Average time to solo a student

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. He flew three solo flights & did a spectacular job. He has no former flying experience so he wasn't the typical add-on pilot that I'm usually teaching.

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?

I soloed after 25 launches. No prior flyimg.

The last two or three I've soloed.. no previous flying were at about 25 flights.

JP

The launch method has an impact. The longer flights associated with aerotow will probably mean a lower number of flights needed than with winch launching - but may mean longer actual flight time.

On Sunday, June 3, 2018 at 11:43:58 PM UTC-4, wrote:

I soloed a new student this weekend. He flew three solo flights & did a spectacular job. He has no former flying experience so he wasn't the typical add-on pilot that I'm usually teaching.

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.

snip

Well, as usual, "it depends" - particularly on age and frequency of flying. In my 40 years of instructing in gliders, I find the SSA's estimate of age plus 25 for ab initio students to solo pretty accurate. But I've seen as few as 20 or so for teenagers, and one that required over 90! For add-ons, it's all over the place depending on, e.g., not only age (older takes more sorties) or if they have any tail-dragger time (which shortens the number of sorties needed to solo).

On Sunday, June 3, 2018 at 11:43:58 PM UTC-4, 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. He flew three solo flights & did a spectacular job. He has no former flying experience so he wasn't the typical add-on pilot that I'm usually teaching.

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?

45 years training.
I soloed in 20 flights but there were gaps in my training based on my experience since then.
When asked today I tell people that students that of "average" aptitude, that fly regularly and do their home study, can expect to solo in between 25 and 35 flights. I have had one or two serious young people that were good enough at 20 flights but most come in around 30. This is aero tow.
I get crazy when I see students who have soloed at other sites and see maybe 3 or 4 flights with slow flight and stalls logged. The task has been covered but there is almost no reasonable expectation of proficiency.
A few extra pro solo flights with emphasis on slow flight, stalls, precision, and odd condition patterns is, in my experience, worth the time and money and leads to better progress after first solo.
FWIW
UH

New kid on the block here with only 25 years instructing :-) Same answers as Hank and Jim. 25-35 here in the northeast with consistency/concentration of flying being the big variable. If you are a weekends-only operation and you lose a few weekends to weather or mechanicals, it can definitely seem like "two steps forward, one step back." On the other hand, with students who can fly during the week when it's less busy at the airport and they can do 3 or 4 takeoffs and landings at a time, we can skew toward the lower end.

Erik Mann (P3)



On Monday, June 4, 2018 at 8:45:11 AM UTC-4, wrote:
On Sunday, June 3, 2018 at 11:43:58 PM UTC-4, 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. He flew three solo flights & did a spectacular job. He has no former flying experience so he wasn't the typical add-on pilot that I'm usually teaching.

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?

45 years training.
I soloed in 20 flights but there were gaps in my training based on my experience since then.
When asked today I tell people that students that of "average" aptitude, that fly regularly and do their home study, can expect to solo in between 25 and 35 flights. I have had one or two serious young people that were good enough at 20 flights but most come in around 30. This is aero tow.
I get crazy when I see students who have soloed at other sites and see maybe 3 or 4 flights with slow flight and stalls logged. The task has been covered but there is almost no reasonable expectation of proficiency.
A few extra pro solo flights with emphasis on slow flight, stalls, precision, and odd condition patterns is, in my experience, worth the time and money and leads to better progress after first solo.
FWIW
UH

I am sure one variable is the aircraft used for instruction. From what I have observed over the years, 25 flights is not unusual with a 2-33, but something more sophisticated like a G-103 might take twice as many. (I am not an Instructor.)

I soloed in 25 in a Grob 103 mk1 taildragger, and I have to say, it set me in great stead, Ive since flown from the wooden ES52 Kookaburra and ES60 Boomerang to Nimbus 4DM and ASH25 &30,
With no difficulty. I later found ASK21 and Blanik particularly easy, with the Puchatek,
IS28B2, DG1000 and Duo discus close behind, all of them easier than the 103 Mk1, infact the only one as bad was the Janus B.
They were known as the concrete swan. The 103 Mk2 with nose wheel was much easier to fly.
I think the person is much more relevant than the glider, and that learning in a more difficult aircraft pays benefits later

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.