Learning to fly an airplane is a real adrenaline rush, but nothing compares to the first time the instructor isn’t in the plane. It’s a routine flight that you’ve made many times by this point, but there’s something about the instructor getting out and saying “she’s all yours” that just makes your stomach drop in the best and worst way.
In reality, the first flight is very easy considering that you aren’t actually doing anything new. But there are definitely just the nerves of newness from being in an airplane all by yourself for the first time in your life. A common question is how many flight hours do you have on average before your first solo flight?
While there is no regulation on minimum flight hours before your first solo flight, the average is around 15 hours but it isn’t uncommon to solo after just 10 flight hours. It all depends on your progression through flight training and the discretion of your flight instructor that signs your logbook certifying you for solo flight.
Personally, I had about 40 hours before my first solo flight but it was because I started flight training at 14 years old and I couldn’t solo until my 16th birthday (which I did on the exact day). If you have more than 10 or 20 flight hours and still haven’t soloed, don’t be discouraged as there are plenty of people out there that for various reasons have more than the average. It’s just an average, so keep that in mind. The most important thing is being safe and competent for your first solo flight. Don’t worry too much about the exact hour amount.
Flight Hours Leading Up To Solo
Being ready to solo isn’t purely about the number of hours in your logbook – it’s about your flight experience and ability to safely control the airplane. In just 10 or 20 flight hours (again, it’s an average, so don’t worry if you’re well above that because of inconsistent flying over the last months or years) you’ll have learned all basic flight maneuvers of the airplane – turns, climbs, descents, stalls, and some emergency procedures. You will have likely had a few lessons where you strictly went out and practiced landings (I think my highest is 19 landings in one lesson) so that you are very confident that you can safety get back on the ground.
For some of you out there with well over 20, 30, or 40 hours and have yet to solo, it is likely because you’ve been either inconsistent in your flight training or have taken longer to get the hang of flying an airplane. The more often you can fly, the more quickly you will learn what you need to and also develop muscle memory for the flight controls.
While at first flying is very mechanical in nature (understanding what inputs create certain outputs), but over time it becomes more instinctual. For example, you can feel a stall coming without needing to see the airspeed indicator. Or you can feel that the airplane is in an uncoordinated turn and make the correct rudder inputs. The more often you fly, the quicker this will happen.
Advice For Your First Solo
If you’re about to solo, be sure to read 9 Foolproof Tips for Your First Solo. It will be a flight you’ll never forget and it doesn’t have to be an overly stressful one! Here are some of the tips we cover in that post.
Use the checklist – it’s there for a reason. Good flight instructors will get onto you when you don’t use your checklist. For student and seasoned pilots alike, the checklist will ensure you don’t miss anything even when you think you’ve got it memorized.
Do a great pre-flight inspection. Don’t rely on your instructor to do a walk-around of the airplane and ensure that it is airworthy. As you’re about to be pilot in command of the aircraft, the responsibility is yours and yours alone to ensure the airplane is airworthy. Use your pre-flight checklist and you will be sure that you didn’t miss anything!
Tell air traffic control it’s your first solo. They are ultimately there to help you, so it’s not a bad idea to announce to the tower (or traffic pattern, if the airport is uncontrolled) that it’s your first solo. I did!
View it as a routine flight. If you have nerves, just remember that you aren’t doing anything you haven’t already done (well, except for flying by yourself, that is…). The maneuvers are all the same as they were when the instructor was in the plane. Just go do your normal traffic patter and land like you always would. The airplane doesn’t know it’s your first solo. If anything, it will perform better without the added weight of the instructor onboard! You haven’t yet experienced the climb performance of only one person aboard. You can really tell!
Don’t try anything new. This isn’t the flight to try new maneuvers or be a hot shot. Stick to your checklist and routine, and make it a non-stressful successful first solo flight.
Use the checklist. It’s the first and last recommendation for a reason. Don’t forget to use it!
Related Questions
Here are some other questions you might have when looking ahead towards your first solo flight.
How many lessons before your first solo?
Again it isn’t about the number of lessons before your first solo but more about your flight experience. Most flight lessons in the early stages of your training will be about an hour to an hour and a half long. Later on, the cross-country flights will be longer than that but just starting out, an hour or a little more is usually about as much as you can take in. So, an average of 15 hours at your first solo would mean about 10-12 lessons before your first solo flight.
How many landings before your first solo?
Using the math above that you would have around 10-12 lessons before your first solo flight (again this is just an estimation and an average, not a rule), you’d have at least that many landings. Usually you’ll have a couple lessons leading up to your solo flight where it will just be landing practice, usually 10-15 landings or so each.
All of that together would put you around 40 landings before your first solo. You could be significantly higher than that number though prior to soloing based on how frequently you’re flying and how well you are progressing. Don’t focus on the number. Focus on learning the skill and the number will be whatever it’s going to be.
Is there a regulation on hours before you solo?
There is no regulation in terms of the number of hours you have to have before your first solo flight. You do however have to have a logbook endorsement from your instructor indicating you have received the requisite training and demonstrated the capability to fly solo. In other words, it’s a judgement call by your instructor.
If you are training at a part 141 school they will usually have a set curriculum and rigid list of accomplishments you will have completed prior to receiving your logbook endorsement. But the fact that there is not a requirement means that the “average” number of hours before you solo will be quite broad.
Why do they cut off your shirt tail when you solo?
This is a really fun and kind of strange aviation tradition… after your first successful solo flight your instructor will be ready on the ramp with scissors in hand to cut your shirt tail off. Make sure to not wear your favorite shirt that day! There are different theories for this tradition but the most common goes something like this…
Traditional training airplanes were tandem seating (one in front of the other) and in the early days the radio communication inside the airplane was not very effective, and often times non-existent. The instructor would most often sit in the back of the airplane (the student would be in the front seat), and in order to get the student’s attention they would have to tug on their shirt tail. Once you soloed, cutting your shirt tail off was an indication that the instructor wouldn’t need to get your attention any more during flight because you now had what it took to fly proficiently.
Happy training, and blue skies!
