Losing Interest. Help!!!

[Medicryan]

I am about 3/4's through my commercial and I am just getting so sick of doing manuevers it is killing me. They are not that hard, I just cannot stand doing them over and over again. I am almost at the point where I dred going flying because I know I am just going to do a bunch of chandelle's. And what is killing me more is the fact that I am not even close to being done with everything. I still have 5 more checkrides to go. My best friend from high school is an FO at Pinnacle and he told me that they are renegotiating their contract in December which translates into even less pay. He said it is not worth it and he may be calling it quits soon. That definitely did not get my motivation back up. There is no way that I am going to quit, I want it too bad, but if their are any of you guys that have experienced this during your training can you please give me some words of encouragement and some tips of how to stay motivated and focused.

Thanks guys,

Ryan

 

[NW_Pilot]

Why don't you go up and do something different like fly from the right seat ect. There are a lot of things you can do that are fun and make practical use of the commercial maneuvers! I Would not say they are the safest things to do becuse of being so close to other aircraft &/or low level but they are fun.

 

[340drvr]

All work and no play........
You can definitely burn out on the calisthenic-drill routine. Try a break from that, rent your favorite bird for the weekend, and invite your sweetie along for a vacation trip to somewhere fun, or just the $100 burger to a cool airport cafe for the day, or take friends for a scenic tour....in other words, try some fun flying for a change. The motivation for the hard-core practice will come back eventually, but not if you burn out completely! (Been there....)

 

[Huggyu2]

Get into aerobatics, if you can swing it. But I hear you: "civilian aviation for pay" is a painful lifesytle and profession. You need to do it for the love of it, 'cause you probably won't get rich.

 

[NW_Pilot]

Get into aerobatics, if you can swing it. But I hear you: "civilian aviation for pay" is a painful lifesytle and profession. You need to do it for the love of it, 'cause you probably won't get rich.

What he said!

 

[chignutsak]

Why not just walk away? Put flying aside for a day, a week, a month or a year. Do whatever it takes to get your mojo back. Remember, we're no longer in this for the money. Fly because you love it. Plateaus in training are normal; however you make it sound like your frustration is beyond a simple roadblock in training. Fly because you love it, not because it's some chore you feel compelled to complete.

 

[CougarAviator]

I don't know your money situation, but sounds like you need either a long cross country, or some solo time just to decompress......

just my two cents!!

 

[100LL... Again!]

On the plus side, it is excellent prepration for the many hours of soul-numbing cruise flight you have ahead of you a a pilot.

 

[cezzna]

All I can say is get used to this feeling. Don't ever go into airline flying if this is boring you already. After SJS wears off and you realize you are just flying regional junk to and from the same 20 airports for the forseeable future, it's gonna get REAL boring. You'll have every route, ILS and center frequency memorized and it will be about as exciting as watching paint dry. All while making 15-30k a year. Theat's the reality of it. It's not going to be that exciting. Even in fractional flying, you're going to see the SAME airports again and again. Sure you will get to go to out of the way places but the majority of time will be in places like Teterhole.

 

[Spinplate]

All I can say is get used to this feeling. Don't ever go into airline flying if this is boring you already. After SJS wears off and you realize you are just flying regional junk to and from the same 20 airports for the forseeable future, it's gonna get REAL boring. You'll have every route, ILS and center frequency memorized and it will be about as exciting as watching paint dry. All while making 15-30k a year. Theat's the reality of it. It's not going to be that exciting. Even in fractional flying, you're going to see the SAME airports again and again. Sure you will get to go to out of the way places but the majority of time will be in places like Teterhole.

Ditto! Below 10,000 ft is where the excitement is when flying jets.....to me anyway. It does get boring up there sometimes, but it beats looking at some ugly secretary while you push a pencil. Instead you look at some fat ugly flight attendant. Do it because you love it!

 

[Goose Egg]

Huh. I've got several hundred hours of dual given and I'm not burned out yet. What's wrong with me? I must be unusually fastidious.

Or maybe I just like what I do.

-Goose

 

[MFRskyknight]

As a (involuntary) 141 transfer student, I think I feel your pain in a very acute way. I bascially had to redo 21+ hours of training, when I was maybe 6-8 hours from being done at Airman before they closed.

Spending that much time under the hood can be a real grind. Especially when I know it's nice out and I'd rather be looking around outside the plane than watching every jiggle of every needle under a "plastic cloud." Also, all my hours are almost exclusively training hours.

Yesterday I rented for the first time. Took my first passenger up and flew around OKC. He happened to be my manager at work, and I thoroughly, wickedly enjoyed every minute of scaring the hell out of him (in a good way, of course). It was great (not to mention cheaper!) to do some good old-fashioned VFR without an instructor on board.

I guess every once in awhile ya gotta do whatever it takes to keep some of your sanity.

