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Old 04-14-2012, 09:04 AM   #1
POL
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90% boredom.

Well, not last week when my son (16) soloed after 5.6 hours in a Pa28-161
I guess I should trust him more. He did very well.
His old man soloed at 10 hours, and I still remember wishing for a pause button
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Old 04-14-2012, 09:15 AM   #2
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Re: 90% boredom.

Kind of ironic that he needed 50 hours (by state law) of driving to get a dl and drive by him self. And only 5.6 hours to fly by him self.
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Old 04-14-2012, 10:31 AM   #3
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Re: 90% boredom.

Congratulations! Sometimes I am hesitant to trust my 16-yr old with a rake.
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Old 04-14-2012, 10:58 AM   #4
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Re: 90% boredom.

I remember my first solo (8hrs), a bit nervous during pre-flight and taxi to active, but when I pushed the throttle foreward all of that was gone. Pure thrill.
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Old 04-14-2012, 11:03 AM   #5
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Re: 90% boredom.

Didn't have much of a choice with the trust.
030 came in for a touch down, I went out to help and tie her down, thinking they were done for the day. They stopped on the taxiway, the instructor jumped out, and 030 started rolling again.
I guess it got really cold because I noticed that my knees started to shake. 3 greased landings, and the fourth, well, lets say there were 3.
Fourth he pressed the toe brakes along with the rudder pedals. (he did manage to turn off on the first taxiway, and no real damage to the tires)
Winds 130@10 for runway 11
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Old 04-14-2012, 11:06 AM   #6
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Re: 90% boredom.

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I remember my first solo (8hrs), a bit nervous during pre-flight and taxi to active, but when I pushed the throttle foreward all of that was gone. Pure thrill.
About the same here. Funny that I remember my solo in greater detail than any other "first" in my life.
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Old 04-14-2012, 11:32 AM   #7
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Re: 90% boredom.

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About the same here. Funny that I remember my solo in greater detail than any other "first" in my life.
Haha, tail number but not the tail?
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Old 04-14-2012, 11:44 AM   #8
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Re: 90% boredom.

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Haha, tail number but not the tail?
LMAO yep. 600PF was her name.
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Old 04-15-2012, 02:42 PM   #9
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Re: 90% boredom.

This piqued my curiosity and caused me to dig out my log books. Apparently I had about 17 hours in the T-34 in Navy flight school before I soloed. It wasn't an individual thing- if you passed all the hops up until then, they let you solo on the 12th hop.

But it wasn't entirely solo. On that 12th hop, you flew with someone other than your normal instructor and went out to an outlying field near Pensacola. After you shot a few touch and goes, you did a full stop landing and the instructor got out. Then you took off solo and stayed in the landing pattern doing more touch and goes, then did another full stop and picked him up and went home. I hear wild stories about students just flying away and leaving the instructor there, etc.

On the 13th hop, it was a true solo from start to finish. I was scared shitless just trying to taxi to the proper runway, etc. And it was a very busy field, so you didn't get to do things at your own pace. The worst part for me was that we were supposed to do spins on that first solo. I recall doing lots of clearing turns and thinking about it very hard before I finally spun it the first time.

With so many students flying, you heard a lot of funny stuff. The best one I can recall hearing on the radio was when a student took off solo and then in a very excited voice called "Saufley tower, this is XXX. The aircraft isn't developing full power and is barely climbing" or words to that effect. The tower responded with a laconic "raise the gear." The student didn't say anything more, so I guess that solved the problem.

I had my own version of that on a dual hop before I soloed. I took off, and after a bit the instructor said "This aircraft is a real dog isn't it." I said "yes sir." He said, "The SOB just won't climb very well, will it." "No Sir." I still didn't get the hint, so finally he screamed "RAISE THE ****ING GEAR." "Yes sir."

At least I got that out of the way so that I didn't fail to raise the gear on a solo hop.

Here is my official Navy solo photo on the right, with my son's on the left from over 20 years later. Same aircraft, except that by the time he flew it, it had a turbo prop engine.
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Old 04-15-2012, 06:59 PM   #10
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Re: 90% boredom.

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Originally Posted by Bill McIntyre View Post
This piqued my curiosity and caused me to dig out my log books. Apparently I had about 17 hours in the T-34 in Navy flight school before I soloed. It wasn't an individual thing- if you passed all the hops up until then, they let you solo on the 12th hop.

But it wasn't entirely solo. On that 12th hop, you flew with someone other than your normal instructor and went out to an outlying field near Pensacola. After you shot a few touch and goes, you did a full stop landing and the instructor got out. Then you took off solo and stayed in the landing pattern doing more touch and goes, then did another full stop and picked him up and went home. I hear wild stories about students just flying away and leaving the instructor there, etc.

