In addition, I've always said that time to solo is totally overblown as a point of discussion.
Ron,
This is one of the few metrics "everyone" seems to "know" about.
Joe said, "My Uncle Charley soloed in 4 hours -- he was some pilot. Too bad about the accident..."
The new student pilot has doubts, misgivings, fear, excitement -- all sorts of emotions rolled into this new flying thing and he/she has yet to spend much time in the aviation world.
Their frame of reference can be adjusted somewhat, but in most cases we (instructors) have a few hours to counter a lifetime of perception. Coupled to this is the more goal-oriented personality types that are attracted to piloting an airplane.
When I was a student I wanted to learn to fly that thing. And the first hurdle was flying that thing by myself. Time to solo was important -- if all my peers (I was in a 141 school) were out solo at 15 hours and I was still doing dual touch and gos at 25 hours, I would think, "Am I cut out for this?"
NOW I understand that is flawed logic, but THEN -- that perception was reality.
I soloed at a Controlled field in 11.9 hours and thought I was behind the curve -- EVERYONE else was soloing at 10 -- one guy at 9! What's wrong with me?
Again, it's one of those milestones that you "know" all about before you even begin, and despite all the counseling to the contrary you start counting and wondering.
But 40 hours? If this is true, it's positively ridiculous.