I need a different approach

[abev107]

I will try and stick to the facts...

It's been 6 weeks since my last flight. I have 10 hours. I stopped because of money. Let's face it though - I could have found the money if I wanted too.

I stopped b/c flying brought me too much anxiety. Anxiety caused tunnelvision, I could only do one thing at a time. And I didn't feel as safe as I felt I should have been.

I can fly as a passenger in anything thing - even on commercial flights my face is glued to the window, always looks to the wing to see when flaps are retracted or extended, listening for the gear to come up or down. Heck, sometimes I get funny looks b/c I mumble speed callouts on t/o.

I flew as a pax on a 172 while my CFI was giving an IFR lesson up front. It's a day I would never fly in as a pilot. Even looking down the road a ways I would probly avoid it. Ceilings were between 800-2000 agl - but I was still glued to the window looking for breaks trying to figure out where we were.

I have very little (none) anxiety as a pax. Aren't people more comfortable when THEY have the controls as opposed to someone else?

It makes no difference to me when I get my PPL - I am in no rush. And with the little experience I have, I realize it may be some time where I even want to fly by myself, let alone with no-experience pax.

So my latest thoughts are this: What can't I just take a CFI with me and just go wherever? Without "training", until I get more comfortable in the a/c. Will a CFI do this? Does some 25nm restriction take effect? To me whats an extra $45/hour if I am already spending $115/hr for the a/c? Meaning who cares if I have 150 hours before I get my PPL.

To me flying is fun training is not. And I know I have to do it. I want to be able to handle any situation.

A normal therapist would charge me $50 for this session.

 

[bigD]

Heh! I have a couple of friends that have been in your situation, so you're certainly not alone in your anxiety.

First of all, you'll always be able to find a CFI willing to just go up and fly with you. I have an uncle in law that lost his medical awhile ago, so he just takes a CFI with him whenever he flies. He doesn't mind - he likes the company and he learns a lot in the process. He says, "Sure, it's more expensive, but tons of pilots around here spend the extra 30 bucks an hour to rent a "new" 172 instead of a used one, so why not instead put that money into a CFI in the right seat?" Makes good sense to me.

What is it about the flying that brings you the anxiety? Can you pin that down? Could it be the manner in which your instructor handles the lessons? Maybe go up with a variety of different CFI's and see if one is a better match for your personality and situation. That could make a world of difference.

Anyway, good luck with it all, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with taking your time in getting your private.

 

[midlifeflyer]

>What can't I just take a CFI with me and just go wherever? Without "training", until I get more comfortable in the a/c. Will a CFI do this? Does some 25nm restriction take effect? To me what's an extra $45/hour if I am already spending $115/hr for the a/c? Meaning who cares if I have 150 hours before I get my PPL.

You can absolutely find a CFI that would do this. The truth is that, even taking periodic flights in the effort to simply become comfortable, you will learn and it will be that learning itself that will help with the comfort.

You're right. Typically people who are nervous about flying get more comfortable when they take the controls. But not always. Flying is an extremely personal control activity and some people feel more comfortable with that than others. (I have a story about a friend who was afraid of flying - different from your issues, but maybe instructive - at www.midlifeflight.com/fear.htm

One thing I would suggest. You want to really talk to the CFI about your plans and find one who expects to be around for a while. Consistency is important to both skill and confidence building.

 

[Kaman]

Hello,
Absolutely, I'd go flying with you anywhere you wanted to go within the constraints of the aircraft's capabilities, weather and any restrictions placed on taking an airplane on a cross-country. However, this would be considered dual, and it seems like a real waste of time and money to go for the ride when you are technically recieving instruction.
I'm not trying to sound sarcastic, but I think your time and money would be better served by continuing your training and not "joyriding". Perhaps, a new instructor or a more intense training program. By intense, I mean something like a program that would get you in the air on a near daily basis with a heavy dose of ground lessons, briefing/debriefing.
Don't consider yourself any different than anyone else, myself included. We all had times in our primary training where we felt overwhelmed or weren't making the progress that we felt we should. Even within a heavily structured flight training program, it's an important and recognized fact that training must be tailored to the student's needs and goals.
I think if you get back into your syllabus and gain some confidence, flying will become what it should be...FUN!

