Pilot Training Resources

FLYING SOLO:

When you’re ready to solo and have completed the required tasks per the FARs, your instructor will choose a fair-weather day to go up for a few landings. You’ll go up first with your instructor to make sure your landings are good, that you’re performing well for the specific conditions of the day, and then, often after you perform three or four good landings in a row, your instructor will tell you to taxi back to the ramp and drop him or her off back at the flight school.

You’ll taxi back and you might shut down the airplane. Your instructor will sign your logbook and student pilot certificate with the required endorsements and then you’ll be off on your own!

You’ll take off, noticing that without your instructor, your takeoff and climb performance has increased and you’ll probably reach your pattern altitude a bit earlier than you’re used to. It’ll be a bit quieter than usual, without your instructor chatting away.

The first student solo is a confidence- builder. You won’t have your instructor there to save you, but you don’t need him. In the past, you knew that your instructor was there to save you in case anything went wrong, but this time, it’s all you. And when you land safely the first time, and then the second and finally, a third time, you’ll realize that you’re fully capable of being pilot in command!

You might make mistakes, which is a good thing. Those mistakes will teach you that you’re capable of making decisions and managing mistakes on your own, further building your pilot in command confidence.

AFTER THE SOLO FLIGHT:

After the solo flight, you’ll taxi back to the ramp, park and shut down. Your instructor will probably be there waiting to congratulate you. Some schools still participate in the age-old tradition of cutting off the student’s shirt tail and hanging it on the wall as a celebratory aviation rite of passage.

From that point on, you’ll accomplish additional solo flights, first to the practice area, and eventually to other airports until finally, you’ll earn your private pilot certificate.

A student’s solo flight is a turning point in their aviation training experience. It’s a great experience to be at the control of an airplane without an instructor there with you, and it is a real confidence-builder for student pilots.