Contents:
...Learning from Your Mistakes; ...Dealing with Delays; ...Preparation; ...Decisions, decisions, decisions; ...About Questions; ...It's about judgment; ...Visualizing Your Training; ...Side Notes; ...On Checklists; ...Mad as Hell and Taking It; Student Certificates; ...Medical Certification; ...Medical Certification Changes; ...Not making progress?; ...Recipe for Failure; ...Quitting Training; ...Areas of Failure; ...Organizing Flying; …Conquering Fear with Knowledge; …The Two-way Street of Flight Instruction; …Learning Based on the Mistakes of Others; …Changes That Are Among Us; …Anger and Learning to Fly; …Flying the Good Flight; …Landing Advice to Student; …Advice to Student; …Advice to a Pilot; …I Am Afraid to Fly Alone; …and Sin No More; …More about Accidents; …
A mistake is painful because we have been conditioned to experience
humiliation and shame. We expect ourselves to be
able to perform. When we don't or can't, our internal critics
tell us that we should be able to do better. Where an external
critic adds to the internal embarrassment we react with fear that
all such mistakes will recreate the emotional trauma.
Every flight is an opportunity to learn from you mistakes.
Perhaps the biggest mistake in the exercise of good judgment
is a failure to hear the voice of your own experience. Your own
experiences are not just what happens to you, it's what you believe
about what has happened to you. Your life experience at play or
work has prepared you for many of the coming flights. Already
you have had to unlearn, practice, study, relearn, and forget.
You are about to relive your life experiences again. A mistake
is an opportunity to find what works for you--and what doesn't.
Recovery from a mistake should give you a good feeling. You have
recovered, learned and reflected. All of which will make you a
better pilot.
When a pilot enters a situation with uncertainty the chances are
that his flying skills will be lessened. He will be spending at
least some brain cycles dealing with stress and the fears caused
by the uncertainty. Being told to relax by the instructor is not
going to help. Your ability to cope will only be achieved by exposure
and experience. The unexpected is always present as part of learning
to fly. Keep your priorities in order, fly the plane FIRST, navigate
and then communicate. You won't learn from your mistakes if you
fail to acknowledge it as 'yours'. Denial of your part in creation
of a flying mistake will only cause it to be repeated. The most
dangerous flying mistake is the one you 'get away' with perhaps
by not recognizing it as a mistake.
Flying is an art that takes knowledge, time, intensity, concentration
and self-discipline. In the beginning there are likely to be deficiencies
in knowledge and self-discipline. There will be excesses of intensity
and concentration. A student's perception of success and failure
is often based upon erroneous assumptions. Making mistakes is
part of the process. Asking questions is part of the process.
Being upset with yourself and the instructor is part of the process.
A mistake is not a failure. It is a survivable learning experience.
The worse thing that can arise from a mistake in judgment or performance
is for the person to believe that he can 'get away' with it again.
Making mistakes is the "wake up call" part of the learning/flying
process. Mistakes are not an enemy of learning. A recognized mistake
is a learning success. Think of a flying mistake as an experiment
that failed to produce the desired result. With each mistake/experiment
you can eliminate procedures that don't produce desired results.
The art of making flying mistakes is to turn them into tools of
learning and prevention. Efficiency in learning is through remembering
the results of your experiments. Student mistakes are what instructors
see best. This instructor critiques student mistakes to make sure
the cause, effect, and solution become apparent to the student.
Instructor "mistakes" are deliberate efforts to see
if the student is paying attention. Yeah!
The opportunity to make mistakes without fear of harm is an important
part of the training process. I prefer to let flying mistakes
develop in the process of flight training at least to the point
of student awareness. I will then, if conditions allow, take a
moment to discuss the cause, result and correction. I re-establish
the mistake situation and help the student work it out more safely.
Otherwise, I save the problem for ground discussion and a next
flight review. On occasion, I will deliberately create a situation
that calls upon the student to correct a mistake. The safe correction
of a potential problem is another essential student skill. All
good instructors let their students make mistakes. All good instructors
do not allow a specific mistake to become habitual or even occasional.
When an instructor tells you of a mistake, resist the urge to
defend yourself or deny that a problem exists. Assume your critic
to be right and of having the best of intentions to help you.
Learn to live with all your mistakes, especially flying mistakes,
without suffering. Use your internal critic to alert you of a
coming mistake, but don't allow it to influence your stress level.
Always, the instructor's premise is that you can do better next
time.
Self-analysis of your flying is important. Develop a curiosity
about what part went right until it went wrong. Do this in terms
of where you feel weak, deficient, or insecure. Look for your
mistakes. A few minutes reading, a short instructional flight,
or a solo flight directed to a specific area is money and time
well spent. If anxiety exists but you are uncertain as to the
area or cause, take a flight review. Proficiency is the best flying
insurance policy. You may not know what you don't know, but when
you do know there is something you don't know, get help. When
you are working to do every-thing right it is never boring.
You will better understand a difficulty or flying mistake by getting
feedback from other pilots. Share your experiences and listen
to similar experiences shared by others. You will never be able
to create a unique flying mistake. Go back to your instructor
and review the series of events from beginning to end. This changes
a critic into a mentor. In a single-pilot operation, you know
there's no one else to remind you so you pay closer attention,
or at least you should.
There are good mistakes. A good mistake leads you into finding
a better way of solving or avoiding a subsequent mistake. Not
every solution will work. Share your solutions. Don't try to re-invent
the wheel. Seek the opinion of others and alternate solutions.
Read as much as your time allows about the experiences and mistakes
of other flyers. Read their post-mistake advice. The advice that
is given to others is wiser than the advice we give to ourselves.
The objectivity of a story about a mistake allows others to see
why specific mistakes are made and how they can be avoided. The
highest level of learning is when students benefit from the experience
of another.
One of the advantages of learning to fly in the fall is the
greater probability of weather delays. A pilot learns to live
with and accept delays of any kind as part of flying. The pilot
who has an attitude problem that makes delay unacceptable is heading
for an accident. Some types of delay can be managed by planning
time allowances. Knowledge can be helpful, too. A flyer learns
to accept that everything cannot be controlled. Don't try to change
those things that can't be changed.
