The hardest part of your training

[UKflyer]

Hi,

I'm just curious about what people have found to be the most difficult part of their training. Was it the start (PPL), IR, multi-engine part....also what in particular (ie. a certain manoeuvre etc..). It would be great to know so that others can learn (including myself!) what to expect.

Thanks a lot.

JB.

 

[B52GUNNER]

The hardest part is the instrument rating. The private is no big deal. Commercial is just building cross country time. Multi engine....piece of cake. There is just so much to learn for the instrument part. Lots of homework. Lots of reading.

Good luck .

 

[midlifeflyer]

There's this sneaky think about flight training. The "building block" theory ("ya gotta walk before you can learn to run") essentially means that every time you think that you've got it, your CFI will come up with an addition to your workload.

Here's my semi-tongue-in-cheek group of the hardest things.

1. Private pilot ground reference maneuvers. You've spent a whole bunch of lessons trying to fly the airplane. Basic maneuvers, slow flight, stalls, and you think you've got it. Now, your CFI suddenly expects you to do all this (a) close to the ground (b) at a specific altitude and airspeed (c) while keeping awareness about where you are relative to the ground and (d) where to land if you lose power.

2. Instrument training - general situational awareness. You can identify specific things like NDB tracking or holding pattern, but most difficulties come down to not being able to figure out (a)where you are, (b) where you are going, and (c) how to get there using the nav.

3. Commercial training - after all that instrument training, learning how to fly again while looking out the window. I've seen new instrument pilots who can't find an interstate highway without taking a cross-radial.

 

[need2AV8]

For me, most difficult part so far - Instrument rating. Specifically, partial panel approaches in turbulent IMC. The CFI initial was more stressful, but not as difficult.

 

[80/20]

In the end of the 1980s the Airforce studied why students fail. The conclusion was a combination of factors with the inability to handle high workload being the most common problem. There is a significant difference in individual learning rates, especially at early stages. Learning rate is not always a good indication of the final result. A fast learner could be very organized and use an efficient study technique that enables him or her to memorize a variety of training tasks. Another student may learn at a slower rate. The "slower" student might not be able to memorize all tasks by rote but learns more by "seat-of-the-pants", feel and trial and error making it quite possible that the "slower" student will be able to perform better in the end.

Why students fail:
66% Workload capability
48% Awareness
36% Slow thinking
35% Retention
17% Performance under stress
16% Consistency
15% Decision making
15% Accuracy
12% Progress
11% Overconfidence

 

[bobbysamd]

Training roadblocks

I don't like answering that kind of question. The power of suggestion can be powerful. I learned never to tell a student that something is hard because he/she will think that it is hard. Difficulty is relative and everyone has his/her strengths and weaknesses. For example, some students pick up landings easily. Others have more trouble with landings. There are others, with a lot of experience, who cannot make a good landing to save their lives. Some students are deathly afraid of takeoff-departure stalls, probably because of the extreme nose-high attitude and sharp break (which can be an experience in Bonanzas and Mooneys, especially with the ball not centered). Others throw the airplane around in the air during stalls like they were borne into it.

I tried to present new procedures without editorialization. Lazy 8s are a good example. The average student has trouble with the first several. At that point I might opine that Lazy 8s are hard compared to the other commercial maneuvers, but can certainly be learned.

I remember one student I had while I instructed at Mesa. He was doing good Lazy 8s almost from the first demonstration. This student's Lazy 8s, as well as all of his Commercial airwork, were some of the best I'd ever seen. Not once did I tell him that Lazy 8s are hard. I gave the student an "A" for his flight course. He deserved even higher. I am 100% sure that Mesa hired him out of MAPD. Too bad that Mesa didn't offer a Commercial single rating. He would have aced it hands down.

I like 80/20's post about student learning ability.

 

[80/20]

I am a firm believer in Part Task Training (PTT) - especially if a student has problems. You can use this as an instructor or as a student when you are out training your self.
PTT breaks any whole task into pieces (smaller tasks). PTT will only focus on one or two pieces at any given time. When each piece is mastered individually we can combine them into a complicated task. Through this process, complex exercises can also be learned using the building block system. For example: When first practicing landings, a student pilot's focus shifts between airspeed, glide path, runway and radio communication. During the first attempt the student will only be able to attend to one item at a time. Breaking this up into part tasks can accelerate learning and give a better final result. The student could, for example, first practice using runway aiming point and visual glide-slope control. Eventually, the entire exercise will be integrated together. It is interesting to note that there is some evidence showing that prolonged practice of isolated part-tasks may create habits that do not adapt easily to whole-tasks.

