I’m not sure it gives a fair indication to anyone to quote solo hours in a military training environment. I’m also not sure it’s fair to say that anyone who doesn’t go solo in 100 hours should give up.
All people are different and learn at different rates. I found flying incredibly difficult to begin with just as I found driving and riding a motorbike. However, with thousands of road miles under my belt and advanced driving and motorbike training, I am now quite competent. I passed both tests first time but only after having lots of lessons and training. Friends of the same age passed their driving tests with fewer lessons than me but, by ‘eck, there are appallingly bad drivers now. It’s as if they learnt enough to pass their test and thought, that’s it, I’ve done it, learning stops, I’ve done the minimum and that’s all that’s required.
So what if someone’s slow to learn. It might mean that they’ve learnt it better and there may be more chance of it sinking in and staying there.
As with all other “time to solo” threads (and there have been many on Private Flying), it turns into a contest. Any reduction on 7 hours? So, to all those ex-mil / talented guys who were fortunate to have some of the best training in the world, how do you think the poor civvy student feels now when he/she still hasn’t soloed in 40 hours? Inadequate probably. Disheartened as well.
It doesn’t matter and I don’t think, ultimately, it makes a scrap of difference in the long term.
Cheers
Whirls