In a club, it is not unusual to arrive at the airport and find
that the aircraft is not fueled or may be low on oil. Know how
to make a quick check and how to make arrangements. What do you
do if the aircraft is not there? Call the answering service. Call
the scheduling officer or maintenance. How long will it take to
get air into a tire? What if the air filter is loose? I lost my
sectional. I left my flashlight home. Allow extra time in your
flight schedule to flex with unavoidable delay. You must adjust,
flex, and give up. On some days you were just not meant to fly.
The success of the instructional program is directly related
to the willingness of the student to study and prepare. It takes
a minimum of two hours of study for every hour of flight. Trying
to learn too much material too fast is wasteful of time and effort.
However, it is important to survey all the material to get an
overview of what must be covered and eventually learned. We will
not purchase the FAA written test questions until after all the
material is surveyed and then studied. You want the latest edition
of the FAA test to study.
As a student of flying you will learn in several ways, flying
is but one of them. You must talk to other pilots and ask questions.
Visit ATC facilities and become acquainted with the people you
talk to on the radio. It will make a difference in your desire
to improve your radio procedures. Communicate with the instructor
as to what you have read and heard. Even misinformation has value
when it is perceived as wrong. The more you know the better you
will be able to control and predict the occurrences of flying.
The highest level of learning is making use of someone's prior
experience.
The student or pilot having a flying problem will find that the
best and safest solution is a specific lesson from an instructor
directed toward the problem. However, more often than not, the
student is unable to express or identify what the trouble may
be. The unconscious realization that a difficulty exists that
cannot be explained creates even more tension. The rapport between
the student and instructor must be such that even the weirdest
concerns are freely expressed. Often the cause of difficulty can
be associated with lack of preparation, turbulence, absence of
a horizon, low visibility, or student fatigue.
The intellectual/emotional overloading of a student is a very
common and enervating event early in flight training. It can occur
because of pressures from the instructor. More commonly it comes
because of the student not being able to select the important
from the unimportant. What has occurred at home, work, or on the
way to the airport can affect the readiness of a student for a
flight lesson. It is far better for either the student or instructor
to cancel a lesson or at least cut it short if things are not
going well or not expected to go well.
You are normally capable of driving an automobile through dense
traffic while listening to the radio and carrying on a conversation.
Preoccupation with one aspect of flying such as one instrument
can create problems. Flying requires that attention be divided
between inside and outside the cockpit. This attention must never
be so concentrated that radio communications are not recognized.
A part of the brain/attention effort must always be reserved for
the radio. Hearing alone is not enough. That which is heard must
be recognized/analyzed for its significance and appropriate action
taken. Every communication has some significance to the pilot.
A student's ability to discriminate between the important and
unimportant spells the difference between safe and unsafe. The
competent pilot has developed his flight skills to the same level
used while safely driving a car. However, the student pilot is
expending so much intellectual and emotional energy into actual
flying that it is not unusual for the student to completely miss
radio calls or even airports.
A given flight is more than an accumulation of planning facts.
A flight is a multiplicity of decisions, options and choices.
Safe flying requires judgment that extends beyond the facts and
numbers of flying. A proficient pilot has a sense and feel for
the aircraft and flight conditions. A proficient pilot is ready
to admit insufficient knowledge, seek out experienced help and
follow local advice. What you learn in the pilot's lounge is often
more valuable than what is available from any other source.
Flight planning becomes a variable after liftoff. Your planning will undergo constant revision. To do otherwise is dangerous because winds are rarely as forecast. Weather forecasts are seldom on predictable time schedules and aircraft performance will vary. You are far better off to adjust the flight to the real time conditions as they occur. Being rigid in holding to your flight plan can be more dangerous than allowing flexibility based on safety options
Mistakes are a part of living. They are endemic to flying.
Treat flying mistakes as learning opportunities. Early recognition
of a mistake can prevent the progression of wrong choices to an
accident.
Decisions, decisions,
decisions
Even the best instruction will not suffice if the student does
not show good judgment. The student must always be making a series
of judgmental decisions at every phase of flight. These decisions
are made, just as while driving constantly and instantaneously.
This ability to judge is an intangible but essential part of living
and flying safely. What can you do to apply good judgment to flying?
1. Learn by the highest application of knowledge. That is, learn
from the experience of others. Read, listen, and ask questions.
(Year 200 Fortune cookie: A wise man learns from his mistakes;
A wiser man learns from the mistakes of others.
2. Fly with other pilots at every opportunity. What you learn
not to do is just as important as learning what to do.
3. Gain your experience a little bit at a time. A few 100-mile
flights are better than one across the country.
4. Keep studying, learning and flying. Long pauses in studying,
learning and flying are quite wasteful of time and money.
5. Don't hurry a new aircraft checkout. Two flights are much better
than one. Develop your own checklist.
A friend was hauling a body from a remote location in Canada.
Only a caretaker was around the strip. After considering the trees
that lined the runway and the fact that it was getting dark and
that deer could be a potential problem, he asked the old fellow
about the deer. The ole fellow said" Naw! Don't have no deer
problem." This made my friend relax. As he was climbing into
the aircraft the ole fellow said" No deer but better watch
out for the moose." My friend always says " Remember,
If you don't ask the right questions how do you expect to get
the right answers."
It's about judgment
In flying there are as many ways to gain skill and experience
as there are pilots. Time alone is a very poor criteria. Once
pilot may gain 100 hours of experience while another may gain
twenty hours of experience five times.
It is not enough to have the requisite skill and judgment to perform
a particular maneuver, you must also have confidence in your ability
to perform it as well. Everyone has a particular confidence level
in their abilities to perform certain tasks. Through repetition
you do certain rather complex procedures without conscious thought,
like driving to a nearby shopping center. We have very little
concern in doing this yet; statistically we are more likely to
have an accident close to home than
while on a trip. Thus it is apparent that familiarity and frequency
of exposure reduces anxiety and increases confidence.
I have only one known one person who claimed to have no sense
of fear. He was supervisor of a ward for the criminally insane.
