My first frustrating session

[MAKG1]

I've heard that advice before. I think I will be more relaxed next time and should be able to think better. Flying for 3 hours tomorrow, if I report back you'll know I nailed at least one.

Yikes.

I did a few three hour instrument lessons, and it wiped me out.

In primary training, the longest was two hours, and it really was a bit too long.

Unless that's two separate flights with a significant rest between, it's too long. You won't learn anything past 90 minutes or so.

 

[2Airtime2]

I should have said 3 hr lesson. There's always some ground school, preflight inspection, etc. I won't be flying the whole time.

 

[2Airtime2]

I've got around 6 hrs of flying and flew 2.1 hrs yesterday. Things are starting to flow. Preflight inspection, checklists, radios, takeoffs are really good and smooth at the correct attitude.

Maneuvers, flying around a ground reference point, figure 8's over a straight road, steep turns (fun) are all good staying coordinated and holding alt pretty good.

I'm indifferent about reporting the quality of my landings. We had light winds yesterday and that allowed me to concentrate on the task without getting blown offline. Pattern flying is great ending on final lined up very well and on correct slope. I did 5 touch and goes and 1 landing to a full stop at the end.

ONE landing was very close to perfect. One was much harder that desired. One was a minor bounce followed by a normal touch. The rest were ok at best but anyone watching WAS NOT jealous.

I normally have very good hand eye coordination and not getting this landing thing after 2 or 3 tries is frustrating.

 

[mulligan]

Got 3 hours in today. 9 take off and landings in my new plane. What a difference. All but one landing and one takeoff made me feel like I finally am putting everything together. Going back out tomorrow and Friday but today was a major confidence booster. The president of my flight school said don't get discouraged if you regress in your new plane but it was just the opposite. They even started talking solo. A ways to go but much progress so in happy as a pig in mud

 

[classicrock]

Well I had my first frustrating session. Everything has been going very well. Worked on patterns and landings today and it was awful. I feel like I kept getting mixed messages and just really don't have this thing down yet.

Your a little low followed by keep your nose down. Which one is it, gain altitude or keep nose low?

Center yourself to runway add left aileron but my sight picture had me believe I was left of the runway.

I kept asking for speeds and altitudes on the downwind, base and final and kept getting numbers are for IFR this is just a feel kind of thing. Look at the windshield is all you have to do.

I understand what she is trying to get me to do, my brain just isn't registering with what she is saying vs what I think needs to be done. At the end of the day she is the instructor and is correct, I am just getting very frustrated because I can't get my brain to put it all together.

On top of it we had a sticky flap switch which would make the flaps go all the way down unless you moved it back up, unbalanced fuel tanks 19 in right and 13 in left to start the day and gusty conditions.

Wow am I discouraged. But I know it is ok to have bad days and I'll get back at it again next week. Just though I would share for others who have bad days so we all know it's normal!!

CFI's may all be competent pilots but that doesnt mean any particular CFI is the best one for you.I am a PPL in training also and I have now flown with 7 CFI's. the first two attempted to help me learn to take off and land. The first was a jerk, so I switched to the second but 3 mos latter I still hadnt landed successfully and part of it was the 2nds style. I switched to the 3rd CFI, and he changed up the airspeeds starting at the downweed to base part, and within 2 lessons with him,plus a much better coaching style, and I had successfully landed the plane without any verbal coaching from him at all. how instructors coach/talk to you in flight can make a huge different in getting it. some are quite visual/some are auditory/ and some are more kinesthetic.

The school I was at is somewhat of a "pilot mill" I would fly with 2 more CFI's before flying with one that was compatible with me, and then that one got a job as a co pilot flying someone's jet.

I eventually left the school where I had been flying, went to another, and have made more progress with the one Im flying with now, than the first 5 combined.

how a CFI coaches you makes a big difference

 

[2Airtime2]

I made it to 10 hrs on Wednesday and "solo" came up. I need a few more good landings, there was a little crosswind and I aileroned into the wind a few times and landed on 1 wheel. Had to concentrait on too many things, need an early am light wind with lots of touch and goes lesson.

