Toughest part of training to get past

[Timebuilder]

Aside from getting used to this new and alien environment, where you have a host of sensations like nothing you are used to, landing is probably to most common hurdle for the new student.

It is far easier to get an airplane to safely leave the runway than it is to make it safely land on a runway. You will become familiar with all of the requirements for a nearly perfect landing, and you will learn to enjoy the quest of perfecting your landings.

 

[AvJunke]

Help your instructor and be honest

Let me put in a plea for your flight instructor and tell you to be honest with him when you start feeling a little nautious. I speak from experience. I had a student that would vomit anytime we did steep turns pleading with him to let me know if he began feeling uneasy at all. He never would, two steep turns later, I'd move on to something else, since I realized he couldn't handle it for whatever reason, and two minutes later he'd blow chunks everywhere. Revolting. I felt bad for the guy, had to be real embarassing after the first time. Take small steps with this stuff and you'll get acclimated to the manuevers before you know it.

 

[JediNein]

I find students have to be able to *really* trust their flight instructor before they will reveal their weaknesses, fears, uncomfortable places, and even when they are feeling sick. This trust is obviously harder to obtain than simply the student trusting the instructor with their life.

Comments?

Fly SAFE!
Jedi Nein

 

[Rvrrat]

I find students have to be able to *really* trust their flight instructor before they will reveal their weaknesses, fears, uncomfortable places, and even when they are feeling sick. This trust is obviously harder to obtain than simply the student trusting the instructor with their life.

This is where "Professionalism" & "The Flight Instructor as a Practical Psychologist" strait out of the Aviation Instructor's Handbook comes into use.

Professionalism, because the student must decide that the instructor is trustworthy in order to earn the student's trust.

Practical Psychologist, in addition to Professionalism because the single most difficult aspect of dealing with a student is the student's own self perception. IE: "If you only knew____ you wouldn't continue to help me learn this thing I think I want so badly."

Jedi, have you found a difference between students who are learning to fly for pleasure versus those learning to fly for a career? Also, have you found a difference in dealing with younger students versus older students?

 

[bunnyfufu]

most difficult things for me: visualizing where to have the steepest/shallowest bank in ground reference maneuvers, preparing for the oral exam, and using visual aids for navigation... though it might just be that northern illinois is so flat and featureless

 

[Archer]

Most difficult for me is getting the hang of cross country flight planning and flying. Doing it efficiently, quickly and well.

Short and softs are not difficult, just need practice.

x/c stuff, for me at least, needs a lot of studying and work...as you have to put it ALL together in a x/c...flying the airplane, navigation, communication and all three take a great effort on their own...all 3 at once...it can become hell if you don't know what's going on....

I can't imagine yet how complex IFR flight can be...

ARcher

 

[Kaman]

Hello,
Without a doubt the preparation and practical exam for the intial CFI is by far the toughest thing that I've ever done. Tougher than the military, college and everything else I've experienced in 43 years. The flying is really the easy part, it's the bloody oral and making sure that all your "ducks are in a row" i.e., paperwork, aircraft maintenance records, etc...Just seemed like so many pitfalls to trap you somehow.

Archer-
Don't sweat the small stuff on the VFR flight planning. Work together with your instructor to develop a logical "step-by-step" method that you can use over and over again. For instance:

1. What is my mission? destination?
2. Weather
3. Weight and balance
4. Performance considerations
Then make some decisions:
1. Do I have adequate fuel plus required reserves to safely conduct the flight? If not you might have to plan for an extra fuel stop, or reduce your payload in order to upload more fuel.

Once you've looked at the "big picture" you can then move onto preparing your charts and NAV log. The NAV log is a tool for you to use in measuring the actual track, GS and winds during the flight and to adjust your heading and update your ETA and fuel burn. This is very critical if you are planning a flight on the edge of your airplanes range for the fuel load. Unforecasted winds may require you to make a fuel stop. The MAIN purpose of the NAV log is to remind you to keep a good eye on your fuel as the flight progresses.
Lastly, use every available means to back-up your pilotage naviagation. If you have the tools use them, however, don't get into the habit of using the GPS exclusively. It's a great tool, but EVERY pilot needs to know how to navigate by pilotage and dead reckoning, not the "black box". Mariners and pilots have used dead reckoning since the early days of exploration and the fundamental equation of rate X time=distance still holds true today.

