How far am I from soloing, realistically?

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manlymatt83

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Matt
I realize it's different for everyone, which is why I would never ask my instructor this! We've now had four lessons in the pattern. I've done about 25 lessons total with another lesson this Sunday. Flying about twice per week. Today we did some engine out landings and crosswind landings, and I learned slips.

Am I within 10 hours of soloing? 20? I just have no idea what's next! Exciting stuff.
 
You're right... Impossible to say.

The good news- from the things you are working on it sounds like you are close.

The bad news- I've had students get stuck at this point. They just couldn't get that final flare to the consistently safe level that I needed to see.
 
manlymatt83 said:
I realize it's different for everyone...

Am I within 10 hours of soloing? 20? I just have no idea what's next! Exciting stuff.
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You'll be ready when you're ready. :)

I'm a 96 hour pilot, but after talking to various other pilots, everyone IS different and everyone solo's at a different number of hours.

Don't worry about it, just enjoy it all.
 
manlymatt83 said:
I realize it's different for everyone, which is why I would never ask my instructor this! We've now had four lessons in the pattern. I've done about 25 lessons total with another lesson this Sunday. Flying about twice per week. Today we did some engine out landings and crosswind landings, and I learned slips.

Am I within 10 hours of soloing? 20? I just have no idea what's next! Exciting stuff.
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No no... Ask him. Seriously. He has a better idea than any of us, and should be able to express what needs to be worked on...especially after 25 lessons total. That should be enough for most to get there (figure 1 hr / lesson) not all, but most.
 
How smooth are your landings? Are you on centerline? Is the speed correct? Do you have proper crosswind control? Are you drifting side to side? Do you land at the spot that you want to?

In other words, are you good? And are you consistent?

How well do you judge the need for a go around? I did one on my solo, the wife says I just made a photo pass . . . :)

Has your CFI touched the controls during your last lesson? Does he cross his arms and stare distractedly out the window on base and final? "NO" and "YES" are the correct answers here. When you can land or correctly call a go around, without advice, adjustment or corrections, you will be close.

P.S.--how are your radio skills? Do you get the words right? Or do you have mic fright?

We on the interweb don't know these things, only your and your CFI know the answers, and unfortunately, it's the CFI's version of the answers that count. :D
 
gov98 said:
No no... Ask him. Seriously. He has a better idea than any of us, and should be able to express what needs to be worked on...especially after 25 lessons total. That should be enough for most to get there (figure 1 hr / lesson) not all, but most.
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Yes and no. I've had guys (and gals) breeze through the prelims, but just couldn't get that very last flare needed for the consistency. Sometimes yes, but consistently safe is the key for a CFI. Consistently good is not the key IMO.

One day it just seems to click. That day comes at different times for different people.
 
Not only is every student different, but every instructor is different in their methodology so there is no magic number. That is EXACTLY why you need to ask your instructor this. You should know what his expectations are and what he thinks your deficiencies are so you know what to focus on to improve so you can solo.

In my mind, soloing was a goal and I had benchmarks I needed to meet and I knew what those were. It should not be a "surprise, I am hopping out...go solo now". Even though I was not ready yet, once I got close my CFI set a target date for me to solo and we worked towards that goal and met it.

Should be a perfectly acceptable and expected conversation to have with your CFI as long as it it is in the tone of wanting to know what to work towards vs a number of hours or lessons.
 
How often does the instructor touch the controls? How much does he or she talk during a lesson? These are your clues as to how close you are. And if nothing else, your age in years is a very rough estimate as to how many hours it will take to solo.
 
Shawn said:
Not only is every student different, but every instructor is different in their methodology so there is no magic number. That is EXACTLY why you need to ask your instructor this. You should know what his expectations are and what he thinks your deficiencies are so you know what to focus on to improve so you can solo.

In my mind, soloing was a goal and I had benchmarks I needed to meet and I knew what those were. It should not be a "surprise, I am hopping out...go solo now". Even though I was not ready yet, once I got close my CFI set a target date for me to solo and we worked towards that goal and met it.