Best of luck!

ex-Navy rotorhead

 

[abev107]

I'm not trying to sound sarcastic, but I think your time and money would be better served by continuing your training and not "joyriding".

Thanks for the helpful replies. But to Kaman and others with similar thoughts: I don't mean to sound hoyty-toyty - but I think I have/want to "joy-ride". Because without joy-riding theres no flying at this point.

It seems like most student pilots want to hurry up and get the training over with, like it's some classroom where they just sit around for an hour just to get it over with. And they have to get to a magic number of say 50 hours and they are done. But you actually get to fly the plane during a lesson! To me at this point flying is fun, training is not. B/c training brings about this anxiety.

For me to pinpoint what my problem is... [Back to the couch]. I am a teacher, not a learner. I own my own business and I find it very difficult at times to take instructions from others. I am used to be the one telling. I am a terrible student and I hate tests. Most likely b/c I fear failure. I like to "do", then "correct". Like a new ad campaign - you can do studies and research till the cows come home, but until you run the ad, you wont know the results. And I KNOW I can't do that with flying.

And I have a difficult time making mistakes and being corrected b/c I add 10x to it. Like the time on one of my first landings: I got a go around at about 50' agl. Here's what I did in order - Readback to the tower i was going around, raised flaps, added power. I got the order right, just backwards. I still think about that. I was very lucky that I had a positive outcome.

I am a very compliant student - I am not nearly as defiant as i sound. I respect the time and experience that CFI's put into flying. I don't have an no-it-all attitude. I do feel like getting into an accident is very easy and can happen at any time. And I do think about that while flying.

Thanks in advance to all of the Av-Therapists out there.

 

[Swass]

I can relate to what your talking about. I had anxiety when I first learned to fly as well. I think the point that I got over it for the most part was when I did my first solo. I fly from a controlled airport and the controller threw me a loop (or two) when turning base he switched runways on me because of commercial traffic and a Lear on like a 7 mile final. Anyway I concentrated hard and did not let the change in runways or the traffic pattern confuse me. I made four successful touch and goes, switched back to my original runway and taxied back to the FBO. Talk about a shot of confidence. I thought that at that point I could handle anything within reason that I would probably encounter on my journey to my PPL, and I was right. After a big event like your first solo you'd be surprised at how the anxiety slowly melts away. After your first solo CC the anxiety will be almost nonexistent (in my case at least). Do what you have to do to finish, you've already made the commitment to start the process, enjoy the ride!

 

[Timebuilder]

Jedinein just posted this link to some stories that may help you.

PM with your comments to jedi, if you like.

http://pages.prodigy.net/jedinein/story/story.html

 

[na265]

Abev107, sounds to me like your plan is pretty good. Have FUN with your flying. Even by "joy-riding", you will be learning. At 10hrs. the learning curve is straight up. It also sounds to me like you are an airplane nut like the rest of us. That is good. When I had students who were nervous about their training we would sit down and talk. Having a CFI who will listen and be flexible with your training needs is very important. I think I have rambled on here, I guess what I'm saying is do what you need to complete training. More pilots is always good. Have fun, be safe and don't give up!

 

[abev107]

Thanks Timebuilder, Jedinein pm'ed me with the helpful link.

And na265, thanks for the comments. That's the calming influence I need. And you didnt ramble.

I think I am an airplane nut - my CFI would have to bring my attention back to taxiing b/c I would be staring at other planes taking off and landing.

This sounds like it may be counter-productive, but what if I offered my services as a safety pilot. Could I be a safety pilot with 10 hours? (Maybe it would be a safety student pilot) Unlikely as a CFI's safety pilot (is it?). And maybe in return for my "questions bombardment" I could say, handle the radios and maybe buy lunch.

 

[JediNein]

Check your PMs, Abev107.