Rule for solo x/c

[Timbuff10]

So I am signing off a student for his first x/c flight. So far I have went with him on one dual x/c flight from ABC airport to XYZ airport. Now, can I send him from our home airport (ABC) solo to another x/c airport other than (XYZ) or do I need to have flown with him on that route?

I am pretty sure the answer is no, I remember a reg saying that they have to have gone with the CFI on that route before they can go solo but I can't find the reg.

Any help?

[Atooraya]

although i haven't endorsed my first solo x-country student yet, the regs work like this as per 61:

Initial solo x-country endorsement shows that you find your student competent to make solo x-countries in a specific airplane because you have flown with him from abc to def to ghi and so on and so forth until you think he's ready.

after that, you review the x-country flight plans he makes, then when it meets your satisfaction, you can endorse him to go out and fly that x-country to an airport he has never been to.

this is why it's a good reason to take students to all different types of airports during their x-country training.

[desertdog71]

Originally Posted by Timbuff10

So I am signing off a student for his first x/c flight. So far I have went with him on one dual x/c flight from ABC airport to XYZ airport. Now, can I send him from our home airport (ABC) solo to another x/c airport other than (XYZ) or do I need to have flown with him on that route?

I am pretty sure the answer is no, I remember a reg saying that they have to have gone with the CFI on that route before they can go solo but I can't find the reg.

Any help?

FAR 61.93 will answer your questions.

To boil it down, you can endorse them to go solo without having trainied them specific to that route. However there are some specific criteria that must be met. FAR 61.93 has all the criteria listed.

[Timbuff10]

Ahhh, I got it, actually kinda had a brain fart with that one.

I was looking at this reg:
(i) An authorized instructor has given the student pilot flight training at the other airport, and that training includes flight in both directions over the route, entering and exiting the traffic pattern, and takeoffs and landings at the other airport;

What I failed to do was read the part before it that is talking about that airport being within 25NM.

So the way I originally understood it before today, was correct. You can take your student on a x/c from your home airport to airport ABC and if you think they are doing fine with x/c procedures then you can send them solo to any airport even if you have not given them training to/from that airport and even if they have never been to that airport before.

Ok, move along... Nothing to see here.

[USMCmech]

Originally Posted by Timbuff10

I am pretty sure the answer is no, I remember a reg saying that they have to have gone with the CFI on that route before they can go solo but I can't find the reg.

Not per the FARs,

But it is definately a good idea!

[Atooraya]

Originally Posted by USMCmech

Not per the FARs,

But it is definately a good idea!

especially if you're a time building CFI!

[Timbuff10]

Well, I am actually trying to get this guy done by a certain date. Just thinking ahead and want to be able to send him in the opposite direction if the weather is good at another airport and not good at the one we went to together.

[MidlifeFlyer]

Originally Posted by Timbuff10

Well, I am actually trying to get this guy done by a certain date. Just thinking ahead and want to be able to send him in the opposite direction if the weather is good at another airport and not good at the one we went to together.

You couldn't find the reg that requires the CFI to pre-fly the route because it doesn't exist. There's some language about pre-familiarization for endorsing repeated flights to another airport under 61.93(b) and some folks confuse those requirements with the "regular" cross country ones.

It's fairly common practice to have a student do a =first= solo cross country along a route that was done dual. The idea is that the first solo cross country is different from other flights - "far" away from home with no one else to rely on. The familiarity of the route is supposed to ease some of that tension. You might even find that some flight schools have a rule to that effect.

But it's not an FAA requirement. When I did my first solo cross country, I went in a completely different direction than our dual flight. Of course, I also got lost, had a radio failure, diverted to another airport, and was late on my flight plan. But I =wasn't= tense

[Timbuff10]

Originally Posted by MidlifeFlyer

But it's not an FAA requirement. When I did my first solo cross country, I went in a completely different direction than our dual flight. Of course, I also got lost, had a radio failure, diverted to another airport, and was late on my flight plan. But I =wasn't= tense

Haha, nice! At least you survived though.

Sometimes it get confusing trying to differentiate between the FAA regs and the rules that the flight school has. I guess the more restrictive the rules, the better deal the school gets on insurance? I like to be a bit more restrictive than the FAA anyway, afterall these are "training flights".

My problem above was reading that reg and not reading the preceeding part.

When I did my first solo x/c it was on a route that I had gone on with my instructor. I guess it all goes out the window anyway since doing the long x/c dual with your student is probably overkill and most go on that flight having never been on that route before.

[MSNFlyer]

I have my students decide where they are going to go on their first cross country--it is a good step in the overall decision making chain. If they pick a place where we have been in the past or close to where we have been then I know they are at least on their way to making good choices. If they pick some place I don't like then I will explain why it is a bad place to go and it becomes another learning experience (i.e. don't go to Oshkosh in late July . . . ).

Once they are familiar with the cross country process I have them take different trips to unfamiliar parts of the state--building up their skills and confidence in logical steps.

It is a different experience being the in plane all alone on an actual "trip" so the less new stuff the better.