Where have all the good times gone?

[KSTS]

Maybe I am just being sensitive, but I can recall a time when a student pilot first soloed, the shirt they came in with, winds up proudly displayed on the wall at their flight school. Not to mention, the sense of accomplishment the pilot feels when the instructor finally says those magical words-"You're ready". Wait! There's one more moment in a pilots training experience that is just as rewarding; the moment your instructor hands you your solo certificate...WOW! I don't know about all of you, but that moment to me, was the benchmark to being recognized as a legitimate pilot in command.
Okay, so going back to being sensitive. As incredibly gratifying as these moments are to student pilots, these days, it is safe to say that many instructors and flight schools could do a much better job sharing the moment to keep us student pilot's inspired. Fake it if you really have to!

For my first solo. it felt like just another lesson. My instructor didn't shake my hand, no photo for my album, and my solo certificate was not ready that day because my instructor forgot to process the paperwork. That definitely set my relationship back with my instructor and the flight school. Yep! My stake dinner moment, turned to pork and beans pretty quick.

So where did I get these expectations. I essentially spent a good number of my grade school years with my dad, flying out of VNY during the 70's and 80's, renting planes from the clubs he had belonged to then. Some of my fondest memories of those days include the flight school personnel and the instructors, who soon became family friends. In those days, flight schools were like being in a fraternity. You felt welcomed, and trusted,and happy to be in a place that exhibited such an interest and show of support towards their members flying experience. Then, wasn't so much about cash registers and fly by night instructors. I really miss those days of aviation. My dissappointing student pilot experience tells me that, any future monumental moments as PIC, I should stop measuring things from what was, and just look ahead to the great moments I will have introducing non-pilots to the aviation community.

Fly safe everybody,

KSTS

[tadel001]

Solo recognition and certificate recognition is an "almost" lost art. We no longer cut people's shirts (especially since the last person whose shirt I cut was really pissed off I wrecked a good shirt). However, we do issue a solo certificate with the plane you flew on it. We also have a wall of accomplishments for all pilots that receive their rating through us. I think it is very important to recognize the hard work of student.

Soloing or getting a license is not easy. It can be expensive, it requiers you to juggle family and work obligations, and it is physicially and mentally demanding. Anyone who solos an aircraft (regardless of how long it took) should be wildly commended on a great job.

So KSTS...NICE WORK ON THE SOLO!! Don't let up and get that certificate!

[rfane]

First, congrats on the solo.

Secondly, I think you are being overly sensitive. Or maybe, I'm just an insensitive clod. Why do you feel let down that other places and people haven't lived up to what you have seen others do in the past? Did anybody ever promise you a parade on your special day?

My first solo was 11 or 12 years ago. Nobody took any pics of me, nor cut my shirt either. If I would have wanted a picture, I'd have brought my camera, and I didn't want a good shirt ruined either. I didn't get a certificate at all, let alone late.

What I did get was my own personal satisfaction. I had wanted to fly for 20+ years, and the time of my solo was a fulfillment of a long time dream. I can still remember screaming in joy all the way around the pattern the first time. The shirt tail on the wall for a short time, or a piece of paper, wouldn't be cr%p against that, and it wasn't for anybody else but myself. All that is left of that now is the entry in my logbook, and the memory. I didn't scream like that again until the first flight in my own brand new airplane, 9 or 10 years later, which was another personal accomplishment.

Don't rely on others to meet your expectations.

[SkySteve]

Sure they still do it! And they hang it with all the other shirts they cut off. Just look:


Then, following the Shirt Ceremony they take your picture standing by the plane you flew . . . All by yourself!

[KSTS]

Rodger,

Thanks. Every word of what you said was well received. The point I really tried making was that the relationship between student and flight school has really deminished. My reference to "the old days" was merely to show how the 'personal touch" tends to be a key element missing from most flight schools of today.

You bet, the day I soloed was one of the happiest days of my life. I stood there amazed with a grin the size of Texas, staring at my certificate, and reflecting on my accomplishment. It was literally, a dream come true for me. I just assumed there would have been enthusiasm from the people who helped get me to that point.

The realization is, it's just a business for many of todays flight schools.
I guess more credit should be given to those flight schools who know how to balance business with a personal touch for their members. In turn, they will be the ones enjoying customer loyalty, and the referrals that will come from it. I would think all flight school owners/instructors would see this as a common sense business practice.

I can almost bet, once I complete my training at my flight school, there will be no problem taking my money elsewhere. After all, its just business.

Safe flights always,

KSTS

[MikeM]

I didn't get my shirt tail cut when I soloed. They did take a picture of me in front of the airplane and display it in the office. My solo was kind of anticlimatic anyway. I was the first student in a new flight school to solo and they were still ironing out the bugs and getting comfortable with the curriculum. I was ready to solo but I hadn't taken the pre-solo exam yet, so I kept flying with my instructor.

When I did finally solo I wasn't nervous about it at all. It was just like any other flight. They did cut the shirt tail off of their one private pilot students after he soloed, but then it took so much training time before he soloed that maybe they thought he deserved a liitle bit more reward.

[CharlieTango]

KSTS,

learn from the past but focus on the future. make your more important achievement be flying at a higher level of precision then ever before on your next flight.

my skills at time of solo compared to now are in different universes. the enjoyment i get is at a much higher level as well.

forget the solo, focus on learning, every flight you will make errors. on many flights you will learn things, little things that add up. even when you get your certificate you will have only begun to learn, be a sponge, become very proficient.

the universe is in front of you, forget your solo, aspire

[rfane]

The point I really tried making was that the relationship between student and flight school has really deminished. My reference to "the old days" was merely to show how the 'personal touch" tends to be a key element missing from most flight schools of today.

The realization is, it's just a business for many of todays flight schools.
I guess more credit should be given to those flight schools who know how to balance business with a personal touch for their members. In turn, they will be the ones enjoying customer loyalty, and the referrals that will come from it. I would think all flight school owners/instructors would see this as a common sense business practice.

I can almost bet, once I complete my training at my flight school, there will be no problem taking my money elsewhere. After all, its just business.

KSTS,

I understand what you mean. Some places are better than others, and there are a lot of CFI's out there just working to build hours, and then they are off to the airlines. I've done checkouts with a couple of these, and can do without them. It is a business, and make sure you get your money's worth. You are the one to decide what that is.

I like working with instructors who are instructing because they want to, not because they have to. The CFI I chose for my training had 7K hours +, most of it instructing. The CFI's I use for BFR's are similar. They know how to fly, love to fly, and know how to teach flying as well. Some are also humble. The CFI who did my checkout in a CT I used to rent, told me I was doing better landings in it than he could, so he signed me off to solo it.

I didn't mind that a big deal wasn't made out of the solo. I did appreciate when my CFI told me that I had many fewer hours than most of his students do at solo time, and that he knew I'd be good on the very first flight we took together. He had a way of connecting with me that very few teachers ever did, CFI's or not. He passed on a lot of knowledge to me, and pressed me with more than the bare requirements to pass my checkride. We stayed friends for a while afterwards, but he has since passed on. He was one of the good ones.