He might, as well been one of the inmates. Our inbred sense of
fear is a survival kit. We do not push our activity envelope beyond
our comfort and confidence level. We prefer to test the edges
of anxiety under guidance and instruction. The ideal is to gain
exposure in relatively small adventures before testing the deeper
water for ourselves. Thus, we have a reasonable personal limitation.
It separates our comfort zone of experience and knowledge from
the anxiety zone. Some flying students know the line between these
regions better than others do. Survival is the name of the game.
Instructors set limits for student solo, often without explaining
just why. Limitations are part of flying. The setting of personal
limits is part of every flight we make for as long as we fly.
The best pilots know their limits and abide by them. Hair-raising
experiences are best left to those who need hair. (In-house joke.)
Experience is just a process of expanding the range of your limits.
We will expand our limits for takeoff conditions, crosswind conditions,
and every other aspect of our flying. As we grow in experience
so will our limits until they become a coherent image of our own
comfort and confidence zone. Still, there will be limits, when
a pilot senses that the limits are approaching he had better reach
into his bag of alternative options. The best of all choices although
a most difficult one is to stay on the ground.
Never Light Three
Cigarettes with one Match
This is a truism made
famous during WWI when it was discovered that lighting two cigarettes
could be safely done before
the enemy could detect and aim and fire on a target. The third
light meant trouble. Much the same can be said about a
succession of flight difficulties. The wise pilot has developed
sensitivity to the weather, his airplane and himself. Regardless
of the sequence these three elements when any two of them go sour
it is time to take action.
When things do not seem right
and you have a sense of uneasiness you should not take immediate
action. Rather, you
should spend a bit of time considering the situation. Few things
in flying require immediate action. Seek an explanation that
you can relax with. If you are still feeling uneasy, taking some
action is next in line. The sense of apprehension that can
develop is usually based upon our past experience. If this event
is beyond our experience the best option may be to get on
the ground.
When a pilot comes under stress mental errors tend to accumulate. It is important that every pilot develop a sensitivity to what can go wrong and the succession of wrong events that can follow. Once you have made your precautionary decision stick to it. Hopefulness always seems to run out of energy at the wrong time.
A student pilot, or any other
pilot for that matter, can practice flying even while not in a
plane. A situation can be visualized and simulated actions can
be practiced. Flying is not only with the mind but can and should
be in the mind. In your mind, plan ahead of a flight for the combinations
of controls, attitudes and maneuvers required to put the aircraft
where you want it. Skill is best demonstrated by the manner in
which a particular maneuver follows your 'in the mind' planning.
At some point in your training the instructor may cover the airspeed
indicator and have you "feel", sense and visualize the
aircraft as it proceeds. With allowances for the density altitude
and wind you should be able to "visualize" the aircraft
around the pattern to a landing. Some flying skill will be acquired
subconsciously, but in the main the student will need to rely
on their physical senses to control the aircraft. Sight will always
be the primary sense for your flying. In the beginning maximize
your use of the external sight picture. There will be plenty of
time to learn to relate the sight picture to the instrument picture.
The other senses have information that is available in the noise,
smell, and feel of pressure and vibration. We feel changes in
vibration frequency and amplitude. The senses combine to give
the pilot an over all feeling of what is both right and wrong
with the aircraft. Hearing is a neglected sense. A student wants
to learn the several 'constants' of engine rpm and airspeed sounds.
The sense of touch is the most neglected sense. You can only 'feel'
an airplane when holding it lightly, very lightly. The sense of
smell is best utilized as a danger sense. You can learn the smell
of the aircraft when it is performing well. Any other smell serves
as a warning. A change in your sensory perception of aircraft
performance is the first alert to take precautionary action. You
should never spell fuel. The last sense to get the fine-tuning
required to fly well is the sense of sight. With practice of the
right kind, you will begin to see the nose and horizon relationship
that exists in every flight situation. It takes time.
Speed is set visually; touch and kinesthetic sensitivity sense
speed changes. If you do not sense these changes you are more
apt to misuse the rudder. The body can sense, and be ever more
sensitive to the side pressures of a slip or a skid. Modern aircraft
make it possible for a pilot to fly dangerously well without being
sensitive to an uncoordinated rudder.
The ability to anticipate changes in control pressures required
for a particular maneuver must be developed. Failure to anticipate
the rudder movement required to move the nose as airspeed decreases
is a most common flight error. The behavior of instruments such
as the airspeed indicator and vertical speed indicator that lag
in relation to sound and attitude changes must be expected and
understood. Chasing the airspeed indicator is a common student
fault. Even worse is not recognizing that the VSI takes about
12 seconds before giving accuracy indications unless the control
movements are exceptionally smooth. Starting the trim from a known
position and keeping track of its movements in various flight
configurations makes possible rapid/correct trim pressure corrections.
You should accept every opportunity to review your basic skills
by airwork and ground reference. This is not a waste of time or
money. Exercises that improve your ability to make wind-drift
corrections and timing will improve your airport pattern work.
You need to make adjustments by anticipation. The only reason
your instructor 'knows' when you are high. low, wide, too fast
or slow is because of his experience in anticipation. Do whatever
it takes to place your aircraft where you want it.
Do you fly around, below, above certain areas to avoid communications?
Do you try to enter a certain way into an airport and to avoid
others? Do you avoid crosswind-landing opportunities when they
become available. Do you ignore practice in ground reference,
stalls, slow flight, and night proficiency? Challenge your weaknesses
until they become areas of strength.
Side
Notes:
1. The Law of Firsts (Haviland's) , "The first time you do,
you shouldn't have, The first time you don't, you should have."
2. Flying is a situation where the pilot is solely responsible
for the welfare of the aircraft.
3. Knowledge can be maintained through reading and study. Judgment
is best developed through the experiencing and management of actual
flying situations.
4. Pilot skill is a product of physical and mental practice in
the airplane.
5. Any flying skill acquired can only improve if exercised. Your
skills will never remain static. Skills erode from lack of use;
they remain relatively constant with occasional use; they improve
only with clearly defined goals that have measurable criteria
for performance.
6. A refresher lesson should be based upon a single maneuver.
This maneuver should contain a wide set of the four basics. It
should be fun but challenging.
