Working towards my solo
 

So I have around 23 hours as a student pilot and am close to my solo flight. I feel that the fact that landings didn't come easily to me and required me to take several extra flights to finally get crosswind landings down pushed my solo date back :(

I'm here to ask if anyone has any tips on crosswind landings and also any tips on getting ready for the upcoming solo?

Im literally only a couple minutes old on this forum so I would love to start interacting with other pilots and student pilots!

Thanks!

Don’t worry; it will “click.”

Try to break your crosswind landing technique into smaller components:

a) Use rudder to align the longitudinal axis with the runway centerline.

b) Use aileron to lower the wing to control drift.

c) Flare normally.

Practice on narrow runways to hone your drift control.

Practice on long, long, wide runways to get the sight picture. I used to take students to a 12,000 foot military runway to practice slow flight at 3 feet agl.

You’ll get it. Good luck!

I had a similar issue. Ask your CFI if you can just work in the closed traffic pattern, doing touch & go's. It will surely come to you. I'm at 23.7 hours and going to solo this week. So right with you!!!

Second all that Seamus said. Also, slowly increase aileron and rudder input in the roundout and flare. This helps as your control effectiveness decreases as your airspeed decreases so you don't drift. To prepare for your solo (and any/all flights doing new stuff), chair-fly. Put yourself at the airplane mentally, have your notes and checklist with you and go through every part of the flight from the walk-around to when you get out after engine shutdown . Be as detailed as possible, talk yourself through each action. (Radio calls, turn to HDG XXX, set power to X rpm, etc) Good luck and don't forget to have fun!

Read:

Stick and Rudder
An Explanation of the Art of Flying by Wolfgang Langewiesche
Nothing will teach you better...

x3
.............

Tjis is only my opinion as a very beginner pilot: the main thing is to never press yourself for the solo.
Some people, especially with glider experience can do a solo after 10hours, others need 50hours, then what??

I really hated others when they asked "oh, you have 40hours and still no solo? its time to go"... I was always really angry.... thinking f..... you, I KNOW when I am ready.

I told my instructor to never ever try to stress me with getting out of the plane and send me fly alone as a surprise. Because I will feel when I am ready and I will ask the opinion of solo flight myself.

Some people react good in stress like this, I hate when i am pushed.
I fly, i do solo, I go to jog, drive a car, when I feel it. Than I always do better. Pushing me makes me stressed.

It probably sounds a little crazy, but my CFI took me to a 3000 x 25 ft runway for crosswind landing practice. It really helped compared to the practice at my usual 6000 x 75 home field.

Also, practicing in stronger crosswinds were more beneficial than in light crosswinds. It forces you to learn the technique and be sloppy.

Not related to x-wind landings, but honestly, I hope you never have a problem when you fly.

An instructor will solo you when he/she feels you’re ready, not when you ask. If you can’t handle the stress of a planned action, what will you do when something unexpected pops up and you’re by yourself.

A lot of very good and honest responses so far and i agree with all of them.

This was literally my favorite thing to work on with a student when I was instructing. Just simplify it to your feet point your nose where you want it, and your hands align where you want the nose to line up with.

Soloing itself will build your confidence way up, because at the end of the flight...there is no doubt, it was all you. Enjoy it, my first solo fostered a love of flying alone.

I also have problems with landing.... If there is a "must" I have to do it, I am stressed because I over-concentrate, when I think it's a fun flight and doing it all together with the instructor, it goes super good :-I

What's there to be over-stressed about. You have to listen to your instructor. The good approach is the key to success. After that, it's looking at the numbers, then looking down the runway. You have heard all these things before. Just trust the process.

My CFI is a former army pilot. however its more difficult, like evrything is need to be much more "perfect" as I have tried with other CFI-s also...I prefer this way... it's harder to learn but in the end the result is better.
But I start to stress a bit on final like "oh, I need to do it perfect" because I am happy when my CFI says it was a really good landing. But sometimes he says the opposite :P

There is no perfect flight. There are safe flights, but no perfect ones. If this is "difficult", and you've been through it with other CFI's, and still not done a solo flight, you may need a talk with Jesus in the mirror on why you really want to do this. You also need to do the ground work as well. Isn't it for every 1 hour of flight, you should be doing 4 hours of ground study. Just a suggestion. This isn't a cheap thing you're doing here. So, take it serious, don't screw off and get it done...unless you have an unlimited budget and you don't want it to go well..

You should reconsider flying.....if stress comes this easily to you, it’s only a matter of time until your inability to manage pressure and stress bites you.

I think people are diferent. some needs ten hours of flying, and then the others need twenty hours or thirty our to do solo. Just need to practice, and fly alone when you feel safe alone.

When I was very young, just enter to adulthood and first time drive a car "solo" without my father, I was really really stressed. There were weeks before, we train and train, and I have said no, I am not able to go to traffic.
(However I liked to drive around the village and at the forest car road, were we were living, in a pretty remote area).