I was out with some of the other guys at the field today and the instructor guy says, "do you want to start landing??" I was like" I tried that once, it wasn't preatty" and then he showed how to do it. the damned front landing gear post fragged up and slid around on us so we went to the pits and fixed that then re-fueld (why not eh??) and went back out.
I did 3 touch and goes and the instructor says im on my own now. so tomaro when all the other newbies come and try to fly touch and goes' I will be like this is how its done. hehhehehehhe.


p.s. does this mean I have to start posting in another forum??

No, you can still post in this forum and help others to become proficient.
Congratulations on your flight.

Congrat's Sarge. Way to go and like Giest said, keep posting in here to help others get where you are now. I'm sure Ken will be along shortly with your Attaboy

thanks, Ill do my best to guide the new people to the right path

Sarges,

Actually I had the file to create the certificate so here ya go. It's suitable for framing, lining trash cans, and anything else you can think of

thanks every body!!!

This is all kinda interesting. My instructor has had me take off and land eight times yesterday and say he wants to do about 50 more or so. He also wants to get down loops and rolls. Personally, I can do those along with the figure eights. My only guess is that he wants me to be very proficient and consistent. For example today, I landed in a hell of a crosswind.

I don't think I'm being held back or anything but it appears that when you're ready to go own your own depends on the instructor.

It depends alot on the instructor...i dont think loops and such should be a requirement for solo, maybe inveted flight just to make sure you can handle it if it happens, but thats about it...take off, pattern, consistant controls, maintain altitude, land...thats about it...everything else is just those things with different twists...

I agree that it depends on the instructer weather the person solos or not but I also feel it also depends on the student If the student is not confident enough of themselves even though they are ready they tend to extend the training process alot longer. Someone at our field take off's, lands, loops, rolls, does everything correctly and doesent feel confident enough to take the test and is still being trained. I feel if your motivated and confident in yourself and dedicated in passing the test, You will do it.

I also think that it depends on the instructer because some instructers are very picky. Picky with what type of equipment you have, very picky because you dident land 100% on the spot, picky because you dont know how to tune the engine 100% picky because you had a bad take off and take this WAY to seriously and ruin the hobby/sport. The reason I bring this up is because if you are that "PICKY" type. please relax lol.

oh yea, congrats on the solo!

Well done!! its a good feeling![8D]

Congrats on your solo, Sarges_heroes2003!

Regarding when instructors feel your ready... The guy that's been working with me said that I am about 50% on my way to solo and I've been up in the air for five ~10 min flights on a buddy box. Looking back I can see the direction of what each flight has progressed to is getting me to where I need to be. I'd like to take a crack at taking off and landing but figure I'll just wait til my instructor tells me to give it a go. Once I get my solo stamp of approval I can fly without a buddy box... lookin forward to that!

somegeek

As an instructor here's what i look for to determine if a student is ready to solo.
1 safety safety safety can the student start the plane, taxi, and control it without harming himself or others
2 control can the student execute a go around, line up on approach and not over fly the pits. can he do a
nice landing and take off (not perfect) nice
3 judgement i want the student to know when its best to go around. and to know when trouble is lerking
before he gets into it
4 i want the student to land and take off from both ends of the field, and do some cross wind work. low
and high altitude stalls.
the goal here is give the student the best possible chance to go home with an aircraft in one piece when he's on his own.
A new pilot is most likely to chrash within 10 flights of his solo. i did and so have many others

Most definitely allot depends on the instructor. As one, I have a set of requirements beyond the clubs requirements. I do let the students know that I teach more than the requirements but I first teach what the club requires first so when we get to my additions they are ready for solo based on the clubs requirements

The clubs are:

Unassisted fueling,starting,taxi and takeoff
right and left hand rectangular patterns
right and left procedure turns
Stall turn (hammerhead)
1 outside loop
land and taxi back to the pits

I add to the training and the student has the option of not going through this part although most want to once they see a deadstick or someone having trouble in wind.

Inverted flight, at least one full pattern (I too k RCKens idea and would like to see three patterns) maintaining good control and altitude
Deadstick simulation.
landing patterns improvements (you all know the key to a great landing is a great approach so we build on what the student already knows)
Downwind landings and takeoffs
Crosswind work (crabs and forward/sideslips)
Overall smoothness

Now I do get complaints on occasion from members and students that I am doing to much but what's funny about the whole thing is once my students are "solo" all they have to do is learn 5 more maneuvers and they can then pass the advanced certificate which many do in their first month and all of them fly in winds well above 10mph. We have allot of older and younger people that once the wind reaches 10mph they land and will not fly again and if they get caught in the air when the wind picks up they ask for help and these people have been flying for years. I'm comfortable in steady winds to 20mph and so are my students and when this happens I usually get thanks from the students that I asked more of during their training.

I have also found that since I finally broke down and bought a digital video camera, I get someone to tape my students for me then I sit and watch the video multiple times and you'll be surprised how many things I see that you do not see when you are actually flying with the student Cool stuff and it has made me a better instructor

CONGRATS sarges!!! Now you can start learning to be an instructor ---- won't that be fun??

In regards to being ready to break from an instructor, I think it has to be an agreement between the student and instructor. When an instructor spends a lot of time with someone, he wants to be sure everything is going to go the direction they started for, other wise he wasted his time. It's a shame most new people feel they have to be on their own ASAP when they could be off the box but have someone there to guide them to the next step.

I guess I can't peel the potato and throw it in the pot, I have to watch it cook then ENJOY the taste of victory. If you understood that one your ahead of the game already. ENJOY !!!! RED

Hey Sarge- way to go!

The only thing (in relation to airplanes, at least) that beats the feeling of you first solo is the feeling you get when your first student solos. Congrats!

cool guys,
I have been perfecting my landing technique every time I go fly its touch and goes. we even play a touch and go game, its called hoarse. every time you mess up u get a letter first last one to spell hoarse wins. naturally right now the instructor guy allways wins but we are getting better. personally as long as the competition doesn't get to tense and its just a game to every one I feel it really does a lot of good for our skills. I can see us getting better all the time and getting better faster with this game.
to day the weather man said it was 15-25 miles per hour winds in gusts so I flew and did landing passes. a few tips and I made a good landing but nosed it over so no taxi back home for me. but the last landing I made I flared good and got to taxi home! yay!!