Bose
You may be a wonderful instructor and I am sure you are. That doesnt take away from the fact in this thread that some have never done touch and goes and some have even been banned from doing them.
Obviously a student on his first solo is going to probably do one circuit to a full stop and then continue his/her training from there.
The facts are that once in that aircraft on his/her own there is no one there to help. 99.9% of the time the circuit will be uneventful but there is always the small chance that some of those skills will be required due to an unforeseen situation.
He maybe too high, land badly, get a blockage on the runway or whatever.
While a first solo student is on a learning path once in an aircraft alone they should have the basic skills to handle any situation which may arise in completing that circuit. That includes touch and goes!This thread seems to indicate that "some" are sent on first solo without those skills?
Quote:
All student pilots must be able to effect consistently safe G/As before solo, including recovery from a bounced landing etc. However, I can foresee circumstances where student pilots may have never done T&Gs before solo.
Pace
Pace I am not sure I am the worlds best Instructor, but with all due respect I probably know more about Instructing than you do? As I am both an FI and a CAA Examiner I probably have proved that I know about Instructing enough to have a valid opinion?
What are you bringing to the discussion?
The objective of the FIRST SOLO is a confidence building exercise. Trust me when you have sent a few solo the difference in attitude and skills is vast. Therefore the objective of the first solo is to make the whole event as undemanding as possible. I generally prefer to send them solo for a single circuit but for the better candidates and better conditions I would send them for a couple of full stops. It is all about confidence building. Sadly these days flying in the corporate treadmill I don't get to send people solo that often but hopefully with the new job on the horizon I will.