Discovery Flight today...unexpected results

On Feb 10, 10:02*pm, "Peter Dohm" wrote:
If you have the same problem that I do, and sometimes have a little
difficulty recalling seldom used words, you might consider a brief page of
crib notes at the back of your check list--at a towered airport, where you
are confused about the taxi route, the nomenclature (IIRC) is "sequenced
instructions"

No, it's called "progressive taxi". It's covered in the AIM, 3-1-18
(Taxiing) b-3:
http://www.faa.gov/airports_airtraff...ns/atpubs/aim/
and also in the Pilot/Controller Glossary:
http://www.faa.gov/airports_airtraff.../PCG/index.htm
.

It's covered in the AIM, 3-1-18

Correction, that's 4-3-18.

On Sun, 10 Feb 2008 20:25:26 -0600, DGS wrote:

I am actually fearful that I had an anxiety attack...actually.

Yup, when he said you would basically be piloting the plane through take
off all the way to landing, I'd bet your subconscious brain heard, "You are
going to fly the airplane and I'm not going to help you."

He should have said, "I'll let you fly from take off to landing, but I'll
always have my hands on the controls."

After the seat belt thing, I'd run away from this guy.

Hey, I hope you'll come back and tell us how it goes the second time.

--
Dallas

Dallas wrote:

After the seat belt thing, I'd run away from this guy.

The spam cans I fly mention seat belts on at least three different
checklists, engine start / pre taxi, takeoff, and approach. G

On Mon, 11 Feb 2008 19:42:02 GMT, B A R R Y wrote:

The spam cans I fly mention seat belts on at least three different
checklists, engine start / pre taxi, takeoff, and approach. G

I hate pilots like this Discovery Flight instructor.

Before I was a pilot, I was invited by a friend to sit in the back seat of
a Citabria for an afternoon of punching holes in the sky.

This pilot did not do a walk around or a paper checklist, he just got in
and cranked it up. We taxied to the fuel pump and he started topping off
the tank. I asked him if he wanted me to connect the grounding wire and he
said, "It's not important." An instructor was also at the pump and he
said, "Oh, yes it is..." and he proceed to connect the ground himself. In
the sky, his "patterns" were big lazy ovals.

Who is this pilot friend of mine? He's a senior captain for a major
airline flying 737s.


--
Dallas

DGS wrote:
Any feedback or experiences anyone can share? At this point I'm
really torn about trying again, while on the other hand still not
necessarily ready to back down from the challenge. Does this get
better? Or worse?

It gets better. Lots of us have been through this.

Death grip on the controls? Overcontrolling? Terrified in turbulence?
It's pretty common.

One day during my training, I found myself on a solo in some moderate
turbulence. When I noticed that I was annoyed and not scared, I realized
that I had turned the corner.

My advice: keep trying. Consider another instructor, as several of us
have suggested, but don't worry about your reactions to the flight
situation. They're pretty common, especially on turbulent days, and
you'll do better as you get more experience.

.... Alan
--
Alan Gerber
PP-ASEL
gerber AT panix DOT com

"DGS" wrote in message

At that point I essentially broke out into a cold sweat.

The instructor should have recognized this. It's a symptom of stress.
You'd get used to it as a student pilot (learning to fly is a psychological
workout and the sweats just mean your brain is working) but it's not
appropriate to stress somebody out on what is basically a familiarization
flight. Discovery flights are supposed to be fun.

At this point I don't know what to do. I've got the money, and deep
down for years I've wanted to do this. But I know that I can't
continue to be that nervous and continue my lessons.

The nerves go away with experience and confidence. As a student you will
quickly learn that you control the airplane, not the other way around, and
that makes all the difference. But, you'll still sweat from the mental
workout once in awhile during training. It means you've had a full flying
day.

Any feedback or experiences anyone can share?

You don't want that instructor. He might be the best instructor in the city
for other people, but, not for you. Find somebody else, tell them what
happened and get ready for a much greater experience.

-c

Any feedback or experiences anyone can share? *At this point I'm
really torn about trying again, while on the other hand still not
necessarily ready to back down from the challenge. *Does this get
better? *Or worse?

I wouldn't back down . . . it took me a couple of instructors before I
found the right one for me. We all have different ways of learning
and it sounds like this instructor's style does not click with your
style of learning. There's nothing wrong with that, you just need to
find one that does.

Not to mention the fact that as a consumer of a service (flight
instruction) who is about to spend a lot of money learning to fly, you
have every right to shop around around until you find the best
provider of that service.

You've been given some really great suggestions. The cockpit can be
very intimidating until you "know" it. There are a bunch of guages,
radio's etc. You've got kind of cramped quarters, headphones on,
checklists and an instructor that you don't know. It is alot to deal
with. Your sim experience is great for the basics , but it has
nothing to do with the actual mental stress of being a pilot.

I had 4 instructors before I found the one I liked. That's just me,
others say grin and bear it. I strongly suggest NOT giving up on your
dream. Speak to some other instructors. Let them know exactly what
your situation is. A flight instructor may be a good pilot but a bad
teacher. Usually a good flight instructor has a large following and
well known reputation on the field.

IMHO if you get the right instructor and really learn the material you
will develop the confidence and decision making skills that you will
need to be a safe pilot. You are responding to an unfamiliar
situation with a demanding work load with a perception of potential
danger if you goof. Some time just sitting without the engine running
and getting comfortable with the location of everything, a slow start
up procedure, the flow of the checklist, a smooth gentle take off, a
precisely flown pattern and a good landing with the instructor on the
controls and you shadowing would go a long way to helping you.

Doug

Dgs,

Any feedback or experiences anyone can share?


Two things:

1. Re-evaluate your expectations of yourself. They are WAY too high!
Worrying about "not making any mistakes" on the discovery flight? The
instructor is there for your mistakes, so just stop worrying. If you
mess up, he'll be there to bail you out. You can't make no mistake
while you learn this.

2. RUN, don't walk from that instructor. Get a new one, someone you
click with. Shop around until you do.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)