Instructors: How do you judge student readiness for 1st Solo?

[Syrian Aviator]

Gentlemen

I’m new here

I have a Qualified Instructor Rating on my Malaysian license; and got myself within the last 2 years a little over a thousand instructional hours; typical I suppose for most hard working instructors at 29 years of age. All my student 1st / 2nd solos (over 50 cases) were going fine until the 18th of October (Lucky year) when my student swayed off the runway to the left after landing. The plane rolled over the grass and hit a concrete fire hydrant (20cm high); this led to a nose wheel collapse; propeller strike and the aircraft (Cessna 172N) came to rest tail high few feet past the hydrant. The student was totally unharmed thanks be to God!

According to the student he landed on the runway with a nose high attitude; then the plane swayed out to the left; he applied right rudder but the plane wheel-barrowed which I think made him panic and forget to Go-Around to avoid us this conversation



My student had 20 hours on the plane; I checked him out for more than an hour before the flight; and within the last two flights we practiced Go-Around Procedure and Engine Failure Procedure, his landings were perfect; the wind was not a factor (3 knots); weather was ok for flying.

This incident hit me hard; so I started the ‘investigation’ within; Still searching for clues. Wake turbulence was a factor as there was a 737 landing ahead; but separation was for about 3 minutes so I am pretty unsure whether it is the cause

After you read this entire story; I would like to hear from you please

How would you judge a student to go first solo; specifically on Cessna 172; 152

And as a student; what kind of performance do you expect of yourself to qualify for 1st solo?

Thank you

[homeguard]

Paralax!


I often find that not enough emphasis on the effects of paralax is explained and demonstrated to students.

Failure to understand paralax which is particularly crucial when on the approach and landing can lead to the problem that you have experienced.

The pilot in a C172 and the like sits to the left of the aircraft centre line but they will nearly always tend to look across the nose diagonally instead of straight ahead. The illusion when landing is that the nose looks set off centre, to the right of the centre line and can cause them to apply left rudder in-appropiately. You may have noticed already that the majority of students/ low hour PPL holders tend to land to the left of the centre line.

Should this be the case and the student on applying left rudder also applied the left toe brake a scenario similar to the one you have described can be the result. The dissorientated student, who may not realise that they have applied left brake, anxious to stop may not then release the brake although applying the opposite right rudder pedal. Remember that in the case of light Cessna's there are springs within the steering control rod system that will allow the nose wheel to continue on a particular path even though opposite rudder is now applied, particularly when considerable forward pressure is present - you mention that the aircraft wheelbarrowed.

Hope this helps

[Kolibear]

As a low-hours student I could never understand why somedays I could land the aircraft (C152) and other days, my landings all went to pieces.

It was only later on when I investigated the seat adjustment mechanism that I realised not only did I have to get the seat in the same position along the runners, but I had to have it in the same position vertically. Otherwise, the picture I was getting on finals and at the flare varied from one lesson to the next.. It doesn't really matter if the seat is fully raised or lowered, its a question of maintaining the same consistancy lesson by lesson.

Once I'd eliminated that variable, I'd like to report that my landing improved. They didn't, but I put that down to lack of practice.

Nowadays, "Seat 2 notches from the rear and locked" is a checklist item.

[Darbo]

Judgement is exactly that; judgement. A personal thing and totally based on previous experiences.

My own method is not to tire out a student with an hour or more in the circuit before sending him/her off, but to fly say, a normal circuit to get the student into the mindset, then assuming that goes OK then 3 circuits where I mess up the landing, by taking control and balloning the aeroplane, getting very slow, well off the centreline or some other manoevre. I then give control back to the student and see how they cope and what the response is to such an unexpected occurrence. The response I'm generally looking for is an early decision leading to a well controlled go-round.

This benchmark has served me well over many years, without any incidents on first solos.

:D

[Classic]

I think there's no doubt that with just 3 minutes separation and 3 kts wind that your student hit the vortices of the 737 ahead.

There's nothing he or you could have done to get him out of such a situation, my only question would be about his awareness of and training for wake turbulence, especially at an airfield mixing GA and commercial transport.

As an experienced instructor I'm sure you knew the student was capable of flying the briefed flight - he just found himself out of his depth in a very dangerous but relatively rare situation.

[Syrian Aviator]

I thank you all for your comments; it did help me and also drew my attention to some facts that were unknown to me; I must admit like Parallax effect on students. I remember that during my initial instructor training; I never thought that it would affect the student! I think this was a big mistake which led to an expensive learning experience

I must also say that I am disappointed with the controllers here. Sometimes they line up GA immediately after a landing 737 and in less than a minute; you are cleared for take-off. As I have close to 12000 foot runway; I roll the plane down on low power setting till it passes the point where the 737 vacated the runway, hoping to clear the wake turbulence.

I agree that the student hit the vortices; but I also think that it was not a fully contributing factor

Thanks a lot for your comments once again

[RVR800]

I reckon that this is a wake related issue as well.