MFR

 

[RJPilott]

Sounds like someone might be milking you bud. How many hours of chandelles have you done? It shouldnt take more than about 2-3 lessons at an hour each to have them down pat. Any more than that and the student will lose interest and possibly even think to themselves they may be incompetent. If you are having a hard time grasping a maneuver, ask your instructor to move on to another manuever, one that may come easier to you, grow your confindence. Either way, if you're losing interest, tell your instructor, if he/she says you just have to keep doing them till you "get it", find another instructor.

 

[SpatialD]

I agree with RJPilott. Are you following some kind of syllabus, lesson plans, etc? If not, you have 2 options: 1. fire your instructor (preferable) 2. take charge of your flight training program, whatever it takes (insist that your CFI map out the rest of your training, in writing, etc.)

At the commercial level, you need a good flight instructor - not just some time builder. I can't tell you how many hours I've wasted giving poor CFI's the benefit of the doubt during my own training. If yours isn't aware of your frustration and trying to get you motivated again, move on quickly before you waste more money than you should (speaking from experience). Best of luck!

 

[RJPilott]

Heres an idea if your instructor insists on doing more chandelles....

Do your chandelles up to altitude.. say 5000 agl. At the top of your last chandelle.. pull hard back on the yoke while turning it to the right and bury the left rudder... hold the rudder firmly to the firewall... then tell your instructor to recover... hey... at least your lessons will be more exciting and you'll be able to practice more chandelles in less time being that you can lose the altitude fast to set up another series of chandelles... rinse and repeat.

Disclaimer
(Be sure you have a spin approved aircraft before attempting the above)

 

[Papps]

Dude if your burned out now your are in for one insainly long career.

 

[labbats]

All I can say is get used to this feeling. Don't ever go into airline flying if this is boring you already. After SJS wears off and you realize you are just flying regional junk to and from the same 20 airports for the forseeable future, it's gonna get REAL boring. You'll have every route, ILS and center frequency memorized and it will be about as exciting as watching paint dry. All while making 15-30k a year. Theat's the reality of it. It's not going to be that exciting. Even in fractional flying, you're going to see the SAME airports again and again. Sure you will get to go to out of the way places but the majority of time will be in places like Teterhole.

As an Eagle FO out of Chicago, we have over 60 destinations. I still haven't even flown to all of them, let alone the overnights. It's not too shabby. I still complain sometimes, but then I remember being in sales or construction and I shut up.

I can relate to the duldrums of Commercial manuevers. I'd suggest going flying in some real crap weather with an instructor to help. You'll see and learn more in those few lessons than most of the others combined. Go above the clouds and do some manuevers so it counts as another lesson, and use the rest to get comfortable in some lousy IFR weather.

Best of luck

 

[SeaLord]

Ok, here's my two cents worth:
As an IP who had over 1600 dual given, I would always tell my students: 'flight training is NOT fun!' Yes, on occasion, it is thrilling and enjoyable, but on average or as a whole, the flight training portion is not fun. That being said: hang on, hold tight, grin and bear it, and just put your head down and push through. A million other jokers like me have made flying into a career, and the vast majority have gone through exactly what your dealing with right now. Some of us lose our way (Me) and take a sabbatical for a year or two, but those guys (Me) end up regretting not just pushing through. Best of luck to you.

 

[ePilot22]

30 degrees inverted!

Do your chandelles up to altitude.. say 5000 agl. At the top of your last chandelle.. pull hard back on the yoke while turning it to the right and bury the left rudder... hold the rudder firmly to the firewall... then tell your instructor to recover... hey... at least your lessons will be more exciting and you'll be able to practice more chandelles in less time being that you can lose the altitude fast to set up another series of chandelles... rinse and repeat.

Best advice ever given on FI! IT WORKS! Also works to the left with right rudder! Remember to bring your camera.

NOTE: This was demostrated to me during my CFI training (in a 172RG) for the exact purpose stated above!

Anyway, training becomes very boring. Like everyone else said, rent a plane and do a few XC to places you haven't been. If you're around 180 hours like it says on your proflie, go fly for 30 hours on your own having fun, then spend 15 to 20 hours training for the commercial. Good Luck.

 

[Goose Egg]

As an aside, you'll get a lot better results if you bury the rudder to the left vs. the right. Hold those inputs until recovery, and be sure to start the "maneuver" with some power in too.

-Goose

 

[pilotpat]

LOL you guys.....cruel indeed - but pretty darn funny! On a serious note, if you're on a 141 silly-bus you have to go by it. That being said, you still have plenty of solo flights that no one is watching you chandelle your tail off. On those lessons, I usually opted to go my 50 miles and practice landings - I have yet to do a chandelle or lazy 8 in my Falcon.........of course I practiced one or two maneuvers on the way to those airports just to make sure I was proficient.