Best of luck,

ex-Navy rotorhead

P.S. IFR is cake compared to VFR nav!

 

[dmspilot00]

Re: Help your instructor and be honest

Let me put in a plea for your flight instructor and tell you to be honest with him when you start feeling a little nautious. I speak from experience. I had a student that would vomit anytime we did steep turns pleading with him to let me know if he began feeling uneasy at all. He never would, two steep turns later, I'd move on to something else, since I realized he couldn't handle it for whatever reason, and two minutes later he'd blow chunks everywhere. Revolting. I felt bad for the guy, had to be real embarassing after the first time. Take small steps with this stuff and you'll get acclimated to the manuevers before you know it.

Not a CFI, but I had a passenger of mine get sick on me (well, not ON me, but you know...). I would recommend asking "How sick do you feel?" (and if they say they don't, and you suspect they might be, keep pushing--ask "not even a little?"). They probably would be more likely say "a little" or "kind of" if you ask that way, in which case, take it as a hint, and consider an expulsion of the stomach imminent.

If you just ask them to let you know if they feel sick, or if ask "How do you feel?" they probably won't give you a true answer because they are easier questions to fake an answer with, and just saying "let me know when" is probably the least effective.

To answer the question that this thread was started for: In private you will encounter your share of learning plateaus but they happen to everyone. Even if you do not make the progress you wish for, it should still be fun (with occasional exceptions for particulary "bad days" and what not). I would have to say getting the instrument is the hardest. The motivation isn't there for me and it seems to be a total pain. I don't really plan on using it once I get it either. To me, it just seems like a hurdle that's preventing me from moving on to Commercial and CFI.

There is probably a difference between which certificate/rating is hardest to get and which checkride is hardest. It seems to me that training for the instrument is the hardest (which a lot of people say), although the checkride is probably about an equal difficulty as the private: once you're ready, you're read. Training for the CFI seems like it would be fun and interesting and not really hard, but instead time consuming; although the checkride itself for CFI is probably the most complex and difficult of all checkrides. Again I am basing this opinion on what I've read about other people's experiences; trust me I've read a lot of them.

 

[JediNein]

Howdy!
I find both professional airline pilot wannabes, business flyers, and the recreational flyer encounter a similar level of mistakes during training. The business types are "Type A," go-getters, have 10,000 people willing to jump at their slightest indication, and want every maneuver perfect the first time. They are the most challenging and rewarding students to work with as a flight instructor.

Airline pilot wannabes are encouraged to bypass our school and head for one of the academies like Flight Safety or AllATPs. We give them a heads up on knowing what they need to do to get the best training those schools can provide.

Business and recreational flyers, well, the business guys could pay for a pilot to fly their airplane. Some end up doing that after earning a private or a private plus instrument. Another wants to work all the way through his CFI because he knows the more he knows the safer he'll be. They don't give up easily when encountering fears or roadblocks. They'll quickly fire instructors that do not meet their needs or make them feel inferior.

Young versus old really doesn't matter from the ability to teach or be taught. Older folks do tire of the 'young whipper-snappers' and may be tired of dealing with time-builder CFIs. Three students have directly told me to not put them with an instructor anywhere close to my age. Who wants someone that's the same age as their good-for-nothing son/daughter teaching them to fly? Some of the younger crowd gets intimidated when someone twice their age is the expert. Fortunately, I have enough instructors to match most student requests.

For encountering fears, older folks simply have had more time for fears to develop. There is no time frame for conquering the fears based on a person's age. Each client will be different.

Fly SAFE!

Jedi Nein

 

[bigD]

For me, it was talking on the radio. I cut my teeth at Van Nuys, and the thought of making mistakes in from of tons of "real" pilots on the frequency always had me nervous. When I mess up a maneuver, etc...only my CFI knows. But over the radio, everyone hears me. That's what kept going through my head.

Nowadays, when I hear someone on the frequency making mistakes, hesitating, or whatever, I just think, "I remember those days." And then smile.

So if you ever have a problem like mine, just remember that everyone else on that frequency was in your shoes at one time.