What the situ re min hours prior solo ?

Post #102,178 by dmarker 5/15/03 11:47:56 PM 5/15/03 11:49:45 PM Reply	What the situ re min hours prior solo ? When I learned, things were pretty casual & was sent aloft solo after 15 hrs instructor training. I suspect that may have changed quite a bit. My original starting point was the ole faithful Cessna 152. Damned thing could almost fly & land itself, pilot was mostly there to mess things up or change direction, 'cept in a cross-wind landing - Pilot was really needed then. Cross-wind landings are really good fun (seriously). But cross-wind gusting conditions are the evil that can be lurking for the unwary. Sept seems a long way off ? Cheers Doug Spectres from our past: Beware the future when your children & theirs come after you for what you may have been willing to condone today - dsm 2003 Motivational: When performing activities, ask yourself if the person you most want to be would do, or say, it - dsm 2003 Edited by dmarker May 15, 2003, 11:49:45 PM EDT What the situ re min hours prior solo ? When I learned, things were pretty casual & was sent aloft after 15 hrs training. I suspect that may have changed quite a bit. My original starting point was the ole faithful Cessna 152. Damned thing could almost fly & land itself, pilot was mostly there to mess things up or change direction, 'cept in a cross-wind landing - Pilot was really needed then. Cross-wind landings are really good fun (seriously). But cross-wind gusting conditions are the evil that can be lurking for the unwary. Sept seems a long way off ? Cheers Doug Spectres from our past: Beware the future when your children & theirs come after you for what you may have been willing to condone today - dsm 2003 Motivational: When performing activities, ask yourself if the person you most want to be would do, or say, it - dsm 2003 Collapse All History
Post #102,210 by bbronson 5/16/03 8:18:44 AM Reply	Don't have my 'bible' with me The feds require 20 hours with an instructor and 20 hours solo for the private license. I'm anticipating the bulk of the instructor time would come prior to soloing, but I'm not sure if there's a hard requirement of hours. Tack on the increased difficulty of learning in a taildragger (ie, a REAL airplane) which should be good for a few hours extra. Plan for 2 hours per week and factor in weather in Wisconsin. That takes me into at least August. I don't think I've ever been in a 152, but that's what most people learn in here, and for good reason. It's an easy plane to learn in. Of course, they can be a pain to land. If it's calm and somebody sneezes in the tower just before you touch down, plan on staying in ground effect for another minute or so! Usually it's either a 152 or the Piper Tomahawk (bleeeeach!) Pipers are fine, just not the Traumahawk-butt ugly; spindly little landing gear. Brian Bronson
Post #102,399 by dmarker 5/17/03 7:59:43 PM 5/18/03 6:53:28 AM Reply	Tail draggers scared the bejabbers out of me eva since ... I saw a group of them (WWII vet craft) taking off at Oshkosh. The lead plane's engine failed just before he was to lift off & he slowed down, the next 2 behind him saw what had happened & pulled off the runway, 4th was at full throttle & had not seen #1 stop & begin to taxi off (couldn't see the runway over his nose) and went right into the back of #1 & cartwheeled down the runway on fire. I think the ones I saw were something like Bobcats or Hellcats ?. (###2 Was a bearcat & a corsair - see links below) Horrific sight - I think the pilot lived but no one expected him to. If your t/d has good runway visibility then I am sure you won't have that kind of problem. I guess the biggest problem to avoid is the nose over (don't apply full brakes when up on wheels & tail hasn't settled :-). Cheers Doug ###2 It seems the pilot of the cartwheeling craft is paralysed from the chest down. [link\|http://www.aafo.com/racing/news/99/07-31-99.htm\|http://www.aafo.com/...s/99/07-31-99.htm] 1999 crash details [link\|http://www.jsonline.com/news/state/jul99/eaasid31073099.asp\|http://www.jsonline....aasid31073099.asp] more info [link\|http://www.myplane.com/oshkosh/corsair1.asp\|http://www.myplane.c...kosh/corsair1.asp] photos of the crash as it occured Spectres from our past: Beware the future when your children & theirs come after you for what you may have been willing to condone today - dsm 2003 Motivational: When performing activities, ask yourself if the person you most want to be would do, or say, it - dsm 2003 Edited by dmarker May 18, 2003, 06:53:28 AM EDT Expand All History
Post #102,563 by mmoffitt 5/19/03 11:24:14 AM Reply	My 2. These days, most pilots solo with between 15-20 hours, and more towards the 20 hour mark. As with everything pertaining to flight instruction, YMMV. I solo'd with just under 19 hours. I think AOPA did a survey recently and the average number of hours prior to solo was 20.x or something. At my little field in the past two years (my flying time), I haven't seen anyone solo with fewer than 17 hours and most are in the 21-23 hour range. bcnu, Mikem The soul and substance of what customarily ranks as patriotism is moral cowardice and always has been...We have thrown away the most valuable asset we had-- the individual's right to oppose both flag and country when he (just he, by himself) believed them to be in the wrong. We have thrown it away; and with it all that was really respectable about that grotesque and laughable word, Patriotism. - Mark Twain, "Monarchical and Republican Patriotism"

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