New Student Feeling Discouraged

[Doug]

No crying as of yet...and I certainly won't post if I do

 

[qmaster3]

Well if it's any consolation I've had a student pilot cry on me on more than one occasion.

So if you haven't cried yet... maybe you'll make it.

mmmdonutcase,
I would cry to if you look like you avatar. Then again you will probably say the same of mine!! Hope you had a good new year.



Doug,



Here is the "low timer" feedback. Slow flight was hard for me at first. If I remember correctly I wanted to just use Alieron...USE THAT RUDDER. Finally my instructor wouldn't let me touch the yoke. Like I said that was my problem. Don't worry it will take a few hrs to get used to it. Stay with the CFI that you like to fly with. After all you are paying the big $$$. I have gotten the ole your instructor is on vacation bit. Politely decline. Any school will do this so they don’t lose the money. Chances are you will have to do it again with your CFI anyway. After all he’s the one signing you off. Is there a 172 that you can rent at a reasonable rate? In my opinion it’s a better kite. Good luck and PM me if you have any questions.

 

[qmaster3]

If you reach 30 hours and haven't soloed, like my roomate, then you might suck.

But I wouldn't really worry about it..it takes more than 3.7 hours to learn how to fly.

I have 90 and I still suck...theres people with thousands of hours here that suck too

I hate getting into the who soloed first fight, but 30hrs is a lot.

 

[bobbysamd]

Learning plateaus and student intensity

I feel totally flustered, and half want to say flying is not for me. I feel really down, and wonder if I will ever get the hang of this, or if I am just to CS(something that lays eggs followed by a four letter swear word) to handle flying. I find myself way overthinking things, and just not going with the flow . . . . Is this something people go through, or do I just suck?

You may have hit a learning plateau. When learning a new task, people tend to learn rapidly at first. At some point, for the moment, and I cannot overemphasize "for the moment," many people seem to stop learning. Something stops them, but if they keep at it they overcome the plateau and start learning again. That may be happening with you. Further, learning has not stopped completely. Although it may not seem like it, something is being learned from each rep, even if it takes several times before you finally get the hang of it. I remember one lesson I had when it seemed like a complete waste of time. However, my instructor conducted a good postflight discussion and it turned out I did learn during that flight. I learned another lesson that day which served me later as a flight instructor; the value to the student of a good postflight discussion.

My other thought is perhaps you are approaching your flying lessons with too much intensity. In other words, maybe you're trying too hard. I can relate. For me, learning to fly was the culmination of a life-long dream. I was excited about every flight and looked forward to each flight all day. I was prepared as well as my instructor had guided me, I attached each task with vigor - and became extremely frustrated if I didn't learn it right the first time because it would then take many more reps before I finally caught on. Perhaps if I had been less intense about learning to fly I would have learned faster and better.

Make sure you understand each procedure thoroughly. Your instructor should brief each lesson thoroughly beforehand and thoroughly debrief the flight thereafter. Try backing-off a little on your intensity level. Good luck with your training.

 

[HowlinMadMurdoc]

Part of the problem with us pilots, at least for me and others I've spoken with, is we tend to be perfectionists. We expect everything to go well, if not perfect, everytime we fly. No pilot, regardless of hours, is immune from having a "bad" day. When I went through the initial sim for my job, sessions one and two went well. Then sessions three through five I really struggled to the point I was ready to quit. Nothing went right and it seemed like I couldn't even fly straight-and-level. At the end of session five, the sim instructor had my sim partner and I run through a total PFD/MFD failure and shoot an approach using back-up systems. That was the perfect lesson at the perfect time - it helped build up my shaky confidence and prove to myself I could get through the program. After that lesson, the rest of the sim wasn't a problem.

You just started on your flying skills and it will get better with time. Use every flight lesson as a building block to improve your next flight. Heck, I still think that way - anything new I learn and experience (or even stuff I haven't used in awhile) on a flight is used on the next flight. You will always learn something new everytime you fly.

Remember, no flight is perfect. We ALL make mistakes - learn from your mistakes so you can be better next time.

Good luck!

HMM

 

[FlyLady]

I guess I am falling prey to reading too many articles about how long it took people to solo, etc, and I am afraid of falling behind the curve. I know that people warn of putting too much stock in worrying about numbers, but it's just human nature. I should stop worrying about comparing myself to others, and just compare me to me, but it's hard.

Doug, like you said yourself, forget the numbers..how long for solo, checkride and everything else. Fly the plane. Everyone learns different things at a different rate. When I first started training, I had no problem with maneuvers, including slow flight and stalls. But when it came to landing the plane, it took FOREVER for me to learn! I would tense up as soon as I entered dowwind. But it finally came to me after some great work on my CFI's part. He knew what I needed to learn them and it worked....eventually.

So quit thinking so much and just go up and fly the plane. You'll be fine.


FlyLady

 

[350DRIVER]

Well I had todays lesson with my normal instructor and am not feeling good, in fact I am feeling worse. I told him that I had problems my last lesson, and that I really needed to revisit all the slow flight manuevers. He understood. Today was much windier than I am used to, and flying in wind in a small C-152 I was a bit thrown off, and actually felt slightly quesy(sp?) at times.

You have 3.2 hours total time to date, enough said. Things will fall into place so just be patient and try to soak up as much as you can through these early stages of your flight training. I think you are being a little tuff on yourself considering you have the above mentioned flight time. You gain knowledge, and skill over time through experience, it won't just happen over night my friend. Relax, enjoy, and don't beat yourself up "quite yet".

3 5 0

 

[Flyingtoohigh]

If somebody hasn't said it before:

Have fun! You're supposed to enjoy flight training, or so "they" say.

I always tell my students to let me know the second flying stops being fun. right about then the learning stops, at least with folks working on their private pilots license.

There are plenty of experienced pilots on this board and the majority are saying "fa-getta-bout-it" when it comes to some of your initial difficulties. If becoming a private pilot is what you want to do then you should have little difficulty.

Thanks for posting here; we could all use a little new-blood enthusiasm now and again. It's a welcome change from bashing <PFT/Mesa/USAir/Management/Lowecur/Me!>.

 

[Doug]

I scheduled my next lesson for this coming Sunday to give myself a chance to get things in order before my next lesson.

Yesterday I got my Yoke and Pedals set up for use with FS2004. I had the pedals for a while, but just a flight stick because I used to play a lot of combat sim. Anyhow I have found that the sim has helped me. Not in the actual "learning to fly" part because there is no feedback from the plane. But it helped me with taxiing better, and also getting my rudders straight. What I did was go into slow speed flight and then just try to keep the nose on a cloud using rudders...this really helped me to stop making mistakes with the rudders. Also the sim helps me go through procedures, such as correctly coming out of slow speed flight, or recovering from a stall...things that involve a lot of repetition. I have read that sims can cause bad habits in student pilots, so I avoid doing things I have not learning yet, and just stick to practicing things I have already been tought in the manner I was shown.

 

[philo beddoe]

Here's a little guideline - you should never really hear any new major concepts in flight that you did not first discuss on the ground.

If you are getting briefed on new maneuvers or ideas airborne, then your instructor is not preparing you properly for each lesson.