7. In flying there is only one person responsible for the actual
flying of an aircraft and that person is also responsible for
the safety of that flight.
8. Having a functional checklist that fits your method of operation
is more important than having a one checklist fits all available.
Have the checklist, use it at the same place and time; every time.
9. The more unusual your flying situation the more important it
is that you slow down the airplane and use the appropriate checklist.
10. You will avoid one potential ATC 'deal' if you take upon yourself
the responsibility to clear the final approach course prior to
crossing the runway hold bars.
11. As a student or VFR pilot you should know the terms and positions
used by IFR pilots flying at airports where you fly. At unfamiliar
fields you should query ATC as to IFR reports to your planned
route. The lower the visibility the farther away from IFR routes
you should stay.
12. One way to detect maintenance oversights is to make regular
changes of maintenance facilities.
13. The ability to fly an airplane through all the airspeeds and
maneuvers of its envelope is a skill foundation that is
transferable from aircraft to aircraft.
1. Flying an airplane requires
that a series of relatively complex procedures. A checklist is
most viable if a long series is broken into several functionally
related sectors.
2. Any error of a checklist should be studied to determine if
the error was one of commission or omission.
3. Procedures can become rituals without the mental alertness
to confirm what is being done. This ritual checklist leads to
the error of expectation. It is not enough to pretend to use a
checklist as a ritual. Such a checklist is often very complete,
interesting, and pretty, but without use it is a potential danger.
4. There is more to making checklists than just the making. The
usefulness of a checklist is proof that the things on the list
are worth doing.
5. Many aircraft have pasted checklists on the panel or commercial
lists that are 'universal' for the type but ill suited for the
model year. These checklists are technically correct only if they
contain everything in the POH checklist. They usually do not cover
even the POH requirements nor do they cover all the radio procedures
and frequencies.
6. Using a checklist that is not of your own making and practice
even for the preflight is VERY poor procedure. Some excellent
checklist makers are not very good users.
7. Go to Aircraft folder for sample checklists.
In flying we react in an emergency as we first learned to react. When we show anger we react as we first learned to react. Just as understanding an aircraft emergency will enable us to cope with it, so will a better understanding of anger help to defuse it. Almost any situation or delay can become an invitation for you to become angry. You are not required to accept the invitation. You may accept the invitation and become angry or you chose to ignore it. It didn't happen. You can intellectually reduce the 'sting' by assuming that you were not the target of the invitation in the first place. Skill in flying will improve most anyone's emotional stability.
You do not need a medical certificate until you fly by yourself. It is suggested that you get your medical before you go to any major expense of time, money or effort. Once a pilot, your concern is not the checkrides. Rather, it is the continuation of your medical that will allow you to become an old pilot.
The medical is used to determine if there is any condition that could impair your ability to fly. There are three classes of medical certification. First Class is good for six-months as for airline transport pilots. Second Class is for one-year as for pilots who fly for hire such as sightseeing flights. Third Class is for 24 months and covers all other pilots. Another Third Class medical includes a yellow student pilot certificate. Glider pilots do not need a medical. These parameters may change in 1995. As of 1995 changes have occurred mainly based on how often a medical renewal is required. Age is the dividing line.
The medical standards are in FAR Part 67. FAA Form 8500-8 is the "Application for a Medical Certificate." All of the information on this application must be answered truthfully and completely. Any change in this information that would affect your ability to fly or pass the medical requires that you ground yourself.
Every medical certificate can
have waivers of such things as limited vision, hearing, or color
blindness. A certificate may have limitations such as wearing
glasses or no night flight. A Special Issue Medical Certificate
can be issued if the pilot can prove
that it will not unpredictably affect his flying performance.
Any medical condition can be certified if it is not a risk to
safe
flight. One eyed, deaf, one armed, and wheelchair bound pilots
have become successful pilots. Some conditions of diabetes
and heart disease can be made worse in the flying environment
and preclude any certificate.
Student Certificates
A student pilot over 40 years of age may find that his medical
requirements run out before his student license does.
Regardless of the date issued, it is possible that they expire
differently. Be sure to check the requirements before you solo
or take your flight test.
Medical
certification changes:
All Classes No vision
waiver required if corrected to 20/20
150/95 blood pressure standard will be in effect.
3rd Class Under age 40 exam will be good for three years
40 to 70 good for two years; 70 for one year.
Second Class Electrocardiogram (EKG) at ages 35 and 40 and then
every two years.
First Class EKG required annually after age 40
Cholesterol check after age 50.
I doubt that there is a pilot flying who has not at one time or another felt the twinge of doubt that his learning curve is not going well. The emotions involved can run the gamut, self-doubt, blame, resentment, and anger. Quit, seek support, change instructors, and kick the dog are typical initial reactions.
We begin expecting that flying will be much as we have seen it in the media and read in books. We often assume that our prior experience and even expertise in another field will transfer into flying and expedite the learning process. Not so. A very important part of learning to fly is to unlearn all the preconceptions we have acquired since childhood. It is very difficult to overcome first learned ideas. We are very used to adding power to go faster. Yet, just adding power to an airborne airplane makes it go slower. Pointing an airplane up does not mean that it is going or will go up. Instinctive reactions can be very dangerous when applied to flying airplanes. Illusions exist and will be believed by even the best of pilots.
Much of the difficulty in giving flight instruction arises from communication problems. The instructor has acquired an experience 'bank' from his own training and teaching. The instructor's problem is to fit his knowledge and presentation of it into your learning requirements. The student is not a blank slate. As the previous paragraph indicates the student is loaded with flying information. The student doesn't know what he doesn't know. What he knows he knows may be all the way from totally correct in concept and application to just the opposite and anywhere in between.
This is the 'playing field' of flight instruction. The student and instructor must communicate information and understanding back and forth. This communication can be verbal, demonstration, emotional and even extra-sensory. Instructors want every student to be a successful student. Every student wants to succeed. When it doesn't work out it is most often a failure to communicate.
The unsuccessful student has several
deficiencies:
1. Lacks motivation and commitment. Expects flying to be all fun.
Learning to fly is hard work.
2. Unwilling to put in the time or do the homework.
3. The lesson is not just to perform a maneuver. The student fails
to know why the maneuver is required in the first place.
