Narrative:

I was the instructor for a student on his first solo flight. As usual; we completed 3 full stop landings; then taxied back so I could hop out of the plane and monitor the student's solo landings from the ramp with my hand-held radio. Weather was marginal VFR; but satisfactory for student solo work in the pattern. As we flew our third landing; I noted some thin; scattered clouds near pattern altitude; but away from the airport. There was one other airplane from my flight school in the pattern. I decided it looked good enough for my student to solo; so I climbed out of the plane and he taxied out for his first solo.after the student's first takeoff; tower told to him do 360 turns on the base leg until further notice due to multiple arriving aircraft. He complied; but stated he would do them on the downwind (per my instructions not to circle at low altitude with flaps down). Tower agreed and told him to remain north of runway 8/26 (non-active runway) while circling. Using my phone; I called the tower and asked the supervisor to not ask students to do holding turns at low altitude on the base leg. This is the second time over the course of the last 8 months that I have made a call to the tower for this reason.after 3-4 turns; the student was cleared for his first stop and go. From the ground; I looked to the departure end of the runway and noted a cloud; but could not tell its altitude from my perspective. With the student on short final; using my hand-held radio; I called the tower (on tower frequency) and asked them to hold the student on the ground due to clouds asked for a PIREP. Tower cleared my student to land and he stopped on the runway. The instructor in the other plane from my flight school called back (on tower freq) and said the cloud was well above pattern altitude. I called tower and said we could let him takeoff. The student was not on the runway much longer than was required for a normal student solo stop-and-go. His remaining two landings were safe and uneventful. After the flight; the tower controller called me to discuss the two issues with this event. I explained the safety issue with new students attempting slow; low altitude maneuvers with flaps down; and he agreed to ask for turns on the downwind leg; rather than the base leg. He then told me I should never; in any circumstance; talk on the tower frequency using a handheld radio; and that I could be subjected to fine and imprisonment by the FCC for doing so.issue 1: is there any guidance on tower instructions for aircraft to hold while in the pattern? Asking a new student to hold at 500-800 AGL while configured to land is a perfect recipe for a stall-spin accident. I brief my students to listen carefully to ATC and comply unless ATC instructions compromise safety. In that case; do what is safe and communicate what you're doing.issue 2: I understand the need to avoid extraneous communications on the tower frequency; however; as the flight instructor for a student's first solo; I am also responsible for his safety. I do not think that what I did was unsafe or illegal. My intent was to prevent my student from taking off into a cloud. I only spoke to the tower directly on the radio when I did not feel that I had sufficient time to make a phone call.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: C172 flight instructor reported being admonished by the Tower for communicating with them via handheld VHF concerning his student solo in the landing pattern.

Narrative: I was the instructor for a student on his first solo flight. As usual; we completed 3 full stop landings; then taxied back so I could hop out of the plane and monitor the student's solo landings from the ramp with my hand-held radio. Weather was marginal VFR; but satisfactory for student solo work in the pattern. As we flew our third landing; I noted some thin; scattered clouds near pattern altitude; but away from the airport. There was one other airplane from my flight school in the pattern. I decided it looked good enough for my student to solo; so I climbed out of the plane and he taxied out for his first solo.After the student's first takeoff; tower told to him do 360 turns on the base leg until further notice due to multiple arriving aircraft. He complied; but stated he would do them on the downwind (per my instructions NOT to circle at low altitude with flaps down). Tower agreed and told him to remain north of Runway 8/26 (non-active runway) while circling. Using my phone; I called the tower and asked the supervisor to not ask students to do holding turns at low altitude on the base leg. This is the second time over the course of the last 8 months that I have made a call to the tower for this reason.After 3-4 turns; the student was cleared for his first stop and go. From the ground; I looked to the departure end of the runway and noted a cloud; but could not tell its altitude from my perspective. With the student on short final; using my hand-held radio; I called the tower (on tower frequency) and asked them to hold the student on the ground due to clouds asked for a PIREP. Tower cleared my student to land and he stopped on the runway. The instructor in the other plane from my flight school called back (on tower freq) and said the cloud was well above pattern altitude. I called tower and said we could let him takeoff. The student was not on the runway much longer than was required for a normal student solo stop-and-go. His remaining two landings were safe and uneventful. After the flight; the tower controller called me to discuss the two issues with this event. I explained the safety issue with new students attempting slow; low altitude maneuvers with flaps down; and he agreed to ask for turns on the downwind leg; rather than the base leg. He then told me I should never; in any circumstance; talk on the tower frequency using a handheld radio; and that I could be subjected to fine and imprisonment by the FCC for doing so.Issue 1: Is there any guidance on tower instructions for aircraft to hold while in the pattern? Asking a new student to hold at 500-800 AGL while configured to land is a perfect recipe for a stall-spin accident. I brief my students to listen carefully to ATC and comply unless ATC instructions compromise safety. In that case; do what is safe and communicate what you're doing.Issue 2: I understand the need to avoid extraneous communications on the tower frequency; however; as the flight instructor for a student's first solo; I am also responsible for his safety. I do not think that what I did was unsafe or illegal. My intent was to prevent my student from taking off into a cloud. I only spoke to the tower directly on the radio when I did not feel that I had sufficient time to make a phone call.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.