My first solo was my 23rd launch in a Kirby Cadet MkIII (showing my age!) at RAF Spitalgate (where?). Subsequently my first power solo was after 3:40 on a Beagle Pup, but I did have hundreds of hours of gliding by then.

12 hours 15 minutes - looks like I'm losing this particular pi$$ing contest! :eek:

I think it also depends on how often you are able to fly - longer elapsed time when only able to fly weekends etc., minus bad weather, would I imagine lead to a greater number of hours for first solo than if you are able to spend all week at the airfield in good weather.

Agree with Who has control? though... first cross country gave much greater sense of achievement :p

Andy

Did the air cadets gliding thing when I was 17 and soled in Kirby Cadets Mk3. Powered was between 5 & 6 hours in a PA38 at Wycombe in 1986. But this was after a lot of right hand seat experience with friends.

A2

14 hours in a PA28-140. Ab initio, age 37.

Took 12 hours to solo in a 152, (at 50) then two more years to complete my PPL, and finaly fulfill my lifes dream to become a pilot. What can I say, Life got in the way.
Solo was a very big day, as was the long X country, but passing the checkride beat them all!

A little story connected with mine....

First true solo was in an Air Cadets glider (Kirby cadet Mk III). 10 launches at 4min each and they sent me off for 3 solo circuits in 1968 (age 16).

Move on 3 years, in the last year of school I succesfully managed to get a 10 hour flying scholarship at Elstree. Solo'd on power in G-ATTI (PA28) after 5 hrs 10 mins dual. The other scholarship people & me (6 of us in total) pooled our remaining hours and had a day trip to Guernsey to use up our residual (that was fun, we landed at Gatwick coming back). I seem to recall all managed solos in under 8 hours.

Then had no money.....everything went on ice until 1975 when I moved to Manchester & took it up again at Barton.

2 months on, 4hrs 35 min of dual in a C150 and one day the instructor said to me "you, know, you're ready for first solo now, but you havent really done the hours".

"Oh", says I, "but I went solo years back". He hadnt checked my student record and logbook, & had completely forgotten all that I told him when I'd first met him. Sent me up that day. A combination of poverty & weather combined to take me to 1977 though, before I got my PPL.

I've lost out to 1.3vstall and poetpilot, 'cos I needed 29 launches in a Kirby Cadet Mk 3, total flight time 1 hour 30.

The drill was take off, turn crosswind to the edge of the field then turn left 90 degress if below 650 feet, or right 270 degrees if higher. Fly downwind following the ditch on the edge of the field until you reached the end of the field or 400 feet. Increase speed, turn left 90 degrees, open spoilers. At the appropriate height (forgotten what it was), close spoilers, turn left again, and land anywhere in the huge field that was the RAF gliding field at Weston Super Mare.

Did we learn to fly? Of course not. But I never heard of anyone hurting themselves in air cadet gliding, and at 16 yrs and a few weeks that 3 minute solo flight was the highlight of my life up till then!

7 hours 45mins in a PA28 at Blackpool - I had done all that time in two weeks though.

Inelegant, you are dead right on all you said there. Looking back, my glider solos with the ATC were "flying by numbers". I think when you're so young, you are (were!) in a culture that you did just what you were told - and I know we had the circuit drill almost thumped into us, so we flew by rote.
I think 150 feet was "spoiler closed" height but not sure. 400 feet was finals at RAF Bovingdon where I flew.

On another memorable day at Bovingdon, the wind was rather strong but steady. No solos that day, but I winch launched with an instructor to 1250 feet, kept it pointing into wind and slowly came backwards down the field until we lowered the nose for finals. A complete flight without turning!!!

When you think that ATC gliding instructors used to send the average cadet on three solo flights after only 30 x 3 minutes of flying, it is indeed remarkable that they had such a good safety record. On each flight you had about 1 minute to teach the student to fly the aeroplane, deal with cable breaks etc.

When I was a club glider pilot I used to look down on ATC gliding until, in a moment of weakness, I became an instructor with them. It wasn’t exactly flying by numbers but you had to learn to use very efficient patter to cover everything in such a limited time.

One problem was that some of the cadets then used to go off to the local gliding club thinking that they could go solo straight away and were very miffed to find that they had to do another 30 or so flights before they could.