4. Gets angry when things don't go well. Tends to blame others
for his failures. Resents test requirements as well as knowledge
requirements.
5. Expects instant and continuous success. Has a rationale for
every lack of preparation or knowledge.
6. Unable to maintain a schedule for a successful training program.
7. Using flying to overcome a personal or emotional difficulty.
May have a feeling of personal superiority that makes flying come
naturally.
8. May be perfectionist so that flying is too stressful because
he can't reach his standards from the beginning.
9. Lacks ability to exercise good judgment.
Students do not quit flight training because of student failure; rather it is because of instructor failure. Students want very much to please their instructors. When a student senses that the instructor is unhappy this serves as a form of discouragement. Students need encouragement and a sense of progress. Both of these are easier for the instructor if flights are scheduled several times a week. Flights only once a week are less likely to show progress. It is my opinion that false praise is worse than no praise at all. I am not given to false praise.
A student senses when there has been a good lesson. An emotionally draining lesson can still be satisfying to a student. I am currently teaching a student who having made one very good solo flight has been reluctant to go again until all the possible hazards to another flight have been mastered. Two flights ago we did slips until they became enjoyable. One flight ago we did crosswind landings left and right in 12 knot 90 degree winds. I mentioned to here that she was to call me for a flight the first indication that she had of strong winds because I wished to explore with her the upper crosswind limits of the aircraft and pilot.
Today, after doing three landings into a 20+knot wind we did four 90-degree crosswind landings. Even on a short runway we required an indicated speed of 80 knots in a C-150 just to gain sufficient rudder authority to hold the nose parallel to the runway. One of these landings was to a full stop.
Then we headed home where we had 70-degree 14-knot winds. We did four in the left pattern into a 3000' 75' wide runway and then four into a 5000' 150' wide one. We used everything from partial to full flaps in these landings and after our previous experience with 20+ knot winds the 14 knot winds made the cross-controlling possible at 60 knots. Not all of these landings were great but even the worst of them would have been considered satisfactory for the conditions. This was a heavy dose for a student but I had the feeling that this experience has given her the confidence needed to solo again to another airport.
Often overcoming a training difficulty makes more demand on time and attention than the student has available. Tendency of the discouraged student is to put off such things as solo, written, crosswind landings or the flight test until their 'busy' period goes away. The above story shows that one solution is to proceed with concentrated training to get through a difficult period.
Area # 1
The student and instructor must enter into the program realizing
that learning to fly has certain parameters that can make the
process either easier or harder. Obviously, the more time, money,
and resources available the better. A weakness in any of these
areas is going to affect instruction, communication, and learning.
Over half of all flight students never complete their flight training.
The student would be well advised never to start with any of these
parts showing deficiency. The instructor performs a disservice
to the student and flying by starting someone who is ill prepared
and qualified to finish.
Area # 2
Flying is learned best by total immersion. Practical limits prevent
most people from this process. The result is a compromise by doing
what is possible. Less time, less money and less communication
results in less progress. At some point the student and instructor
will recognize that the process is breaking down. Lessons decrease
in frequency. Repetition creates a sense of no progress. Frustration
affects both the student and instructor. The instructor starts
pushing, the student feels even more pressured. Unhappiness reigns.
Area # 3
In the beginning the instructor will accept as normal a wide variation
in performance. Everything seems to be progressing fine. Then,
little by little the tolerance levels is narrowed. Altitude, headings,
airspeeds, trim, and attitudes are going through changes leading
to landings. Mistakes happen, are created, and are resolved in
the process so that safety is not compromised. Student radio exposure
increases. During this period student overload often occurs. The
failure of a basic skill can bring progress to a halt.
Almost any basic skill can be responsible for requiring a basics refresher flight or two. Airspeed awareness in climb, turns, cruise, and descent has parameters that are essential to safety. Banking limits along with heading interceptions must be performed within relatively narrow limits. Anticipation takes the place of reaction. The time of performance is important many aspects of flight cannot be unduly delayed in the airport pattern know what to do, when and do it. Hesitation, delay, uncertainty, or mistakes must become a non-factor. Any lack of progress requires going back to basic procedures at altitude.
Area # 4
The instructor is beginning to feel the responsibility that goes
with student solo. There are relatively few situations where responsibility
for life and safety exposure exceeds that of a flight instructor.
The student, too, is feeling this pressure from the instructor
and is having mental and emotional qualms as the solo day nears.
The flying culture has attached far too much emphasis on the solo.
While it is indeed a significant step, it really means a change
in the number of instructors. The solo student is his own instructor.
Where the student fails to plan, take responsibility, practice,
and study he fails as an instructor. Progress will plateau just
at the time it should accelerate.
Area # 5
When a student is not making expected progress it is up to the
instructor to come up with a plan. More frequent flights, more
elaborate ground instruction, a revised procedure, a different
airport, and partial panel to change visual focus. Don't keep
beating the same process when it's not working. Get some variety
into the lessons. The instructor may suggest experiments to find
how the mental process may be misdirecting the physical performance.
Maybe the instructor should demonstrate more frequently. Just
perhaps, there is no solution for the existing problem between
the student and instructor. Take a week off to concentrate on
bookworm instead of flying. Get the written out of the way. The
progress may be revitalized by contradictory actions. Taking a
week off from flying and study can act as a refresher. Flying
three days in a row has been known to get things going again.
Just go together for an airplane ride. Every instructor will have
his share of failures. Learn to live with this probability.
Make card that covers the flight just flown:
I learned... I feel better about...
Worried about...
Analysis... analysis... analysis... Next time... Enjoyed... Look
out for...
Conquering Fears with Knowledge
Fear is a basic part of learning to fly. A trainee is learning to both accept and control fear. He is making progress when he locates the origins of your fears. Fears are important in making it possible for one to become a better (read safer) pilot. Fear is an ever-present by-product of flying. Fear makes a student use a checklist, eyes, mind and skill. If, in the performance of a particular operation, frightens a student use it as a wake-up call that need to be revisited.
