Flight Instructors Warned About Solo Endorsement Gaps

A flight-training column argues the old benchmark of a student pilot soloing after about six hours of dual instruction no longer holds. That figure came from an era of simple aircraft flying from turf strips; today's aircraft and airspace are more complex and call for proficiency in more maneuvers.

Solo requirements fall under FAR 61.87. Before soloing, a student must show satisfactory proficiency and safety, as judged by an authorised instructor, on that regulation's maneuvers and procedures in the make and model to be flown, or a similar one.

By signing the solo endorsement, the instructor attests that the student can perform all 15 listed tasks. Some items are occasionally skipped or never taught, the column notes. It describes a student pilot on a first solo telling the tower he could not fly S-turns in the pattern because he had never learned them, even though ground reference maneuvers are among the required tasks.

Instructors should be wary of students who move between instructors in search of a signature, the piece urges, particularly those close to soloing.