When a student of mine does a couple of touch-and-go’s (typical take-off and landing practice) without any help from me, I decide they’re ready to solo. I tell them to stop on a taxi-way, and I climb out of the airplane.
I normally get these beseeching looks from my students, the question “Where are YOU going?” written all over their faces.
November 9, 2008: When I asked Paula if she was ready for me to leave, she said “Yes,” looking straight out the front. “I’m ready!”
There are always a couple of things outside a Flight Instructor’s control. Before Paula’s first solo takeoff, a Hawaiian Airlines B717 turned around directly in front of her airplane. She handled that just fine. After her last landing, she noticed that the taxi-ways leading off the runway were closed. Simple: she asked the Control Tower in plain English that she wanted to get off the runway.
And that was that.
Congratulations, Paula!
