CFI criteria to solo your students
Posted by boganfromdownunda@reddit | flying | View on Reddit | 26 comments
I’ve been a CFI for a little while now and would like to hear different CFI’s criteria to solo students.
What would you consider to be a 100% no go even if he/she does everything else correctly?
My definite no go is not correcting the approach speed in a timely manner, overspeeding/getting too slow.
commies_get_out@reddit
Consistency and ability to land the plane safely without my advise in up to 10-15 kt winds
ZealousidealSpend397@reddit
I used to pull the flap CB. If you don’t notice that before you get to flaps full selected no go. Showed a lack of aircraft feel and expectation I’d expect from a solo student.
VirvekRBX@reddit
If we can do 3 laps in the pattern where I just sit there and do nothing. I’m sending them.
Obviously they should be able to handle other things too, like new planes arriving the area/tower giving different insulations (extend downwind, etc)
PhilRubdiez@reddit
This, but I’ll command a go around just to make sure that’s covered/ loaded in their brain.
MaybeBowtie@reddit
Yep. That’s how my instructor did it. But we did 5 of em because one of the landings was just a little rough and the other I did a go around.
Kemerd@reddit
This is how my instructor did it. 3 landings, taxi to taxi, him not saying a word. It helps if you explicitly ask, too, to not chit chat.. just have the CFI pretend like he’s not there.
WhiteoutDota@reddit
Can't reasonably handle the emergencies I throw at them, need any intervention to ensure safe landings (zero sideloading, no bounce, proper landing attitude and rate of descent, longitudinally aligned and reasonably laterally aligned with the runway centerline, etc). Should be able to handle reasonable crosswinds or gusts without issue.
ubergeek66@reddit
My home airport is untowered single runway and my CFI wouldn't let me solo until she felt I could navigate to a different airport and land if something made landing at the home airport not possible. Also had to do a pre-solo check with the chief instructor.
WhiteoutDota@reddit
That is a great policy that your CFI has.
RAG_Aviation@reddit
My biggest thing was always whether I felt like I was monitoring them or just sitting there watching it happen.
If I’m still having to stay mentally “ahead” of the airplane because I think they might let the airspeed decay, drift off centerline, forget checklist items, or mishandle a bounce/go-around, they’re not solo ready yet.
The students I soloed successfully usually all had the same vibe. They weren’t perfect pilots, but they were predictable. Safe patterns. Stable approaches. Good judgment when things changed unexpectedly. They could recover from a bad landing without freezing. They could handle a radio call they weren’t expecting without task saturation.
A huge red flag for me was students who could fly well only when everything looked exactly like the lesson before. The second tower changed the flow, another airplane cut into the pattern, or winds picked up a little, everything unraveled.
The other big one was ego. The students constantly begging to solo early were almost never the ones I felt best about sending. The calmer students who were okay taking another lesson or two usually ended up being the safest solos.
Prefect_99@reddit
Consistency is the key. Starting out you'll probably have exacting standards.
In the end you're looking for someone who can consistently and safely fly the circuit/pattern.
It doesn't mean landing on the spot every time, exactly on centreline etc. it just has to be good enough. Being able to correct their own errors. Also vital imho that they can consistently and safely go around.
andrewrbat@reddit
When I’m comfortable with their:
stall spin awareness and recovery
Slow flight
Ground reference maneuvers ( box pattern anyway)
Traffic pattern entry/exit and ops.
Repeatable safe landings. Not pretty, safe
RadeZayben@reddit
61.87(D) then until they are comfortable and consistent
smoothseas36x@reddit
Not a cfi, but my instructor for my private told me she knew I was ready when she felt comfortable answering texts during our lessons 💀
FiberApproach2783@reddit
Both my CFIs have felt comfortable answering texts during our lessons since I started😭 Idk what that means
Feeling_Ad_1034@reddit
Seriously I’ve answered a text on a discovery flight.
LaloMcNombres@reddit
Just when they can fly the pattern without prompts over and over again. Plus all the things listed of course. I had one student freak out and abort T/O due to low fuel annunciator popping as he was about to rotate. Nearly went off the end of the runway. Everyone else was good.
Along the same lines, when students were bugging me about why they hadn’t soloed yet, and their grandpa did it in 6 hours in 1947, I’d do a “supervised solo”. It would usually go like shit.
redditburner_5000@reddit
Log the legal requirements and demonstrate consistently safe landing along with managing some basic unexpected radio comms without locking up.
NationalLaw478@reddit
I would send when I felt like they weren’t going to cause any issues with other traffic and wouldn’t hurt themselves or the plane.
HV_Conditions@reddit
Hands on my lap talking about baseball.
If they tell me to be quiet then I know there ready for the check ride
Working_Football1586@reddit
When they demonstrate a good number of landings in a row with me just sitting there doing nothing is when I know they are ready.
shadowalker125@reddit
Do a “stage check” with a different instructor to make sure that they can do: Radios, leave and re enter traffic pattern, stalls, emergency procedures, landings with no intervention. If they can do that then just head out, do three touch and gos to see if they are ready and then send it.
Antique-Kitchen-1896@reddit
My instructor started texting or showing me videos on his phone that was it.
BuzntFrog@reddit
My ultimate test is I become a relaxed passenger when we conduct pattern work.
The deal breakers are things that can get them hurt. Not staying coordinated, poor airspeed and energy management, poor situational awareness, easily task saturated when one little thing changes or doesn't go to plan.
Stage check with another CFI to catch things you missed.
Such-Entrepreneur663@reddit
Just worked with them till I felt like there was at least an 85% chance they wouldn’t hurt themselves or break anything.
rFlyingTower@reddit
This is a copy of the original post body for posterity:
I’ve been a CFI for a little while now and would like to hear different CFI’s criteria to solo students.
What would you consider to be a 100% no go even if he/she does everything else correctly?
My definite no go is not correcting the approach speed in a timely manner, overspeeding/getting too slow.
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