EAA Sport Aviation - April 2010

This student would not be ready to be the pilot in command of an airplane.

Now suppose that you tell the student to turn from a course of 300 degrees to 220 degrees and to climb from 2,000 feet to 2,500 and maintain that. Your student turns to about 250 degrees, climbs to 2,800, and stays there, not noticing, or at least not acknowledging, the discrepan-cies. The heading or altitude may not put the airplane in any danger by itself, but the successful outcome of those simple maneuvers remains in doubt. Would you turn such a student loose?

MEASURES OF READINESS

In general, if your instructor can spend all
of the time with his hands in his lap, it’s a
good sign. But you need to be sure how to
interpret that—is he just waiting for you
to notice that you’re at the wrong altitude
or that you’re going in the wrong direc-
tion? Just ask the instructor: “Am I doing
it right, or are you waiting for me to take
some action?”
Your primary indicator of readiness is
your instructor. By asking if you are
ready, you should expect a straight
answer. If you feel your instructor is
holding you back, ask for an evaluation by
another instructor. If you can’t get
straight answers to straight questions, get
another instructor.

The pilot who has soloed has
only reached a significant plateau.

It means a lot, but the learning
never stops.

But do realize that just because you
are good at stick-and-rudder skills, you
aren’t necessarily ready. Most students
feel like they’re ready to solo well before
they’re actually turned loose, and most
are also at least slightly apprehensive.
That’s not the contradiction it sounds
like—you can feel ready but still have a
few butterflies.

Dave Matheny, EAA 184186, is a private pilot and an FAA ground instructor. He has been flying light aircraft, including ultralights, for almost 30 years. He can be reached at DaveMatheny3000@yahoo.com.