I remember one such young man on a very busy, crowded morning at LGC, who sent himself solo, and deprived the club of one of its gliders for a considerable time. Fortunately he was not hurt.

11 hours. Loved it! Sang "Come Fly With Me" the whole way round ;)

Hersh

Will hopefully get to tell y'all within the next couple of weeks. Got lots of circuit bashing lined up, weather permitting... :)

10 hours 50 minutes. Flew the World’s neatest circuit and didn’t put a foot wrong – until the flare. Enormous bounce, followed by a second or so of hopeless optimism that it would sort itself out. It didn’t. :eek: The second bounce is worse, I’m starting to feel like a passenger, and AAIB reports start flashing up before my eyes. Cue go around, patting myself on the back for a good command decision, and trying to figure out what I’d done wrong.

Second attempt – even bigger bounce. Staggered back into the air, now with the slightly unsettling realisation that no one else is going to land it for me. :eek: :eek:

Third attempt. Smaller bounce, but the nerves are jangling – instant go around. Now the radio has gone suspiciously quiet, and one can only imagine the colour draining from my instructor’s cheeks. :eek: :eek: :eek:

Call finals for the fourth time. My instructor calls me with a gentle reminder to make sure the power is off completely as I flare. . . Success at last - wheels touch and stay down. I stumble back to the clubhouse & Whiskey Charlie’s nosewheel gets to see another dawn. Shock gives way to elation, and this stupid big grin plants itself on my face. :D

Without doubt the biggest adrenaline rush of my life, and I hope never to better it (my heart probably couldn’t take another one). :)

Went solo after about 20 hours, though this was punctuated with a 4 month gap without flying in the middle.

I'd done 5 or 6 nice tidy circuits with the instructor when he called ATC to let them know he was sending a student on first solo. I gave a huge gulp, as this was the last thing I was expecting - I hadn't done my air law exam yet. (By the way, is this legal?)

Probably just as well it went that way really, as I'm sure I'd have worried myself into a nervous wreck if I'd had days to think about it beforehand. The fifteen minutes sitting, waiting and sweating at the hold point was bad enough.

Next big hurdle is solo navs, which I may get around to one day if the weather ever behaves!

So its another of those "mine is bigger than yours" posts.........

well Tiger-M, I think that's a l-i-t-t-l-e harsh really. I find it enjoyable to see people's individual stories about 1st solos, and it makes me reminisce just a little about my early days.... after all, your 1st solo is supposed to be memorable, huh ?

And time to 1st solo is actually immaterial (a bit like "size doesnt matter") -arguably back in the "good old days" we could have been considered rather cavalier for being allowed solo so early ('specially in those ATC gliders).

On mine, I do remember talking the drill out loud to myself all the way around the circuit - made up for no nagging instructor in the back.

It would be interesting to see if the people I trained with are still around (in aviation) now, and what they do and fly...anyone there who did gliding with the ATC at 617 GS RAF Bovingdon? or who had a Herts County Council 10 hr scholarship at Elstree ? Or am I the only sad old codger still aviating?

Don't know about bigger, mine was just longer than average. :D :D :D

I agree Tiger, they do kind of end up like that don't they. I took so long to get there it felt like a real anti-climax - kind of, right, been there, done that finally, now stop making a big deal about it and can we get on and do some flying please. My first solo cross country, now that was the real highlight of my early flying - didn't want to come home.

Have been on circuits for some time and found difficulty getting the landing hold off right. Eventually it has now clicked and I can (was!) able to land consistently. However that was 7 weeks ago. When I have my next lesson I guess it will take a couple of circuits to get back to my previous standard. I am also now studying Air-Law as my flying school won'tlet me go solo without it! Instructor keeps asking how I am getting on with the studies so I guess solo shouldn't be too far away. Have done 16 hrs so far. Very interesting to read other peoples experiences. What is the situation re: going solo and the Air Law exam?

I've wondered if it is a legal requirement that you pass Air Law before first solo too. As far as I can tell almost everywhere seems to require it, but whenever there is one of these threads there are a couple of people who went solo without. Not sure if it slack schooling or not.

I'd have thought that if you were going to be P1 then as you were in charge of the aeroplane you needed to know your responsibilities. However IANAL, so I'd be interested to know what the legal situation actually is.

Still got to pass it myself first anyway.... :rolleyes: