Cody Dawg wrote:
No more than 20 hours to solo??? That's a little rough. I currently have
26.5 (yes, and I'm proud of that .5!) hours and although my CFI says I'm
ready to solo after a couple more lessons, I'm in no rush. The weather in
the northeast is getting problematic so a lot of cancelled lessons and on
those days I do fly, no 2 days are ever the same weather-wise. Not even
close! As everyone except you has agreed, we solo when the CFI and I agree
regardless of the hours.

If I lived in Phoenix, I would have soloed by now has the weather is always
good, especially for flying. Makes it a lot easier to learn to fly.

Weather, finances, and other events can definately have a big impact, especially early in
your training. I started my training in late July 2001, just before my senior year in
high school. In between pop-up summer thunderstorms and going to work to pay for my next
lesson, I managed to get to about 10 hours over the next couple weeks. I was was getting
close, and one day my instructor told me we could probably knock out the solo on my next
lesson. I figured "this would be a nice birthday present," so I scheduled said lesson for
my birthday (September 12). Needless to say, I didn't get to fly again until October or
so. By then, I'd lost all of my feel for landings, and had to spend a few more hours
working back up before I could solo.

A few months later, I went through a stretch where I didn't fly for six weeks--every time
I showed up at the field for a lesson, it rained.

As an aside, does anyone else remember the odd rule from shortly after 9/11, when no VFR
traffic was allowed under "enhanced class B" airspace (class B and anywhere underneath it)
except for training? The airport I flew from (FFC) is under the Atlanta class B, and I
found it interesting that I could go up and fly around (even solo, since that was
considered training) whereas my dad (an airline pilot) could not...