On Thursday, January 21, 2016 at 1:05:22 PM UTC-6, N97MT wrote:

(4) Student Pilot applicants must be age-eligible before they apply. They must also have their certificate in their possession before they can solo.

With this rule soloing on your 14th birthday, a special rite of passage for our young glider pilots, will no longer be possible. You will have to get in line behind the FAA, TSA, and USPS processes.


So, closing the loop here. FAA responded to AOPA and changed the process. A paper application can now be sent in up to 90 days before your 14th birthday and after approval a temporary authorization can be printed out to solo gliders on your 14th birthday. Eventually IACRA will be fixed to allow the application to happen online.

https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/...birthday-solos

AC 61-65F describes the paper application process in "18. APPLICATION PROCESS UTILIZING TRADITIONAL FAA FORM 8710-1". The application is sent by the authorized individual (ie the CFI-G) to the local FSDO, which in turn processes it and then mails by USPS to the FAA Airmen Certification Branch in Oklahoma City.

This should be initiated at least 30 days before date of solo to allow time for all the mailing and application processing.