Should be a perfectly acceptable and expected conversation to have with your CFI as long as it it is in the tone of wanting to know what to work towards vs a number of hours or lessons.
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I agree totally... But, if a student asked me that, I would say "when your landings are consistently safe". I can tell them what I need to see, but there is no way I can give them a timeframe. If I did I would be lying to them. Maybe others can??
 
dmspilot said:
How often does the instructor touch the controls? How much does he or she talk during a lesson? These are your clues as to how close you are. And if nothing else, your age in years is a very rough estimate as to how many hours it will take to solo.
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True for the first part. The age thing!???? That's a new one on me!!
 
Sounds like you're getting pretty close. For me, I need to see a couple flights in a row, where I don't have to touch a single thing, help with the radio, or do anything other than sit in the other seat and enjoy the airplane ride.
 
jesse said:
Sounds like you're getting pretty close. For me, I need to see a couple flights in a row, where I don't have to touch a single thing, help with the radio, or do anything other than sit in the other seat and enjoy the airplane ride.
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That was exactly my criteria when I was CFI-ing.
 
My guys typically soloed in 10-15hrs TT.

Of course that depends on your CFI teaching ability and you.

Guessing if you're asking you're close.
 
James331 said:
My guys typically soloed in 10-15hrs TT.

Of course that depends on your CFI teaching ability and you.

Guessing if you're asking you're close.
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10-15 hours was faster than our school turned out. We were closer to 25. If I remember correctly from 1984, I was 16.2.
 
Kritchlow said:
I agree totally... But, if a student asked me that, I would say "when your landings are consistently safe". I can tell them what I need to see, but there is no way I can give them a timeframe. If I did I would be lying to them. Maybe others can??
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Exactly...my point that I was trying to convey is that the conversation with his CFI is perfectly acceptable in the context of laying out benchmarks that still need to be achieved and not to ask in how many hours or days.
 
That's something you and your instructor need to decide,all pilots are different. Not seeing you fly no one can give you an accurate time period.
 
Every pilot is different. Every CFI is different. Every Syllabus is different. Every plane/airport combo is different. It's not possible to get a "number". For some odd reason it does seem like it takes a lot longer these days then it did in the past, generally.

But you should just ask your CFI. You need an open dialog and discussion. Usually the answer will not be a precise number but it should be a discussion of which areas he's comfortable with and which areas he's still watching, and an estimate.
 
It absolutely doesn't matter even little bit. You solo when you solo. You get your ticket when you get your ticket. Some do it faster, some slower. Neither group can claim to be superior pilots based on that particular number.
 
Hi Matt,

Just to echo everyone else. You'll solo when you are ready. Flying is not something to rush. Each lesson is time in the air -- enjoy the journey!

Having flown since I was a kid, I picked up basic flying skills incredibly quickly, but it took me a while until I solo'd due to pauses in my training and, honestly, it just took me a while for all of the components in flying to click. In no time I was at say 75% proficient in landing but it took me quite a few hours of landings before I was able to get that to the 100% mark.

In some ways it was frustrating, but now I'm glad it happened as that's just how long it took me to get it.

Some people grasp it quicker, some slower; each instructor has different guidelines for qualifications for soloing, too.

Finally, never worry about comparing yourself to others. There's no room for ego in flying. Just be safe and have fun.
 
Some solo at 4 hours, some at 100 hours. I solo'd at 28 hours. It didn't happen for me until I pushed for it. I'd say if you feel ready, talk to your instructor about it. It really doesn't matter if it takes longer in my opinion. You will still need at least 40 total hours (which was never going to happen for me anyways) and any additional instruction will only make you a better pilot. Heck, I feel like I am finally getting the hang of this stuff at 400 hours. Just enjoy the ride. Good luck!
 