This is because you are now experenced at assessing student competence and the student was consistent on all previous landings...The spanner in the works was that pesky 737

Of course with a student pilot getting them to start a stopwatch when the 737 rotates is an extra burden....

The assumption is that ATC will always ensure separation >3mins
- not neccesarily! :(

[Gertrude the Wombat]

Probably not helpful, but I just came across this passage by Colin Rudder in Tested:

"... some people think it is worse for the instructor watching you stagger off all alone. I have never found this to be so even after authorising over two hundred first solos. They are either good enough to justify relaxing as they go or so bad you almost do not care any more."

Hmm ... quick look at my log book ... no, Colin didn't authorise my first solo, but he did authorise the second, third and fourth.

[noblues]

Syrian - I symphaise for you .... You an only go with what you have seen on the previous dual flight .... It does sound like a wake related incident to me .....

My most nerve racking moments of 12+ years of instructing have always been watching my students from the ground ..... The long and the short of it is that is you make an assesment of his/her flying ability from what you have seen and send them solo .... then its up to them ... You cannot cover EVERY senario with a student ... I feel you have been ' a victim of circumstances' but under the rules of the job we do you are ultimatly responsible (the student is flying on yor licence ... ) .....

These things WILL happen and you are not to blame - Its unfortunate it its YOU this time .....Dont let it get to you, at least the student walked away .....

(I regard myself as a 'send them solo' instructor ... not a 'why can't I send them solo' instuctor ... BUt this sort of incident could could happen with even the most cautous of instructor ..)

[Cambridge Aero Club]

In an attempt to answer your original question, in my mind there are a number of factors on which you should base your decision.

Firstly, there are the students for which you have no doubt as to whether they are safe to solo and those are the ones you send. Secondly, there are the ones for whom you have your reservations and they are the ones you don't. If there's any doubt, there's not doubt and all of that stuff.

That may sound daftly simplistic but if you break things down into a little more detail and base your decision on some fairly black and white criteria, it's fairly easy to decide.

I always feel it's important not to 'pre-stress' the student with the expectation of a possible first solo prior to the flight. In my experience, overall even the good ones do not necessarily respond well to this pressure regardless of their temperament. Further to this I do not feel that an extensive pre-solo session in the circuit is particularly beneficial either. If a candidate is 'on the boil' and at their peak they will tend to perform best in the window of around 2-4 circuits. After that they may well be a little tired and less 'sharp'. By definition, if it takes any longer in one circuit lesson to get them to the stage where you feel they should be launched on their own then they may well not be quite as ready as you first thought.

The circumstances must be right and the instructor must not confuse their own excitement about sending someone solo with the student's suitability to do so. Getting all of the right circumstances to occur at the same time, namely performance, weather/wind, airfield traffic conditions and so on can be very frustrating for both parties. However, one should never be tempted to let them go on a whim because the student has said they will not be flying for a couple of weeks, or the weather is forecast to get worse during the next few days. There will always be another day.

Whether or not they are ready has a lot to do with their ability to deal with some of the things which may occur unexpectedly. Remember, you are looking for consistency and safety, not perfection. During a potential first solo session with the student you should be looking for key factors, for example:

Their ability to recognise a high or low approach and most importantly their ability to take corrective action in a timely and appropriate manner. For this you must allow them to make mistakes and keep quiet, thus giving them sufficient time to recognise and act. Remember, the student will probably need more time to evaluate what they see and to recognise their mistake than you do but that does not mean they are not safe - just inexperienced. Provided they see it and sort it out within safe margins then all is well. Even if they continually make the same errors such as a high or low approach but correct it accordingly then fine - that is something which can be ironed out in further dual sorties and does not necessarily mean they are not suitable for solo.

It is most important that the student is able to make a prompt decision to go-around if the approach is not good. Many students persist with a bad approach feeling that their perceived skills will enable them to rescue it - particularly if they are flying into a long runway. This is clearly bad and a tendency to try and do this should be addressed and cured before you consider them for solo. It is often worth setting them up with an unsuitable approach and then asking them whether they would continue or go-around, this can be a good learning point for both student and instructor.

Other things to consider: Could they cope with unusual ATC requests? Could they cope with an engine failure? Could they cope if the runway became U/S during their first solo, and where would they go? Would they know what to do if they are asked to orbit for spacing? Hopefully and ATC or any other unit would not put a first solo student in those predicaments, but it can and does happen.

I know that many instructors seem to want to give the student a 'good workout' of simulated emergencies and eventualities immediately prior to sending them solo for the first time. I am not really in favour of this method for the following reasons...

Firstly, for the the student to be considered as a possible first solo candidate on that flight they should have already shown that they are competent at dealing with such eventualities on the preceding flights. In fact they ought to be at the pinnacle of currency when it comes to EFATO an similar, so there is no need to wear them out in a final last onslaught. I often wonder if instructors do this to put their own insecurities to rest as opposed to really checking the student. I suppose this is not entirely unsurprising but it may not be the best thing to do for the students sake. There may also be a small element of the instructor 'covering their own backs' should the solo not go according to plan. I don't in any way mean to make that statement in a malicious way, so don't get me wrong, merely pointing out that instructors are human as well as anyone else and suffer from the same lapses in confidence as any professional. The point though is this; if as an instructor you have sufficient doubt as to the candidate's ability in this region, then maybe you should reconsider the purpose of the sortie.

