Just out of interest, and addressed to Roger10-4, PompeyPaul and others with short solo times...
When somebody say they flew their first solo in say, 15 hours, I conclude that they took to the circuit work very quickly, however you guys state 6 and 10 hours respectively, I had a feeling that I hadn't even started in the circuit by this time so I checked my logbook, and for reference here are the first few entries...
Hour 1: Air experience flight
Hour 2: Effects of controls
Hour 3: Straight and Level flight
Hour 4: Climbing and descending
Hour 5: Turning
Hour 6: S&L, C&D and Turning review
Hour 7: Power off stalls
Hour 8: Power on stalls + Spin recovery demo (
)
Hour 9: Slow flight
Hour 10: Begun circuit work
.
.
.
Hour 25: First solo
The space inbetween hour 10 and 25 was a mix of EFATOs, Go arounds, glide approaches, flapless approaches and repeating regular circuits.
I had always kind of assumed that it was this space (10-25) that varied for students. I like to believe that every student does at least a couple of EFATOs and go arounds before first solo.
As there seems to be a near consensus that pre-solo hours are not a definate guide to a students ability, I am interested in how your training differed as this seems to be the crucial point. These threads generate the same points over and over, but I dont think I have seen any that discuss the pre-solo training given.
I would think that hours 3, 4, and 5 in my above list are the only ones that would be considered absolutely mandatory before starting circuit work. Is this a fair assumption? Did everybody work through stalls and slow flight pre-solo? How many EFATOs and Go arrounds?
Would be nice to see some examples of how training differs between schools.... and over the years from some of the more.... 'seasoned' pilots