The longer the delay in visiting past fears the more hazy the memory will become. Time will dilute both proficiency and memory. Fear that is faced and overcome becomes respect. A pilot must have respect for the weaknesses of the aircraft and himself. It is important that a pilot have fear, controlled fear makes it possible for us to deal with expected problems. Personal limits in facing a problem situation, when exceeded causes a sense of fear. Fear is a limit switch on what a pilot will attempt, or it should be.
When we become fearful we get an adrenaline rush that heightens our awareness and sensitivity to what is happening. The backside of this condition is that we become centered on the most obvious threat. Our performance becomes reactive instead of anticipatory. The situation is just a likely to be a gradual increase of stress as a sudden event. At some point the pilot is faced with an accumulation of options that overload his ability to select and sequence his choices. Fear is instinctive and may not truly reflect actual threat conditions. As the Mercedes TV ad says, Perception is not always reality.
A pilot has several emotional stages that develop during hazardous flight. First comes a sense of uneasiness. This progresses into tension and stress. As stress and tension increase there is a gradual increase in respiration and heart rate. Anxiety sets in with an accompanying increased rate of breathing that precipitates hyperventilation. The final step to panic is when a sense of suffocation exists and aircraft control is not accompanied by the required mental input.
There is a point, prior to an actual accident, when the fear development processes have a moment when avoidance is possible. Once beyond that point avoidance is not possible. This is not a point at which intelligence ends and stupidity begins. It is a point at which a judgment decision in the selection of an option was made. The pilot and flight are then trapped and every option becomes less and less desirable.
The absence of fear and its associated respect may well be why so many accidents by pilot error (mistakes) are made by good pilots. This is a judgment problem of the pilot rather than a performance problem of the aircraft. The pilot must be able to make good and safe decision choices. Poor choices are most likely to occur when the pilot is stressed, fatigued or chemically out of balance. Out of balance?
Apparently, one way to insulate a pilot against stress, fear and panic is by repeated exposure to the situations that lead to them. Any such exposure should be incrementally gathered. With each experience you will be learning to distinguish between resolvable situations and those that must be avoided. Knowing when not to fly is just as important as knowing when to fly.
Good decision making is a function
of good health as much as anything else. You're eating habits
and lifestyle affect how well your brain functions. The brain
is very much impaired if the water level falls too low. Caffeinated
drinks and coffee act as diuretic. After the initial pickup of
the caffeine the companion dehydration can impair your mental
functioning. If you plan to fly over distance, carry water. Just
read that parts of the world make a practice of drinking half
a cup of olive oil every morning. Not exactly something that I
would relish but olive oil contains the kind of fat that is utilized
by the brain. A certain amount of fat is needed for best mental
function. Pilot error is more likely a pilot deficiency than an
aircraft deficiency. (Fits more under health but is common cause
of decision making accidents)
The Two-way Street of Flight Instruction
Instructional time is
not a display of what the instructor knows. Rather, it is a time
spent showing others about what you know. Helping a student to
think ahead of the airplane requires that opportunities for that
thinking be presented and allowed to grow.
Anticipation is an area of flight instruction where an instructor
may be doing a student a disservice by not letting a student get
far enough into a maneuver to learn his own outer limits. Instructor
intervention, initially, is a guide but continued intervention
fails to allow student development. One way to improve this situation
is to have the student verbalize his thinking. Keeping the instructor
apprised of what is going through the student mind will let the
instructor refrain intervention with more comfort. I have found
that keeping quiet is very difficult for me. Even when I say I
will, I won't.
When a student does not perform as instructed, the correct question should be, "What has the instructor done wrong?" Your instructor's greatest success probability in your instruction is directly related as to what he learns about how you learn. Teaching skill has much to do with the acquisition of sensitivity. A good instructor senses (sees) student tension and frustration. This sensibility leads him to break off into another area. Any given areas of student difficulty requires an instructors willingness to pause in the process and come back another time perhaps in a different way to prod a student on. It is equally important that the instructor inhibit any internal need for student success. Once the student senses impatience on the part of the instructor, stress behaviors arise.
It is not common knowledge among
students that instructors suffer their failures and plateaus along
with the student. Instructors are aware of the fears and concerns
of the student and seek to give exposure that will reduce the
pressure. One of the common student difficulties is lack of confidence
in the ability of the aircraft to fly hands-off. I like to have
the students prove to themselves that, given the opportunity,
an airplane will fly more smoothly without student impute. The
light touch feels the plane better than the squeeze. Teaching
the student to lighten up is one of the more difficult instructional
goals.
The direction of flight instruction is to take the student beyond
the rote learning to the ultimate of application into an otherwise
unrelated situation. Watched a test pilot training program on
TV the other night where the pilots were constantly engaged in
taking experimental aircraft into previously unexplored regions
of the flight envelope. No previous data out there; only the NECESSITY
of using previously acquired knowledge and skills in a new context.
This is where the instructor's training wants to take every student
even though the good judgment part of such training teaches avoidance
of such situations.
Learning
Based on the Mistakes of Others
I read about hundreds
of aircraft accidents every year. I usually read with a marking
pen. In every case of an accident I try to mark the one word or
phrase that is the 'root cause' of the accident. I do this so
that I can build my bank account of things to avoid in my own
flying.
With 80% of these accidents related to human factors, the indication is that I am the most likely cause and area of concern. A pilot must know his equipment, especially regions of weakness subject to failure. A knowledge deficiency is the second source of problems. The information you have is NOT all that is available. Flying without the full deck of cards puts all that you do at greater risk.
Every accident is the ball at
the end of a chain of decisions. Most accident reports are analyzed
by going backwards from the accident through the decision sequence
the got to the accident. This second guessing process makes it
relatively easy to fix responsibility. The pilot does not have
this hindsight so knowing how bad decisions lead to a succession
of bad decisions can be a red flag of warning.
Changes that are Among us:
1. Weather is an area that is NEVER mastered. Having never flown
in severe turbulence, icing nor thunderstorms I have no experience
with them. Weather knowledge is used for avoidance not mastery.
2. Airspace cannot be effectively
learned nor mastered without flight experience. The fact that
weather acts as a switch to
turn on/off specific airspace requirements, makes it vital that
you fly into the airspace in a variety of weather conditions so
as to fully understand how airspace works.
