I was going to post my helicopter time-to-solo hours - they're not spectacular or anything - but then remembered how my fixed-wing time-to-solo went. So I'm not going to, in "protest" of this idea about how great of a rated pilot you will become if you solo after five or seven hours.
Not by my own choice, I changed instructors about twenty hours into it, and I think he was a bit paranoid (in the US, I can understand why - key term being LAWYERS) so it took quite a while before he jumped out.
My point here is that the time to solo is not wholly dependent on the candidate's skills - the CFI's comfort level/paranoia plays a part, and all of the cards are in his hands past a certain point.
Closing remark - am I a bit envious or jealous of those folks that became PIC after eight or ten hours? I must confess I am just a little bit - every pilot would like to think that he/she fell from the womb with a tiny cyclic and collective in hands and tiny pedals for the footsies.. But that's an ego thing and I have learned to live with it
Dave Blevins
P.S. one thing that struck me about this thread is Whirlygirl's comment about her postings here being used against her. I have always posted under my real name (and will continue to, being a licensed cumudgeon) but if I may say so it's a sad statement of affairs that most people here feel they have to remain anonymous. What a f8cked up profession I aspire to in my dreams...
