Regarding the WW2 pilot almost 4 hour solo...

I'm not judging your piloting skills... the point of a minimum time in
my honest oppinion to to give a person familiarity with his/her
surroundings (like when you first drove a car and needed some time to
figure things out), you (I'm assuming you're the fighter pilot) was
brilliant at military airfield procedures, but probably (if you were at
a slightly busy airport) would have benefited a bit from familiarity
with what is going on around you.

PLEASE do not confuse familiarity with ability.