, I was his third instructor too... but he was just not ready for solo.... I signed him off recently, he was one of my most memorable solos even if it was so soon. When he got back, the smile on his face was quite the reward.
 
ClearedToTakeoff said:
Just wait until you sign off a guy that you know can do it, but are a little concerned about. Sometimes, you just need to. Soloing builds confidence like crazy. That's when you are going crazy. But yes, signing a guy off for solo is great.... I love the feeling. I had a guy with 80ish hours that had not soloed yet recently. He was so enthusiastic about flying, and loved it, I was his third instructor too... but he was just not ready for solo.... I signed him off recently, he was one of my most memorable solos even if it was so soon. When he got back, the smile on his face was quite the reward.
Click to expand...

New instructor here. My first solo sign off will be a similar situation. Guy in his late 50's, retired, nearly 80 hours, I'm his third instructor. He's made good progress with me, and I'm confident he'll be ready in just a few more flights. I think soloing him will be a big confidence builder for him, and I'm actually looking forward to that moment.
 
UAL747400 said:
Over 40ish signoffs that I've done. From the first to the last one that I did, they were SO rewarding. I miss this most about flight instructing. Enough that I want to get back into it on the side. Had the winds pick up on one guy and he knocked the light bulb out of a runway light once though. That was scary to watch! :oops:

As far as the first one goes, he was in the army, started flight training 2 years prior, but never soloed. Still knew what he was doing quite well though. He was easy. The true first was pretty nerve racking. The flying part isn't what ever bothered me, it was other traffic and dealing with ATC. GFK is the 23rd busiest airport in the US or something like that.
Click to expand...

It was like the oceans parting for my student yesterday. GFK winds basically went calm and the pattern completely emptied itself as he was taxiing out. Made it a bit easier for me.
 
middies10 said:
It was like the oceans parting for my student yesterday. GFK winds basically went calm and the pattern completely emptied itself as he was taxiing out. Made it a bit easier for me.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I always had 102s from 10-4. Lovely...

I will add that the runway light incident was while I was free-lancing in Park River. ;) A student would have to TRY to veer of 35L/17R in Grand Funk! haha
 
Signing off a student for his first solo always makes me nervous, but I can honestly say it's one of the most rewarding things I've done as a CFI. Yes, I still remember my first (and last) solo endorsements.
 
It's an awesome responsibility. All those student signoffs can be done without anyone checking the instructor's judgment. No DPE for a second opinion.
 
My first solo signoff was a good stick and rudder pilot with some maturity issues and struggled to hit the books. He came to me with about 12 hours previous and my boss demanded he take his checkride at or before 45 hours TT. He soloed at around 17, and I was pacing the airport like, as one of the DPEs said "an expectant father" He did fine though.

The second solo was much easier, and they have been easier since then. Of all of my students, I think my second one was probably the easiest to give because he was very smart, a natural, and dedicated to his studies.

What made my first one so nerve racking was a combination of his age, maturity issues, and my own reservations of it being my first solo sign off. Was I really good enough to teach this guy to fly by himself? I soloed him about 3 weeks after I got my CFI and I was really nervous, but as with everything else you get better with experience so long as you never stop learning. I would hesitate to say I was short changing my early students with a relative lack of experience, but I will say I am better today than I was when I soloed him.
 
I remember mine. I was 10x more nervous than he was, but once it was over, it was incredibly rewarding. The student had a great feel for the plane and flew really well. He still struggles with the knowledge portion as we've gotten to the instrument rating, but still flies dang well.
 
I signed off on my first two solos about two weeks ago now, and it wasn't too bad because both students had prior flying experience, but no solo. The real nerve wracking came just yesterday when I signed off my first student for his initial solo x-country. He took off with not a cloud in the sky, but being in northwest Florida a line of thunderstorms started popping up right between him and home for the return flight. Then just as he's made it around the storms he decides his radios don't work and starts squawking 7600 and announcing his intentions over the tower frequency in case anyone could still hear him. Thankfully, the tower guys sent him some light signals and he made it down on the ground. And on a totally unrelated note, I'm sure any flight instructor that had his student text him saying he was nordo but still approaching a towered airport with scheduled commercial service and heavy military traffic in the area would be pretty nervous.
 
My last solo sign off about a month or so ago was so nervous on the first try that the student overprimed not one, but two airplanes so bad that fuel was dripping out of the intake drain and right onto the ramp. This was one of those "borderline" students. We scrubbed the attempt that day, and came back the next day and the student did five flawless landings to the point where the tower controller was giving props.

My first solo student, excellent student, but lets just say that I had a- thankfully unneeded- spare change of pants with me in the tower :D
 
I watched from the Tower. With parallel runways, there's a common instruction when returning from the runway furthest from the ramp: "Hold short of runway 17L at Bravo 8." Pilots miss the correct readback all the time. When the controller gave the instruction to my student, all heads turned toward me. When my student read it back correctly, all smiled and nodded approvingly.

So did I :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top