Bobbysamd - it sounds like you had one of those rare students that we infrequently meet. One of once those that "have it all". I have often wondered how they do it? I would like to pass it on to those that are struggling. Bobbysamd makes a strong point never to tell a student that something is hard. He avoids negative motivation. Things are not difficult when we know how to do them.

I guess the question that I rise is why some students can learn more in less time, get better results and even have more fun in the process?
One possible answer is that successful students know how to motivate themselves to reach their goals. But what about those naturally born "seat-of-the-pants" students that can duplicate most maneuvers without much effort?

 

[bobbysamd]

"Aces" v. the Average Joe

Originally posted by 80/20 I guess the question that I rise is why some students can learn more in less time, get better results and even have more fun in the process?
One possible answer is that successful students know how to motivate themselves to reach their goals. But what about those naturally born "seat-of-the-pants" students that can duplicate most maneuvers without much effort?

Surprise for everyone who thinks he/she is G-d's gift to aviation. Most people are average. The ones with natural ability and/or just plain sharp are wonderful to have if you're an instructor. Most people have to work at learning to fly. Some never learn.

Don't equate "average" with "bad" or "mediocre." Students who put forth the effort get there eventually. A frustration among flight instructors is students asking why they are taking so long to learn when their friends who started at the same time are ahead of them. The answer to that question is "why don't you be more concerned about yourself instead of the other guy?"

And, of course, you have the student who blames his/her instructor for his/her inability to learn. Occasionally, that is true. Some instructors cannot teach, or there is a personality clash, or communication barriers erect. Most of the time, in my $0.02 opinion, blaming the instructor for not learning is a red herring.

 

[Flic1]

The overall most challenging was the Instrument rating. The Commercial was easy except it took me a while to get those damd Lazy 8's just right..

Hardest checkride for me though was the CFII. I've never had so much stuff thrown at me in a 1 hour period, but it went well. My head hurt afterwards though....

 

[thorburner]

The hardest part of my training was getting the 300 bucks for the checkride.

 

[Ponypilot]

80/20

Thanks for the statistics, I'm a slow learner, glad to know there is hope for me.

Cheers!

 

[JediNein]

I had to think long and hard about the last seven years to find any particular sector of flight training that was easy.

The only two things that were easy for me was learning the latest avionics like GPS, and flying a glider.

Learning to land was tough, stalls more so. Learning to see without vision, the instrument rating was hard. Getting the maximum performance in chandelles and such for the commercial required extra time. The CFI I was ready for, except for the landing part. The CFII required I forget all the hard ways I was doing things and get back to instrument proficiency. The multi, well, no engines is far easier than two. Even getting the flight school's morning coffee right took a few lessons.

My definition of easy is having the right answer or doing the process correctly the first time, or definitely by the third attempt. I've heard that the desire for perfection has a lot to do with my feelings of flight training being hard.

Now I enjoy teasing two instrument pilots about how hard their training was versus mine. Both pilot seem to think they have a patent on struggling to learn skills:

"What do you mean you had a hard time with your instrument? "You mean you didn't solo at 3 hours?" "HOW many instructors did you go through?" "You made a 727 go around while you were trying to land on a 10,000 foot runway?!!!" "You BUSTED a checkride????!!!!!"

It did take six years and one year of active instructing before I could laugh at my primary flight training. . . Flying does allow humans to explore the full range of emotion.

Fly SAFE!
Jedi Nein

 

[FinallyAPilot]

Since I just got my PPL two weeks ago, I'd have to say learning how to fly that last three feet above the ground on landing. Especially with a nice, gusty, direct crosswind.

 

[UKflyer]

Sounds like i'm in for a lot of fun! Those lazy 8's sound interesting, is that where you get yourself dizzy and the instructor asks you about situational awareness!!

Thanks.

 

[trybysky]

Re: Training roadblocks

The power of suggestion can be powerful. I learned never to tell a student that something is hard because he/she will think that it is hard. Difficulty is relative and everyone has his/her strengths and weaknesses.

I agree with this 110% For me, the hardest part was the instrument for this exact reason. Everyone I talked to told me that it would be the "hardest" test in aviaion. Of couse, I believed them and it turned out that way--because of stress. The trainning isn't bad at all if you put your time in on the ground or spend some time with the basics on a sim or something like microsofts flight sim (can't log msfs, but it gets the bugs worked out and helps with situational awareness, radial intercepting and tracking, approaches...etc.) this way you spend less time working these basics out in the actual airplane $$$$$.

Don't let anyone tell you what was the "hardest" part. It may take more time, and there may be more to learn, but everyone is different and if you let yourself believe the instrument is the hardest it will be.