 

[Adventurelarry]

I had my first frustrating day last weekend. My wife came out to watch me to do some touch and go's. It was all pretty bad except the last one, which was just average. Went back out yesterday and just flew. Did two more touch and go's before calling it a lesson and they went better. I knew one day I would have a bad day. Still got to go flying and that's always a pretty cool deal.

 

[mkosmo]

I made it to 10 hrs on Wednesday and "solo" came up. I need a few more good landings, there was a little crosswind and I aileroned into the wind a few times and landed on 1 wheel. Had to concentrait on too many things, need an early am light wind with lots of touch and goes lesson.

Sounds like a cross wind landing to me.

 

[2Airtime2]

Sounds like a cross wind landing to me.

Yes, it was a crosswind landing. I think we were going to work on landings more but the wind picked up a little during our session. I had 2 landings and one go around. On the go around, I later found out I was lined up well and on proper glide path, but...I forgot my GUMPS checks on the downwind leg. He said "too bad, you were doing well til I made you go around, you forgot your GUMPS, you'll never get that past me".

He said I did good on the 2 crosswind landings. I'm glad we did other things (emergency stuff like best glide and locating best off field landing areas). I think I need more practice in calm winds before I tackle too much crosswind.

I can see hope for me. I'm more relaxed and don't always have a "chicken grip" on the yoke anymore.

 

[MAKG1]

Actually, if you can tackle a light crosswind, a stronger one isn't that different unless it's so strong you run out of rudder or it gets gusty.

Same deal with 20+ knot headwinds. The hard part there is not the landing, but rather the taxi afterward.

 

[Twin_Flyer]

Seriously tho frustrating days happen and eventually they become fewer. Eventually you'll be all perfect like me.

If it makes you feel better, I've been bouncing my landings lately. I needs to go practice to too.

+1 lately mine have been so bad that I want to run and hide... Going out to practice just to work the kinks out. Hang in there it's all part of the process

 

[Henning]

I normally have very good hand eye coordination and not getting this landing thing after 2 or 3 tries is frustrating.

Thing is, this is really the first time your brain has had to learn to hand eye control the Z axis and you haven't used those learning skills since you were a toddler, so they are not predominant.

One thing that will help you is the trim, always be trimmed correctly for the approach speed, the control your decent rate with the throttle letting the trim manage the pitch. If your aim point is moving up in the windshield, add throttle because you are coming up short. If it goes down, reduce throttle or add slip as you are over shooting.

Remember as well once you are below your best glide speed pitching up will make you sink faster, so often it's more stable and effective to pitch the nose up if you are overshooting than pitch the nose down. If you pitch the nose down, you will just increase the energy you have too much of already, and you'll have to burn that energy off next to the ground causing you to use up a bunch of runway getting on.

 

[Hobobiker]

You're going to have those bad days after you get your certificate, too.

+1 on this one! I'm right at 100 hours, got my ticket last August at around 58 hours, and have had some downright crappy approaches and landings lately. So....I went up and pounded the pattern the other night to get back to the basics of a stabilized approach, etc. Also told my friend/CFI that I wanted him to fly right seat with me soon so he could help undo any bad habits I may have formed.

Bottom line, keep pushing and continuously learn. Frustrations will come and go, but your piloting skills should continue to improve.

Hobo

 

[taters]

It takes time....

Trim correctly ( its usually takes more thank you think) for the approach airspeed and the nose should pretty much stay put till its time to flare...use power to control your decent rate.


Put another way...
On approach you should trim enough to let go of the controls and see the plane have no reaction at all...the picture should do nothing but get bigger...once your stable it only takes little inputs on the yoke and power ..just fly the plane.

Staying on speed and on the PAPI/VASI glide path rarely results in ugly landings.

 

[ScottK]

The relationship between vertical speed, airspeed, throttle and pitch is certainly not intuitive. One needs to override the "common sense " thought that throttle makes you go faster and pulling back on the sick makes you go higher. Especially on the approach it's mostly about throttle controls climb/decent and pitch controls airspeed. Practicing slow flight can help with this.

This is what we did during training to reinforce the idea.