Calming down the nerves?

[Timebuilder]

Live from Memphis......do you know that this FBO has a greeter on the ramp in an Elvis outfit???

Anyway, to get you started with some Judo info:

http://www.judoinfo.com/menu.shtml

and this one has school listings. There is a school listed for Chicago, too:

http://www.worldjudo.org/usaclubs.htm

 

[bobbysamd]

Comm

Here are a couple of ideas that worked for me.

It's like learning a new language. It really is, actually, because you must master new jargon. However, after you listen to the comm for a period, it tends to sound familiar. Therefore, you might consider buying a small aircraft radio, going to the airport, and just listening. After a while, the words will make sense.

Also, communication tends to boil down to the four "Ws." Who they are, Who you are, Where you are, and What you want. Example:

"Wiley Post Ground" (Who they are),"

"Cessna 12345 (Who you are),"

"at Jetaway (Where you are),"

"Taxi with Whiskey (What you want, indicating you have the ATIS)."

Don't worry about how you sound. Just speak in a normal tone of voice. In fact, if you speak too loudly, you'll distort your mike and blast into the controller's headset. You don't want to do that. If you don't understand what they want or are trying to tell you, a simple "say again for Cessna 12345" will do the trick.

Do think first about what you want to say. You say more with less.

Hope this helps. Your instructor will provide more help. Once more, good luck with your training.

 

[adam_jorgensen]

Air band radio

Just picked up one today. An air band radio that lets me tune into frequencies that tower and the aircraft use. I can hear tower, the pilots, ATIS and many more. I can hear them from my very own home although its a little garbled. Out at the airport, its clear. I have a flying lesson tomorrow so I'm going to try it out there. Hope it helps me familiarize with the radio talk. Has anybody here ever used one of these radios?

 

[de727ups]

I was just going to suggest you get one of those air band radios. Sit around the airport and listen to the tower for a while...then listen to ground control. You'll soon start to see patterns in the clearances and that will help you to anticipate....something someone else mentioned is important. Try to pay special attention to the beginning of a transmission when you are flying. If the call is for you....the controller will say your aircraft number. If the call is for someone else, you can mentally tune it out until the next transmission. Eventually, you'll want to hear all transmissions, as they will help you develop the "big picture" of the situation around you....but don't worry about that now if it takes all your brain cells to just fly. Don't worry about making ATC mad. They are there to serve you. They will be a lot madder if you didn't understand something and screwed up because you were afraid to ask about it. "Say again" is a great way to get the controller to slow down and clarify a clearance....they can say it a different way if you don't understand it the first time.

Not sure what to say about the CFI thing. Would you be more relaxed if you flew with a guy?

 

[Dot_AK]

listening to the chatter is a great way to make it go from assorted squawks and garbles, and words at 15knots gusting to 25, become clear. It's like the chair-flying; practice helps, and not just practice inside the airplane.

Another thing you can do if you're feeling stressed or intimidated is utter the magic phrase to tower, "student pilot."

for example, inbound from the practice area via sleeper strip, reporting point noname to Approach, crossing the Knik arm and switching to Merill tower, telling them where I am and requesting full stop or touch n' go's while dealing with traffic from Anchorage International, Elmendorf AFB, Lake Hood Seaplane Base, and Merrill traffic.... yeah. when calling up Anchorage approach "Approach, this is cessna 12345, student pilot, inbound for merrill at Point NoName with Charlie." Gets the controller to talk more clearly and slowly to me every time. I don't always use it, but it sure helps now and then!

 

[stardog]

<snip...>
And maybe other little things that pile on a little pressure like what if there's a plane just a little bit ahead of you on the circuit and how do you space? What I hope when I solo is that the airport won't be busy. The busier, the harder because when its busier, you have to not only talk to tower more, but also be weary of the other traffic. And I worry about things like what happens if I miss the taxiway I was suppose to turn on to and a guy is right behind me? Or what if I'm to high, or low on final? Its all that airport junk that makes me nervous. Does anybody know how this feels?
</snip>

Adam, these are questions that you should be honestly sharing with your instructor. We've all been there before, and she can easily answer all of these questions for you. "Fright Instructors" deal with anxiety on a daily basis. It's our job to help you over these hurdles, and it helps immensely when you just come clean and tell us what is bothering you. Yes, we can read minds , but it's easier if you just tell her what's going on.

 

[adam_jorgensen]

Well, we started doing circuits yesterday so I got a good feel for the landings and radio talk. It was fine for the radio, you actually don't have to say much only doing your downwind call. Its when we would be coming from the practice area entering the circuit that I would get confused and that's when tower would natter more stuff at you. The parts I seem to mess up the most is turning from downwind, to base. Either I'm too high or too low or my speed isn't right, there always has to be something. I'm getting better with the radio, but I am still nervous of annoying my instructor. At times, she sounds annoyed if I did something wrong when she's telling me, yet when were done, says I did very well. I don't know, is it just me perceiving it that way? Its a corrective voice, but it sounds annoyed at the same time. I don't like it when they get pushy either even though its to correct for you. Do you ever notice that people act different on the ground than in the air?

 

[Timebuilder]

Of course it is different.

The airplane is a stressful environment for a student, and when an instructor makes themselves "heard" over the din, it can sound irritated and angry. Of course, becoming irritated that your student isn't yet doing the one or two simple things that you have asked during the previous six times around the pattern is a possibility, too.

On the ground, ask for a more detailed explanation. No doubt, it will be more calm and less stressed, and perhaps more clear.

What is your instructor telling you the most?

Note: controlling your pitch and power in the downwind, base and final will yield the right rate of descent.

 

[bobbysamd]

Instructor rhetoric

Originally posted by adam_jorgensen At times, she sounds annoyed if I did something wrong when she's telling me . . . . . Its a corrective voice, but it sounds annoyed at the same time. I don't like it when they get pushy either even though its to correct for you. Do you ever notice that people act different on the ground than in the air?

My instructor acted differently on the ground, definitely.

You're worrying about it too much, my friend. Sounding annoyed is all part of the flight instructor shtik (flight instructors are supposed to be cranky). She isn't really "annoyed." If she's telling you that you're doing fine, you are, and it sounds like you are. Trust me, you're not annoying your instructor. She's just doing her job.