 

[Jedi_Cheese]

Wait until your CFI. Another mind numbing 15 hours of the same old... And the bonus part is that you have a significant chance of failing and getting to do another 3 hours of SSDD.

Why is it that when you are most likely to be bored out of your mind and are about to give up, you have almost gotten the signoff?

 

[Junkflyer]

You should probably get out now if you already feel this way. You're in for a lifetime of training and checkrides in this business.

 

[SmellsLikeAvGas]

Ryan,
What part of the country are you in?

 

[wildfreightess]

find some inspiration

Burnout happens. It may help to find some solo time and do ANYTHING but chandelles. Try hanging out at a different airport, just watching bigger airplanes take off and land. Read a book with an aviation theme (textbooks don't count). Try to remember why you wanted to learn to fly. Don't spend so much time wishing for that job commanding the shiny jet that you forget to enjoy the ride along the way. Good luck to you.

 

[Hogan]

Burn out is another form of those learning plateaus. We all get them. I vote for the "other instructor" suggestion. I got milked at a school during my Commercial and beginning of my CFI ticket. The timebuilder I was flying with kept canceling me in order to do charter flights. Then the guy that replaced him made me repeat the entire Commercial procedures. I got to the point where I hated flying but KNEW it was a plateau and it WOULD resolve itself if I only held on and tried different techniques. Unfortunately, my "instructor" didn't see it that way. After I expressed my frustration at my performance, saying I knew I could do better he gave me a big speech about spending money to do something I didn't enjoy. He was very insulting.He had poor communication skills. I would ask a question and he would not answer, just stare at me. He made spoke badly of his students to other students. Management at the school did not care, as long as he brought in money. I realized what was burning me out was the attitude at that school so I went some place else. Passed the ride and three more since. I'm am happy to report he no longer teaches.

 

[Medicryan]

I am in Florida Smelly.

Well now that I have gotten all of these responses let me elaborate a little bit. I think that the phrase "burned out" was a little bit premature. I think that frustrated is a more proper term. Yes, you are all right, chandelle's are the manuever that I cannot seem to get. Heck, it used to be the 180 power off approach until I went up to a non-towered airport one day and did literally about 50 of them for about 4 hours and finally I can nail them everytime. It is not the flying that I am getting burned out with it is the damn manuevers.
I love to fly. This my sound a little lame but my flying fantasy it to do an ILS into JFK on a snowy night on Christmas Eve in my shiny 757 and lay down in my room at that Plaza for the evening. Believe me, this is what I want to do for a living. There is nothing going to stop me. And I know fully of what I am getting myself into. I have friends in the business that let me know what it is like all of the time. And even from the horror stories they tell me, it is still exactly what I want to do. Even with the crap pay and crew scheduling. It will all pay off in the end. That is the way I have to look at it.

Back to manuevers, I am only getting about 40% if the chandelles right. I am about 70% on the lazy eights and every other manuever is a piece of cake that I get everytime. I am just venting more than anything else. I am just not getting the feel of it yet. Once I do, I know I will be fine.

Thanks for all your responses

 

[Hogan]

Back to manuevers, I am only getting about 40% if the chandelles right. I am about 70% on the lazy eights and every other manuever is a piece of cake that I get everytime.

Try breaking down the chandelle into its basic parts. First the 180° turn. Then the climb. Then the climb with the turn. Focus on smoothness. I learned them in my private training because my CFI would "reward" me at the end of a good lesson by showing me a commercial manuever. He said the mark of a good pilot was a guy who could do a chandelle so smoothly you could do a bris in the back of the airplane without complications. Yeow!

 

[RJPilott]

A good idea might be to switch instructors just for the Chandelle. Not saying your current CFI cant teach it, but sometimes just a switch of a face and hearing a different voice helps. Try it for one lesson. Even though it is the same manuever and the fundamentals are the taught the same, every CFI has a bit of a different angle teaching it. The other CFI might be able say that one little thing you can relate to and bingo, you perform a flawless Chandelle consistently.


The same thing actually happened to me for solo. I just couldnt get the flare down. Got real sick of doing T&G's. Then my CFI went on vacation and i took a different CFI for a lesson. My first landing for that lesson was flawless. I did three more and he cut me loose.

Once i became a CFI and had a student start to get overly frustrated, although rare, I would recommend the same thing. There was no use going up together and performing that same maneuver over and over saying the same things. First i would tell them to take a week off and blow off steam. Party it up. Then come back for a lesson on the manuever with someone else. 99.9% of them got it the first time. Other CFI's would also send students to me for the same thing. Remember, taking lessons are all about the student learning, not for CFI's to build time. Good luck...

 

[ubpilot]

Please try to enjoy your flight training as much as you can, because what you are doing right now is somthing I miss very much. Once you get into Part 135 or Part 121 flying, there will be no more VFR maneuvers for you ever again. Right now when I sit behind the control of a CRJ, I feel more like a machine operator than a real pilot.