Originally posted by Thorns
Muckmaw: Forget about how many hours, being macho, what anyone else tells you how they solo'd. If you are having high aniexty about your solo, you probably are not ready yet. Tell your instructor you want him to observe your flying as a pre-solo lesson, taking off from your home airport, flying to another airport you have never been to, but you know which airport, so you can do the research on your own to fly into and make three landings to a full stop, and it should be a controlled airport, while your instructor just plays manny the mope and observes, writing down what he sees you have done incorrectly pertaining to procedure and safety, stepping in only if you're about to step in chit. Fly the machine by the numbers, just like you have been taught, thinking about what you want to do next, before action, but always fly the airplane until the prop stops. You will see if you are ready to solo. Why are you taking lessons? Certainly not to say I screwed up. You will have plenty of time to swagger, but not now. Now fly grasshopper, good luck.
Thorns
I agree. This helped me alot. BTW I solo'd at 15 hours, and 46 previous landings with an instructor. I had some interruption in my PPL training and had couple of years before my solo.
My first instructor was a female and a new instructor, cute as heck but would rip your head off in a heartbeat for a mistake. The second was a guy with a lot of experience and a great instructor. Talk to your instructor about your fears. If they are any good they'll understand, and not push you to early.
I also tended to land better by my self anyway. Performance anxiety when the instructor was in the a/c with me.
Good luck.
