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Feature Article: My Solos Take Longer
The first five students I taught had 'things' happen during
their first or second solo. I changed my program so that a student
would not get into the unknown.
I did my landing practice between airports. Four of them, Rio
Vista (uncontrolled), Napa, Livermore, and Oakland. This way
the students learned how to go in and out of our home airport
(Concord) from several directions along with all the radio procedures
and checkpoints.
Prior to solo I would do a radio exercise at Concord that involved
ATC giving instructions that involved using all the runways (8)
along with short approaches, 360s on downwind, 270 enter on base,
sidestep to a parallel, simulated ATC radio failure (watch for
lights), land long,make 180 on the runway and takeoff in the
other direction. Oh yes, go-arounds and downwind landings.
Then I worked on actual solo for 1/2 hour at the home field.
I wanted three landings and a go-around in that time period.
I would have the logbooks and licenses ready to go except for
signing. I would be dropped off at the tower and be available
should anything go wrong. Nothing ever has. If the first 1/2
hour was unsatisfactory I would not solo student but would work
on deficiencies.
Solo consisted of two touch and goes and a full stop. Second
solo would be immediately after a dual from Concord to Napa.
ATC would be expecting the student to make a full stop and taxi
back with on course Concord. Third solo would be done the same
way to Livermore, fourth to Rio Vista and fifth to Oakland.
Yes, this usually put my students up around twenty hours. But
they learned the area, they knew what to say and how to say it
on the radio. There are 32 normal arrivals into Concord and over
seventy different departures available. We didn't do them all
but my students could do most of them.
Over the years, the controllers have been able to distinguish
my students from others simply by the competence they showed
on their radio call-up and ability to adjust to ATC instructions.
It is not the hours to solo that count. It is what you do with
those hours that make the difference.
Last Modified January 20, ©2026 TAGE.COM