3. Few pilots fly with an actual awareness of the aerodynamics that occur during flight maneuvers. Most can get by just fine without technical knowledge. Those into aerobatics had better know the what and why of control forces and aircraft limits.
4. We are in the midst of a dramatic
decline in navigational basic skills. LORAN started over 50 years
ago in developing
reliance on electronic navigation. GPS is the cap-stone. Making
things easier is not necessarily making them better.
5. Radio use is best taught in
the actual flying environment. Knowing what to say has an additional
requirement of knowing
where to say it. So knowing where you are is a radio proficiency
factor. Your level of radio skill will vary in different flight
situations so willingness to admit a deficiency is important.
Anger and Learning to Fly
Anger is normal. Uncontrolled anger is a problem. Anger is uncontrolled
when it is inappropriate, prolonged, excessive or out of context.
There are people who are in a perpetual state of uncontrolled
anger. More often than not, the victim of their outrage is not
really the target but is selected as available. If your threshold
for frustration is low then, in today's world, you are spending
considerable time angry. The angry need a flight or argument to
justify their wrath.
Those of us who are prone to displays of anger are ill fitted for flight. Flying, learning to fly, or teaching of flying is subject to innumerable frustrations of delay. Weather, maintenance, medicals, incompetence, malfeasance, misfeasance, and nonfeasance all conspire against the making of an individual flight. The internet groups resound with the wails of frustrating anguish of fliers unable to fly. I had my medical problems last year.
The angry pilot is going to press against the source of his frustration. An angry pilot is going to make mistakes. There will be mistakes of judgment, procedure, and decision making. Anger when uncontrolled is expressed in irritability or aggression but not always. Fatigue and depression are symptomatic of some angers. Anger does result in irregular heart rhythms and heart attacks.
Most anger is the outcome of a personality who is unable to get along with his fellow man. Being chronically angry means that you are cynical, demanding, suspicious, defensive and hostile toward any non-submissive person within in range. The chronically angry deals with a world of enemies, constantly attempting to tear down others as a form of self-flagellation as though by making others less one can become bigger.
I am constantly reminded of the years I spent teaching retarded children. They were living in a world of hurt. More often than not, school was frustrating with little opportunity or ability to succeed as did other students. Those who could would physically or emotionally abuse others. Much of my teaching energy was spent in redirecting anger into more acceptable things to do. I remember one child that I gave a hammer and a garbage can. He enjoyed the noise as he beat the can into a pancake. Did it help? Don't know but it took pressure off the rest of the class.
Flying
the Good Flight
It is often that a pilot
is hard pressed to justify making a flight. Flying cannot be proven
to be safer, faster, cheaper, or more practical than getting there
another way. The training pilots get does not help making the
justification for flying any easier.
Training seldom faces the risks of the most difficult areas of flying. Pilots spend considerable time practicing landings but not much in strong crosswinds. Student cross-country flying deliberately avoids strong winds and turbulence. The question is, how is the student to learn aircraft and pilot limits without exposure to selective flying, avoidance of winds, and crosswind options.
Running away, not being exposed will not always be an option. You cannot always escape the unexpected crosswind landing or turbulence. What you do is dependent upon your training. Not every instructor is allowed by the FBO to expose the student to developing the required flying in adverse conditions. I make a practice of exposing students to SVFR, 90-degree crosswinds over twenty knots, rain and turbulence in graduated doses.
Fuel management and judgment is an important training regimen. The inviolate limits of time and fuel must be trained into every flight and lesson. Training a student for the limits of one aircraft must be emphasized as a procedure to be carried out in every subsequent aircraft. Decisions made in marginal weather occur as a series or chain. A student must be exposed to such situations and show how to break the sequence. Denial of what is known to be true requires strong pre-decided decisions. Mother nature is strong enough to teach even the best of pilots lessons.
Landing
Advice to Student
The cause(s) of your problem are all minor but multiple. You are
still letting instinct interfere. Instinct would have you keeps
the wings level, look at the ground, and not believe that the
runway will under the airplane. Landing is very much an act of
Faith.
You need to have your instructor
take you up and practice several basic landing skills until they
become automatic.
1. In two or three minute sessions, practice doing Dutch rolls.
2. Line up on a runway from two or more miles out at an altitude
of 2500'. Trim to final approach speed, initially without flaps
and later with partial flaps. Now, using your Dutch roll skills
lightly, slide the aircraft back and forth across the runway centerline
while keeping the nose straight (Parallel) with the runway.
3. Looking close to the aircraft will cause you to fly into the
ground with the nozzle. Look at the far end of the runway as you
go into the flare and cover it with the nose as the aircraft starts
to sink (elevator feeling) will usually give satisfactory landings.
Perfect landings are more a matter of luck.
Advice
to Student
You will learn something
from every instructor, good or bad. You will also learn in proportion
to the amount of information you bring with you. A good student
makes any instructor look good. Teachers and instructors tend
to teach the way they were taught. Another truism I use is, "It
is a poor student who does not exceed his teacher."
I know I am not answering your question. I have no answer. There is no one right way to teach or fly. Teaching and flying is just a continuum of options. Ultimately you will take all you have learned and combine them into 'your way'. This is the way you will teach.
Availability of instructor, aircraft and yourself is essential so that you can fly often. A busy good instructor may not do for you what a poor instructor can do just by being available. Do not waste your money on an instructor who cannot be on time. Watch out for instructors who believe that the king is never late. Especially if they think they are the king. Be early yourself for every lesson and listen to other students. You can learn a great deal by listening.
Experience does not make a good
teacher. Experience can save you time, however. I always
fly into the wind when leaving our home field for airwork. This
will keep us closer and get us back quicker. I make an effort
to leave the airport in a different manner every flight and come
back a different way. I do Dutch rolls on climb-out after the
first lesson. This is a basic crosswind skill that takes five
three-minute efforts before you get one right. Never hold the
yoke with more than two fingers at any time. Practice flying with
just the rudder. You are learning to land from your first lesson.
If it flies you can learn in it. Unlearning is the most difficult
part of flying.