It is clearly beneficial to make a possible first solo check as informal and as relaxed as possible. Only then will the student really give a good and representative impression of how they are performing. Furthermore, you can almost be sure that the student will probably relax and fly more competently when the pressure of a 'check flight' is removed and they are allowed to make all of the decisions for themselves during the solo flight. In most cases the student will report that the first solo was fairly 'liberating' and that they were reasonably satisfied with their performance on this first circuit and landing. They rarely come back and say it was a bag of nails.

Solo consolidation is an extremely valuable and confidence building part of training, time where they can explore their own abilities without being constantly corrected and watched. Once a student is capable of safe solo flight they should be encouraged to do so as regularly as possible for short but frequent flights. It is then our responsibility to closely monitor their progress with the obligatory dual checks that precede these flights and importantly to encourage them to divulge information regarding occurrences that they were not entirely sure about or comfortable with. This gives us as instructors perfect opportunities to monitor their technique and weed out any bad habits or misunderstandings on a positive and progressive basis. This way the student will see a fast improvement in their own flying which, in turn, will dramatically improve their confidence which will ultimately lead to them doing better, and so on.

To re-cap, look for consistency, not perfection. They may not be brilliant, but if they are consistently 'fine' and safe, let 'em go...

On a final note, be sure to think ahead. At a large and busy airfield things can change fast. Not only weather but traffic conditions. There may be a large aircraft paying a visit for line training in the next ten minutes... The last thing you want to do is give the delicate student an additional factor such as the uncertainties of wake vortex spacing to deal with! Oh yes, and make sure they have a map and enough fuel to stay afloat for the next few hours - it's easy to overlook the basics when you're keen to get out and send them off! :ok:

Best wishes,

Luke

P.S. It is also important that they understand the significance of buying the instructor a drink after the first solo...;)

[homeguard]

Luke, I enjoyed every word, you are 'spot on', as they say where I live and work. Other than the drink - perhaps spoiled, quite reasonably, due to the drink driving laws - which you NEVER get these days!

[FlyingForFun]

Luke,

Your post should be mandatory reading for every new instructor!

I've only very recently had the supervisory restriction lifted from my instructor rating, and so haven't yet sent anyone for their first solo. But I have had a couple of students who have been ready for solo and whom I have had to send with another instructor to authorise that first solo.

Each time I did that, I was doubly-nervous - nervous for the student, but also nervous because I was leaving my own judgement that the student is ready for solo open to examination by another, more experienced, instructor. I'm pleased to say that my students have always been sent for first solo each time I've believed them to be ready, so my own standards must have been pretty much correct.... but having some definite guide like this would have been a huge help to me! :ok:

FFF
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[Cambridge Aero Club]

FFF,

I pleased if my post proves to be useful for you or anyone else, it's a tricky subject and one which could possibly be argued as being rather subjective. The post only reflects my own thoughts on the subject based on my very enjoyable experience, and honed with the benefit of working with some very best experienced and trusted instructors at Cambridge.

Each instructor will have their own views and trusted techniques and of course not all will entirely agree with me but that's the great thing about instructing - we are all individuals catering for other individuals.

You'll know by now that it's a great feeling to meet up with a student when they've just landed off the first solo and to see the smile on their face. A smile that seems to stick throughout the whole de-brief! :D It's nice to see it return again when they pass the skills test too!

Best wishes,

Luke

[RVR800]

I sometimes think that the confidence building boost that follows a first VFR solo is missing at the IFR stage.

I have met many Instrument Pilots and IMC pilots that are fearful of uilizing the priviledges of their rating partly due to the fact that they havent bitten the bullet of doing a solo IFR trip...

This is made worse by the fact that many schools are willing to take your money for the IR but when you ask them if you can make that trip in their twin IFR after getting the IR then its a no-can-do.

'Im afraid the Wx today is too good for you solo IFR trip you will have to wait until the cloudbase is lower and the visibility is below 2000 metres .. come back on a bad weather day please...........!.

[Kickatinalong]

Syrian,
The method I use is teach the student to fly, wait till there is little or no x/wind do three ccts where I sit there and do nothing then say to myself "Would I put my daughter in this a/c and let the student do a circuit with her?" if the answer is yes then get out, if the answer is no, then why and what am I doing wrong.
Kickatinalong.

[BEagle]

They don't scare you = They're not trying hard enough
They do scare you = You aren't trying hard enough

3 consecutive safe circuits and landings where you haven't had to do or say anything is my yardstick!

[Tinstaafl]

I use 3 safe & consistant circuits too.

[redbar1]

Yes, three good circuits, and out I would go. No good wearing the student out.

And I wouldn't say I would be very "nervous" during the solo. I guess I would rather describe these times as "tense" or "concentrated", but this could be just my semantics anyway.

But it was always a good feeling afterward!
Cheers, Redbar1