First Solo

Objectives

Give the student the opportunity to fly the aircraft on their own for the first time

Session Details

What is there to say about the first solo? I remember mine like it was yesterday. You’ll remember yours for the rest of your flying career as well.

Solo does not come at a specific point in the progression of lessons. It comes when the instructor deems the student adequately prepared to fly without the safety net of an instructor in the aircraft and all other pre-solo requirements have been satisfied.

There are milestones that must be met, first. The student must have passed an FAA medical exam. The student must have applied for and received their student pilot certificate. As discussed in previous syllabus sections they student’s quizzes must have been completed and reviewed. The student must have successfully performed a stage check flight with the WCFC Chief Flight Instructor.

Conditions that permit a solo include a pattern that isn’t overly busy. It is on a day when the weather is comfortably within the student’s demonstrated skills. It is a day when the student has shown they are "on their game" and have executed a small number of good landings early in the session. It is a day when there is time left to permit some additional landings without returning the aircraft late.

You will be generally expected to make three landings. They will all be to a full stop, and the aircraft will exit the runway. The student will taxi back and perform a normal takeoff. There will be no touch-and-goes. The student may even be asked to intentionally perform a go-around from one of the landings, just to demonstrate to the supervising instructor that they have the presence of mind to execute a go-around if one is required. When done, don’t forget to pick the instructor back up for the taxi back to the ramp. :)

Whenever anyone is exiting or entering the aircraft, the engine should be shut down. This is true for this exercise as well. Spinning props are extremely dangerous, and it is simply a best practice to never ever allow anyone to exit or enter the aircraft while the prop is spinning.

Resources/References

Lesson Plans

These are individual lesson plans, keyed to the ACS, which discuss the topics included in this flight lesson. Each of the references below will have further references to additional FAA documents which address the individual topics in depth.

2.C : Visual Scanning and Collision Avoidance 6.A : Radio Communications and ATC Light Signals 6.B : Traffic Patterns