Funny thing with me was my instructor kept saying "are you going to solo today?" He felt I was ready but I didn't at the time. We (I) had done some pretty windy cross wind landings without much trouble or any input from him but still wanted some more practice.
One day he asked for my log book before the flight and said I am signing you off to solo, I was wondering what that was all about... Anyway, We flew over to another airport for fuel then did some review and came back. During the taxi he said "stop, I'm getting out, give me three good ones." There was a little wind and it was shifting. I gave him at least one good one of the three..LOL
 
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steingar said:
It absolutely doesn't matter even little bit. You solo when you solo. You get your ticket when you get your ticket. Some do it faster, some slower. Neither group can claim to be superior pilots based on that particular number.
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no way man! I solod at 1.5 hours and I'm god's gift to a stick!!!11


You'll be ready when you're ready, probably before you solo then a flight or two to convince your CFI. Don't stress about it, it'll negatively impact your performance. Worry less, fun more.
 
Kritchlow said:
10-15 hours was faster than our school turned out. We were closer to 25. If I remember correctly from 1984, I was 16.2.
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Where you learn to fly is going to affect it a lot also, you will probably solo sooner if you are flying out of a grass strip or small airport with only few if any airplanes in the pattern than if you are learning where you are sharing runways with 737's.

However the difference in total time to a certificate will probably not be much different, it is just that at bigger airports we have to teach more before you can solo than if you are in the middle of nowhere.

25 years ago I soloed at about 7 hours, but I was 20 years old, had been building and flying RC airplanes for 10 years, driving tractors since I was 8, and was flying out of an airport that probably had 10 airplanes on the field.

The top of the bell curve for soloing for my students is about 17 hrs.

Brian
 
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PeeGee said:
no way man! I solod at 1.5 hours and I'm god's gift to a stick!!!11


You'll be ready when you're ready, probably before you solo then a flight or two to convince your CFI. Don't stress about it, it'll negatively impact your performance. Worry less, fun more.
Click to expand...
when i was in college and had an ercoupe, I loaned it to my then-girlfriends brother to take lessons. He had never flown in any airplane before and he solo'd in 3 hours over a weekend. Part of it was the coupe almost flies itself, part of it was he had a knack for it. Then he was done, ticked that box and never flew again.
 
You guys saying "you'll solo when you're ready" or "everyone is different" are basically repeating what he said in the OP. He obviously knows this, he's just trying to figure out if he is way behind or something. That depends on many factors, not least of which is the type of airplane he's flying.

If he's asking on this forum, he must feel he's getting close. It's a fair question and I wondered the same when I was pre-solo. In my case my instructor gave hints along the way but somewhat surprised me on the day he turned me loose.

I don't see any reason not to ask the instructor for a progress assessment relative to the goal, which is safely piloting the airplane solo (and in fact, the instructor should give these with every lesson IMHO). By all means, ask him. Just do it in a constructive way, not in a way that makes you sound impatient or annoyed.

As for the "approximately your age in years" comment above I'd just say... lol. 9-yr-olds can't solo. :D
 
brcase said:
Where you learn to fly is going to affect it a lot also, you will probably solo sooner if you are flying out of a grass strip or small airport with only few if any airplanes in the pattern than if you are learning where you are sharing runways with 737's.

However the difference in total time to a certificate will probably not be much different, it is just that at bigger airports we have to teach more before you can solo than if you are in the middle of nowhere.

25 years ago I soloed at about 7 hours, but I was 20 years old, had been building and flying RC airplanes for 10 years, driving tractors since I was 8, and was flying out of an airport that probably had 10 airplanes on the field.

The top of the bell curve for soloing for my students is about 17 hrs.

Brian
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I did the majority of primary training at Boeing Field in Seattle, with the Lazy B right across the runway. When it was time for a student to solo, though, the event took place at an uncontrolled airport with as little traffic as possible. After a few hours of soloing outside of the box, of course, I brought them back to BFI for pattern work on occasion.

