Question for CFIs

My average is around 20 hours. My last student soloed at 26 hours.
mostly because bad weather and aircraft availability issues forced us
to fly less frequently than I like to. I tell students (when they ask)
to expect to have anywhere between 15-30 hours before solo.

Given that FAR 61.87 requires logged training (and proficiency) in 15
different areas, I tend to believe that students who solo at 8 hours
(I've seen as low as 6) may not be adequately prepared. I've had
another instructor criticize me for keeping students on the leash too
long, but one of the jobs of the CFI is to resist the natural tendency
of many students to solo as soon as possible. I would much rather solo
a student a couple of hours later than he is acceptably 'ready' than to
send him out there when I have any doubt about his safety.

Cheers,

Cap





Casey Wilson wrote:
I was going to ask this question on R.A.Students but I think this is
a
more appropriate forum.
After how many hours of dual do you expect the average person to
be
ready to solo?
I understand that it is subjective. Not every person is ready to
solo
at the same time. There are a number of fundamentals that you require
before
you are ready to turn a person loose. There is no urgency in getting
allowing them to solo. Safety is the most important criterium.
Etcetras.
Long, long ago an instructor told me a ball-park number of ten
hours. He
said he expected to take that long, plus or minus a couple hours, to
drill
the fundamentals into a student.
What's been your average?