Stay with your current instructor and speed up your lessons so you can have him as long as possible. Reputation is not as important as person to person empathy. You can learn a great deal from an airplane that has problems. As you progress in aviation, flying in a new aircraft is a rare occasion.
Advice
to a Pilot
As you age in flying, you have gone through all the different
ways of doing things. At some point you make a decision as to
what is the best of the 'possibles' and stick with it. Those who
become creatures of habit are defined by that habit. The way we
hold the yoke, the way we hold and move the throttle.
The best way to break a habit is to do something that is totally out of your comfort zone. The learning of a new way to do something will get new energy flowing and will take years off your thinking. The inability to change the way you have always done a particular thing may be an inhibition that prevents you from making progress.
I Am Afraid
to Fly Alone (Opinion)
While I think I am the only one this pathetic, I wanted to see
if anyone else out there experienced this or knows of someone
who has.
I started flying back in 1997. I was one of those people (probably
like most of you) who always loved the idea of flying since childhood.
I was never able to really act on it since my parents didn't support
the activity fearing its dangers. So, it was not until I was some
years out of college that I was finally able to act on my dream.
I opted to do one of those demo flights for $30 to see how I would
like the real thing (I had been flying PC sims for many years).
To be honest, I was scared to death in the thing! I felt like
I was in some sort of soup can with wings (Cessna 152). After
completion of the flight, I went home to think about it. I decided
a day or so later that I need another $30 intro flight before
being able to make a decision. I still felt scared on that flight,
however, I felt much better about it (experience does that I suppose...even
if it is just one experience). I decided at that point to give
it a go. I should mention here that I had in fact already picked
up the King ground course and watched each tape many times and
had gone through the computerized sample tests they provide.
I flew with this particular school at a towered airport for many months. The school wound up going out of business so I transitioned to a different, much larger school at a much larger airport. Had a great instructor who flew with me for about a year before going on to the "big leagues". I soloed during that time after about 22 hours. This was several hours longer than when my instructor wanted to solo me, however, I did not feel comfortable before then. I transitioned to another instructor who I like very much as well. I spent the next year + with this instructor and wound up with about 120 hours total. I did several solos during that time including cross-country, but I did not do my long distance cross-country. My instructor felt I had the skills to take and pass the flight exam somewhere between 65-80 hours. However, I did not have enough solo time and I did not feel "comfortable". Finally it came to the point where my instructor was not going to do any more sign-offs thus I would have to finish up within the period of the last sign-off.
I tried hard to do this, however, my solo confidence got worse with each passing day. If I flew with someone else in the plane, they could take nap and I could easily pilot the plane on any required trip. Solos, however, were a different matter and I found that each solo I experienced more fear and dread and my landings got worse and worse. Again, no such landing problems occurred with the safety blanket on board (i.e. the instructor). Here is where the story turns really pathetic. It came to a point where I would get in the airplane to solo, taxi out to the run-up area and sit. Finally, not being able to convince/berate myself into doing it, I would taxi back, park the plane and make up some lame excuse why I had to terminate the flight and why I no longer had time that day to try again. This went on more times than I would ever like to admit. Finally, telling myself that if I did not do it, that this would be it, the end of my flying, I was able to take-off to do some pattern work. I felt scared to death and my first landing was so bad that I made it a full stop and ended the day.
Well, ending it that day meant really ending it. I did not return and we are now sitting one year later. During that year, I continued getting all of the flying mags, and I even (this is so sad) continued paying dues at the FBO each month. I guess I always felt that I wanted/needed to return to flying and that canceling these things would really mean that my dream had ended. There has hardly been a day that has gone by this past year that I don't think about. This is easily the most disappointing thing I have engaged in my life. I have no other life experiences by which to help guide me in this situation. However, after a year I have actually felt very close to returning to it. I started studying the material again and I almost went down to the airport. I have not thought, as I could not stand the thought of going through this again. I realize, however, that I HAVE to make a decision one way or another. This cannot continue no matter how painful.
If you actually made it through
this story, than I greatly appreciate it. Again, I am just curious
to know how exactly alone I am with this issue. While I don't
expect anyone to have done the ridiculous things I have, I am
interested to know if anyone has to perhaps a lesser degree.
Thanks.
…And
Sin No More
--Every pilot has a right
to be proud of his skills and accomplishments. It is my opinion,
that only a poor pilot fails to
exceed his instructor. Beware, pride goeth before the fall.
--We who fly lesser aircraft sit in envy of those aircraft that
fly higher, faster, longer and with more 'goodies'. Know your
personal limits and those of your aircraft. Do not attempt to
fly beyond capability.
--Part of your preflight is of yourself. Do not fly when angry.
Emotional upset will affect both your skills and judgment.
Keep your flying a happy time.
--It does not pay to slack off in your flying preparation. Sloth
in flight preparation and training is a high-percentage path to
an unexpected end.
--Beware of high expectations, good intentions and grand anticipation.
Life and the weather are not fair. Pilots who are
too optimistic of what lies ahead are doomed to frequent disappointment.
--As with the human body, an aircraft loaded is not so much a
problem as is where the load is carried. Avoid gluttony
when filling your aircraft with fuel, baggage or passengers.
--Enjoy your flying but excessive time in the air is not healthy
nor wise. Lust not too much for extra time in flight. Make
frequent stops for the sake of your health and comfort.
More About
Accidents
According to accident
statistics, instruction should place more emphasis upon pilot
judgment rather than the physical skills
of flying. Only 6-percent of a pilots flying occurs in the immediate
vicinity of an airport but 57-percent of the accidents
occur there. 93-percent of fatal stall spin accident occur below
pattern altitude. The stall spin is tied to aircraft design as
shown that leading edge cuffs on training aircraft can eliminate
95-percent of pattern spins due to misuse of controls. The
same aircraft without cuffs and the same misuse of controls would
spin between 88 and 98-percent of the time. Percentage
of Controlled Flight into Terrain (CFIT) is rising because other
accident causes are being reduced.
The pilot who cannot assess flight
risk is most likely to fly into trouble. 80 to 85 percent of all
accidents are the result of
pilot judgment. Antihistamines, antidepressants and marijuana
on average cause over two accidents every month.
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