Hey Neptunus, you really want to watch that blood pressure.
Anyway, I solo'ed in 7:10 during the 1980's. I wasn't a S-Hot student but it was full time, 2-3 slots/day. I now teach PPL students and would say that, on average, they tend to go off on their own somewhere between 12-18hrs (beware, I'm using a particularly broad brush here).
Looking back, I think we teach more specific skills nowadays and cover more eventualities. It could be argued that some of these eventualities we used to run 'at risk'. It could also be argued that we do not need to teach
all these skills before sending solo. Importantly, there is a subjective requirement that is never articulated in the training manual/SOPs. A student pilot may have ticked all the necessary boxes but is not ready to go it alone.
Personally, I weigh-up all the variables and possibilities and would never encourage a student pilot to aim for a particular target. Unfortunately, a noticeable majority of student pilots are youngsters who don't notice the journey on the way to their destination.
