On Sunday, June 3, 2018 at 8:43:58 PM UTC-7, wrote:
I'm a very experienced power pilot CFI & have soloed hundreds of airplane student pilots over the years. That said, I'm not as experienced as a CFIG.

I soloed a new student this weekend. snip He snip did a spectacular job.

On line it appears in several places that the average time to solo a glider is around 40 flights. Is they information accurate? My student doesn't have nearly that many flights.

Opinions?

Congrats to the new solo pilot!
Opinions on r.a.s.? Ha! Lots of them, but you've got answers from a few fine instructors. More than 25 years CFI-G responding here.

Factors to consider on flight count to a solo:
Consistency of training (number of CFIs)
Frequency of training (best is alternate days, typical is 1x weekly)
Age of student (~25 flites plus 1 per year over age 50)
Emotional, physical or intellectual deficits
(dominant eye, musculature for controls, fear of flight, etc.)
Intellectual prep prior or concurrent with flying (Reading and study)
Valid simulator training experience (Condor's Great!)
Thoroughness of training syllabus (What variety of emergency prep?)
Potential weather variability and scale at solo location.
The student's mental outlook, responsibility and openness to ongoing training toward the rating.


A lesser impact on flight count is complexity of machine or launch method. The student doesn't know what they don't know. Give them a 2-33 or a DG-500 and they will learn rates for desired reactions.