On the 13th hop, it was a true solo from start to finish. I was scared shitless just trying to taxi to the proper runway, etc. And it was a very busy field, so you didn't get to do things at your own pace. The worst part for me was that we were supposed to do spins on that first solo. I recall doing lots of clearing turns and thinking about it very hard before I finally spun it the first time.

With so many students flying, you heard a lot of funny stuff. The best one I can recall hearing on the radio was when a student took off solo and then in a very excited voice called "Saufley tower, this is XXX. The aircraft isn't developing full power and is barely climbing" or words to that effect. The tower responded with a laconic "raise the gear." The student didn't say anything more, so I guess that solved the problem.

I had my own version of that on a dual hop before I soloed. I took off, and after a bit the instructor said "This aircraft is a real dog isn't it." I said "yes sir." He said, "The SOB just won't climb very well, will it." "No Sir." I still didn't get the hint, so finally he screamed "RAISE THE ****ING GEAR." "Yes sir."

At least I got that out of the way so that I didn't fail to raise the gear on a solo hop.

Here is my official Navy solo photo on the right, with my son's on the left from over 20 years later. Same aircraft, except that by the time he flew it, it had a turbo prop engine.

I trust you had better instructors than I did. My first was a pimply faced girl in her early twenties that although her logbook had a few hundred hours she made me nervous. I had the option to shitcan her after only four hours. the second instructor was a true professional, an Alaska bush pilot for many years who taught me more in just a few hours than the other kid could have in a lifetime.
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Old 04-15-2012, 07:22 PM   #11
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Re: 90% boredom.

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I trust you had better instructors than I did. My first was a pimply faced girl in her early twenties that although her logbook had a few hundred hours she made me nervous. I had the option to shitcan her after only four hours. the second instructor was a true professional, an Alaska bush pilot for many years who taught me more in just a few hours than the other kid could have in a lifetime.
I had quite a variety over 15 months. Some were assholes, and some were gifted at bringing out the best in students. Later when I was an instructor, I did my best to emulate the good ones, but it wasn't always easy.

I never had any civilian instruction, but I've often thought about how different it must be. Navy flight instruction is pretty high pressure, and the instructor is often yelling at you and calling you a dumb shit over the intercom. About the time you almost feel comfortable at something, you move on to the next step and stay uncomfortable. I always felt under the gun like I might flunk out any time. I recall talking to another student who was dropping out, and he said he had found that he just didn't enjoy it. I responded that I didn't like it worth a damn, but didn't expect to. Who the hell would enjoy being yelled at and feeling under pressure all the time. I told him I'd feel fortunate if I began to enjoy it before I got my wings.

But they are investing a lot of money in a student, and it has to be high pressure to take you from a klutz like me who had never flown before to someone who has carrier qualified in two different aircraft, dropped bombs, shot air to air gunnery, and done air combat maneuvering all in less than a year and a half. If you can't keep up, they just don't have time for you.

And of course things vary with demand for pilots and anything bad that just happened. Just before I checked in for advanced jet training in Beeville, Texas, a student had stalled an F-9 at the 90° position in the landing pattern and spun in with an instructor in the back. So for a while, if you were at all weak in the landing pattern, you were history.

I imagine that the environment is a little more relaxed when you are paying them to teach you.
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Old 04-15-2012, 09:34 PM   #12
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Re: 90% boredom.

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Well, not last week when my son (16) soloed after 5.6 hours in a Pa28-161
Jesus, 100 hours after soloing at 10 hours, I realized how much I didn't know.

Congrats.

That is a day he will never forget.

For the dad too, I bet.
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Old 04-16-2012, 08:25 AM   #13
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Re: 90% boredom.

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I never had any civilian instruction, but I've often thought about how different it must be.
My instructor was a former AF instructor. He knew exactly when to kick you in your arse. And on the rare occasions he did pat you on your back in his way. The pats on the back consisted of "Its about f**kin time" His pet peeve was that every landing had to be a full stall landing. If the stall horn didn't go off, he would pull back on the yoke as you were touching down, and send you in the air again.
But he was used to training Korean pilots, and they had to solo at 7.5h or wash out. I guess military instructors are also under pressure to perform.

I don't like it when people blow sunshine up my, So the instructor was perfect for me. My son has him also, and I hear he didn't change a bit.
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Old 04-16-2012, 08:36 AM   #14
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Re: 90% boredom.

Congrats!
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Old 04-16-2012, 10:35 AM   #15
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Re: 90% boredom.

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Jesus, 100 hours after soloing at 10 hours, I realized how much I didn't know.

Congrats.

That is a day he will never forget.

For the dad too, I bet.
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Congrats!
Thanx, I am very proud of him. Straight A student

Wants to go to the Academy after High school. Mom is not to crazy about that.
But I think that once the instructor found out about the Academy, he is pushing him much harder, and his old AirForce side came out.
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