The Things You Need to Know Before You Solo

Learning to fly an airplane is not like learning to drive a forklift or a stick shift.

Meg Godlewski

Tuesday, June 14, 2022 at 08:20 AM ET

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Being ready for your first solo takes a lot more than you might think. [Credit: Shutterstock]

Key Takeaways:

Student pilots must understand and thoroughly prepare for solo flight by adhering to FAR Part 61.87, which details the extensive aeronautical knowledge and skills required.
Achieving proficiency for solo flight takes significant time and dedication, unlike simpler tasks, and instructors are responsible for ensuring a student's readiness before endorsement.
The pre-solo knowledge test is geographically specific to the planned solo flight area, making generic or irrelevant answers from online sources inappropriate and potentially dangerous.
A misconception is that pre-solo training must be repeated if private pilot certification isn't achieved within 90 days of the first solo; solo endorsements can be renewed by the instructor.

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As a student pilot you don’t know what you don’t know. There is so much information coming at you, so many skills to learn, it’s easy to get overwhelmed and buried—especially when it comes to what you need to know before your first solo.

Your instructor will appreciate it if you take ownership of your training by insisting on and following a syllabus. The first part of the syllabus will consist of tasks listed under FAR Part 61.87—the aeronautical knowledge and skills required for solo flight.