When we read about how much longer it takes students to solo, it appears todays student isn't the same quality as in the good old days. But - this just isn't so.
When the GAAP location was an 'allover' grassed paddock, the student was nearly always straight into wind. Solo practice was easy and safe. There wasn't the same traffic density, and all you needed to see was a signal light from the Tower - not try to sort out your callsign from a garble of radio chatter. Solo was a piece of cake, and most of my contemporaries achieved it under 10 hrs.
A lot of students have difficulty 'multi-tasking' in these busy GAAP environments. Take them out to a quiet country location with a choice of cross strips - and I'll bet you can halve current solo times.
happy days,