Bob Gardner
 
Quoted from above: "And if nothing else, your age in years is a very rough estimate as to how many hours it will take to solo."

What? I did my primary training when I was 42 and first solo was 13 hours.

My friend is training now... She better not go 49 hours to solo or I'll cut her financing!
 
JHW said:
New one to me too, I still had pimples when i solo'd and it took me something over 300 hours.
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300? Is that a typo?

I think by 100 I'd be looking for another instructor or another passion.
 
Jay Honeck said:
300? Is that a typo?

I think by 100 I'd be looking for another instructor or another passion.
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IIRC he had a friend/CFI who owned a plane and he started flying at a very young age and was able to get a lot of hours.
 
gov98 said:
Unless you had 300 hours before you were 16...
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Interesting. My kids had a good number of hours in the right seat before taking flight lessons, but those hours weren't loggable, were they?
 
Jay Honeck said:
Interesting. My kids had a good number of hours in the right seat before taking flight lessons, but those hours weren't loggable, were they?
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What does loggable mean? I started flying with a neighbor in his champ at age 11 or 12. Never thought anything of it, the years went by, I eventually moved and got my ffirst pilot's license in another country. When I moved back to the USA I went to visit him and mentioned that i wanted to get an FAA license. He went in another room and came back with a logbook he'd kept for me all those years with every lesson and maneuver filled out, pretty much covering FAA PPL and commercial. I just though we were fooling around and counting cows all that time, and I guess we were.
 
brcase said:
Where you learn to fly is going to affect it a lot also, you will probably solo sooner if you are flying out of a grass strip or small airport with only few if any airplanes in the pattern than if you are learning where you are sharing runways with 737's.

However the difference in total time to a certificate will probably not be much different, it is just that at bigger airports we have to teach more before you can solo than if you are in the middle of nowhere.

25 years ago I soloed at about 7 hours, but I was 20 years old, had been building and flying RC airplanes for 10 years, driving tractors since I was 8, and was flying out of an airport that probably had 10 airplanes on the field.

The top of the bell curve for soloing for my students is about 17 hrs.

Brian
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True.... But there is the other side of the coin as well.. I tought out of an 1800 x 50 foot strip. Touch and goes were possible in the summer, but not advisable in the mighty 152. We spent a fair amount of time taxiing back after each landing. Also a bit more precision is necessary on the students part in a strip that small. I soloed and taught there as a CFI, so obviously it can be done. That said, I think a larger, yet quiet airport may be the best combo.
 
JHW said:
when i was in college and had an ercoupe, I loaned it to my then-girlfriends brother to take lessons. He had never flown in any airplane before and he solo'd in 3 hours over a weekend. Part of it was the coupe almost flies itself, part of it was he had a knack for it. Then he was done, ticked that box and never flew again.
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IMO the CFI was nuts. I don't care if you do everything perfectly first time. Three hours is just not enough to show consistency and prove it to me. There are certain things that must be covered pre solo. YMMV.
 
manlymatt83 said:
I realize it's different for everyone, which is why I would never ask my instructor this! We've now had four lessons in the pattern. I've done about 25 lessons total with another lesson this Sunday. Flying about twice per week. Today we did some engine out landings and crosswind landings, and I learned slips.

Am I within 10 hours of soloing? 20? I just have no idea what's next! Exciting stuff.
Click to expand...

your instructor will have a much better idea where you are in the timeline than anyone else. ask him!
 
Should be soon. If you are doing engine outs and slips to landing it sounds like your normal landings are probably passable. Just totally guessing, I would say within the next 5 or 6 lessons. Make sure to come back and let us know how it goes!!
 
Jay Honeck said:
Interesting. My kids had a good number of hours in the right seat before taking flight lessons, but those hours weren't loggable, were they?
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Hello Jay,

I'm not sure if this is what you're getting at, but there's no age for instruction. My first lesson was when I was six (log-book does note I could not reach the rudders, however). Just like any other lesson, that time can be logged if flying with an instructor.
 
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