Toughest part of training to get past

[Swass]

I have to agree with rvrrat, power on stalls freaked me out for awhile until I did a few spins (later on). Keep concentrating on what bothers you when you aren't flying, go over it in your head over and over and I think it will bother you less and less when you do the real thing again.

Keep pluggin' away, your solo and solo CC will be awesome.

 

[JediNein]

Stories Part 1

I just posted section one to my website. It is not linked to the main site, nor is it complete. It's beta.

Fear during training

For those pilots with weak stomaches, be forewarned. These aren't tales from the worst example of weak-simpering-Oh-I-broke-a-nail-call-my-therapist feminie garbage, nor are they Joe Q. Perfect tales. They are a resource of tales dealing with fear.

Please keep comments to PM.

Fly SAFE!
Jedi Nein

 

[horsefeather]

It isn't technique or fear that are the most difficult things for me to get over or work with. With practice, I can get the technique. With mind tricks, I can work with fear. What I have trouble with is memory recall. Some things, I can find tricks to remember. Other things, I just have a mental block, like Vx and Vy. I know the differences and numbers for the bird I fly, just which number goes with which letter is hitting a block most of the time, which is strange because that's not the usual kind of thing I block against. It's usually numbers themselves I can't recall, not relations to letters. I've been learning a lot more about how I learn lately. It's making me be more aware of how I need to approach riding students.

Which brings me to some of the most rewarding students. The riding students I find the most rewarding aren't necessarily the ones that say they want to be horse trainers and instructors when they grow up. The ones I feel the most pride for are the ones who encounter difficulty and work hard to overcome that difficulty. I see fear almost daily. The riders I enjoy the most are the ones who have fear but find the mental tools they need to accomplish necessary tasks. The love of what they are doing greatly outweighs the fear. I love seeing students learn how to use their own bodies. Let me explain. Many kids have to look at their toes to tell me if their toes are higher than their heels when they start. Once they get their toes in place, they're leaning over, forgotten where their shoulders should be, sit back, and the feet stick forward to the horse's shoulders. Suddenly the human body becomes a thousand piece puzzle that is often taken for granted that all it's parts will just naturally be where they need to be, doing what they need to be doing. On a thousand pounds of horse, the human body CAN'T be taken for granted, it's too easy to topple off. It's wonderous to see a sixty pound child who can barely lift her own saddle learn how to not only stay on a thousand pound horse, but form enough partnership with the horse to get around a jump course, controlling approach speed, planning where to be way ahead and putting the horse there. I wish I had videos of first jumps, looks of absolute terror followed by huge grins. The first teeny crossrail, with it's center an inch off the ground, is often the largest obsticle they'll ever have to leap over. Usually the horse doesn't even jump, just picks his feet up higher, but has to stay in the trot, so the feeling is of lifting over the poles. From then on, up and over is mainly filled with anticipation of glee on the other side, the more air time, the more glee, and looking forward to new challenges to master.

I might tell my views teaching adults later. The ones that have stuck with me are just as rewarding as the kids. All three are pilots, one in Flight Standards, one an award winning medical professor/pathologist, the other is in the beginning stages of being a riding student, very enthusiastic. I'm meeting the third at the airport today because she's never been to this particular field, hasn't flown recently, and I want to show her around, introduce her to people, and encourage her to get current again. They're all older than I am, and I adore them for having faith in me to teach them, though my own instructor is about twice my age, and I like it that way.

I had trouble with stalls too. Who doesn't feel it isn't quite right to make the airplane NOT fly? I preferred power-off stalls over power-on, puzzling to my cfi. He thought power-on would be preferred because of just lowering the nose and flying away opposed to the extra steps in recovering from stalling in landing configuration. The breakover would freak me out. I rode with someone else once who stressed recovering at the horn or buffet, not letting the nose drop. I think my cfi got tickled when I recovered at first buffet and he told me to stall it deeper next time. I said cheerfully, "OK, I can do that!" And did it without hesitation. I always go through all the steps, touching each control and indicator before each maneuver, before performing it, just a hint to try sometime. The right seat occupant often likes to see the mental process played out, imho.

Fly it like you mean it.

 

[AvJunke]

DMSpilot00,

Thanks for drawing from your vast experience in both the aviation and psychological fields and claryifying the proper way to address a students anxieties. Fact is, every student is different and it comes with building a relationship with a student. No book can be a maxim on how to deal with all students fears. It comes from experience and a lot of patience. Once you get some students and fly with people you've never met, you'll see it is not always so cut and dry. One of the fun challenges of instructing.
As for the original post, I always felt that doing a bit of arm chair flying would help in areas that didn't seem to come as easy as others.

 

[Airpiraterob]

guess who was scared.....

Believe this or not but it is the whole truth....

Sean Tucker was deathly afraid of stalls. He was very afraid of flying because of them...and this was after his private license....it took a ride with an Aerobatic pilot in his plane to help him understand and beat the fear....and now look at what he does.

im not saying at all that this is whats required to beat fears of manuvers....just a competent instructor thats not afraid to be in that manuver with you...explaining whats happening.

a student of mine a while ago was scared of stalls and steep turns...just didnt know what was going on. that was the only problem. explaining on the ground was not enough. cant do just that...but 'showing' him while talking about it. ...'right here is the flow separation....see that? i can hold the plane here in the buffet...and im still in control with the rudder...see?'

thats what it took. one lesson. he was cured....but it takes some attention and willingness from the instructor to do it.

dont forget. sometimes one instructor teaches all he knows..but other instructors have other angles. so it might not hurt to take one perhaps two flights with another instructor just to get past that hurdle. then back to your origional instructor. it dosent reflect badly at all. its what ever gets YOU through it.

good luck.

 

[BoDEAN]

FOI's

Studying the FOI's so far!
Man, I've been in this FOI book for 3 nights now.
A LOT OF STUFF TO KNOW / MEMORIZE!
Brain is on fire!

Got 6 days til the checkride, back to the book

 

[Deftone45075]

They should make an audio book for the FOI. Just listen to the tape while you sleep, and you wake up the next morning knowing everything.

 

[BoDEAN]

A Men to that!