Joyous day, oh joyous day

2Airtime2

2Airtime2

Pre-takeoff checklist
Joined
Nov 5, 2015
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197
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Raleigh, NC
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Cherokee 180c
Guess who can finally land an airplane?

Last two lessons I left very discouraged and even contemplated giving up on the drive home from the airport. The last lesson was 1.4 hours of touch and goes without a single "good" landing. I had been flying with my weak reading glasses on because I could see the instruments better and over the past yr or so I need the readers for farther and farther distances. I don't use glasses to drive and am not restricted (yet).

Today I put the glasses in my pocket. 1st landing was ugly, 2nd landing was just slightly better. I got bailed out on both of those landings. 3rd one he said do what you think you need to do but I'm going to do what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, "feel what I do above and beyond what you are doing".

Landings 4 through 16 were unassisted and ranged from good, to very good, to perfect. Had 6 landings after dark too.

I FINALLY GOT IT

Now I need my medical, pre-solo knowledge test, and renters insurance. After today's 2.4 hrs I'm at 19 hrs. Seems like all the kids solo between 10-15 hrs. Any of you old guys like me (I'm 51) take this long to solo? I was getting so discouraged. Now I feel confident and excited.
 
Sounds like you are doing great! I was 37 when I got my PPL - so between the kids and you old dudes. I went through the exact same thing between 12 and 17 hours - just really struggled with crosswind landings and almost gave up. Glad you stuck with it, lots of fun when it clicks. Now about a year and a half later I have my IR and fly cross country with the whole family. Now on to the solo!!!
 
I'm pretty much in the same exact position as you. It didn't click for me until the last two lessons. I'm 23.5 hours in and 45 take offs and landings and now just getting it. Getting frustrated is apparently normal but stick with it as you did and build on that confidence. Also keep in mind that there may be days ahead where it is frustrating again like if winds are particularly strong. Just take a step back and rewind. Each time you do it you get more data points and muscle memory kicks in. It all comes together. It is sometimes harder to teach old dogs new tricks but we eventually get it.
 
mulligan said:
It is sometimes harder to teach old dogs new tricks but we eventually get it.
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I was really wondering if this old dog was ever going to get it. I just couldn't understand why I couldn't. I've always had very good hand eye coordination which just made it that much more frustrating. I can hit a baseball /softball. I'm a better than average golfer (I know the ball is not moving but it does require good hand/eye). But I couldn't land a damn airplane...til today. :goofy:(I know that's a goofy emoji but think of it as jumping for joy).
 
congrats! it's a good feeling when you get over a hump. keep in mind, you'll still have good days and bad days. I just had my flight review and had 2 pretty flat landings that I wasn't happy with. keep at it!
 
Way to go! I think if you talk to the experienced instructors around here you'll find your experience is not at all unusual - getting stuck for a while on some aspect of the training, working at it, and then it all comes together. I wonder sometimes how many people taking flight training get discouraged by the time and cost to get through one of these episodes and quits? Kudos for your persistence. As others have noted, it just keeps getting better and even more fun and satisfying from here.
 
Don't sweat the hours, everyone gets it in their own time. I'm younger than you but had quite a few more hours before I was allowed to solo. Even now my landings are just barely good enough that I can return the plane in one piece for the next student
 
SethV said:
Sounds like you are doing great! I was 37 when I got my PPL - so between the kids and you old dudes. I went through the exact same thing between 12 and 17 hours - just really struggled with crosswind landings and almost gave up.
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Cross wind landings can be a real beast. I didn't grasp those until about 150 hours in and I fly in heavy winds quite a bit. Even this week landing a 182 with a 15 knot direct cross wind I bounced a bit... was still lined up fine, just caught a gust, over flared, too cold out who knows.
 
Congrats and definitely don't worry about the time. Took me almost 80 hours before I got my PPL, some others have done it in half that time.

I soloed pretty close to when you did. The rest of the hours were spent making SURE I knew the manuevers, flying solo or just going up and doing pattern work. I also had to learn how to fly a 172 instead of a 162 LSA.

Point is, you'll get it when you get it. Not every landing will be a squeaker, but if you practice enough you can get really close.
 
Congrats! Feels good doesn't it? Don't worry about the hours. I solo'd at 27 with a lot of confidence. I couldn't imagine soloing at 10 hours. I barely had 10 landings under my belt at that point.

Great confidence boost, keep it up!
 
Congratulations! Today was the first time I completely nailed a landing too. Even in a slight crosswind!

I think what was happening for me was just overthinking everything. The last three lessons had been flying the pattern over and over and over trying to correct (and usually overcorrecting) what I did wrong the last time.

Today we actually got some decent weather so we took off to the practice area for stalls, flying around a point, etc. On the way back in I didn't even really think about being "perfect", just did what I was trained to do and nailed the approach and landing. Barely even felt the touchdown.

Feels great doesn't it? I remember some advice I heard around here somewhere (or maybe it was /r/flying) that basically said don't be afraid to ask your instructor if you can go have some fun every once in a while instead of doing the same thing over and over. I should probably take that advice more often, as the one time we finally got to have some fun while flying I nailed all the stuff we had been practicing over and over prior.
 
I can't pinpoint what it was. Maybe it was a combination of things. I took my weak reading glasses off (I use slightly stronger ones to actually read), I'm definitely getting more relaxed while flying, or maybe the repetition just finally paid off.

I can't hit a golf ball for s#!t with those glasses on even though they make everything clear. Maybe they throw my depth perception off just enough to screw up my landings. I know when I tried landing with them on I always felt like I was going to slam the plane into the ground. I did slam it but only after ballooning.

Anyway, I can't wait to do it again and make sure I still got it. Thanks for the encouraging words about hrs. I'm not going to sweat it, I'll learn what I need to and then I'll get my certificate. In the meantime I CAN LAND A DAMN AIRPLANE and it's a good feeling.
 
Congratulations 2Airtime2! Keep practicing. Don't be discouraged when you have one that isn't perfect. We all do that. Glad to hear you are getting the hang of it.
 
My introductory flight was solo, but I'm the most interesting pilot in the world.

Don't sweat the hours and be prepared for set backs and learning plateaus. Gratz.
 
Congrats!!

I can tell you that I did landings very well from the beginning of my PPL training and never went through a bad landing phase DURING the training. Issues started later and I couldn't really say what was different in my landings or why all of a sudden landing the plane was an issue. Therefore I think it's good that you go through this phase now when you have an instructor with you.

Because we had a very good instructor during a check out in Petaluma, my landings are good again. :yesnod:
 
I can't wait to get at it again. 13 good landings in a row is one thing. Going back and doing it several days later will tell me I've really got it.

I've been going over the procedure in my mind, I have confidence I can pick up right where I left off. :yesnod:
 
2Airtime2 said:
... I had been flying with my weak reading glasses on because I could see the instruments better and over the past yr or so I need the readers for farther and farther distances. I don't use glasses to drive and am not restricted (yet).
...
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Have you had an eye exam? If not, you might find, if you are far-sighted, which it sounds like you are, that your distance prescription would help enough with near-ish vision that it will help enough for near, while still giving you perfect distance vision.

Most drug store readers only go down to 1.0, my prescription ended up being like .5.

I did wonder if my glasses were affecting my landings as I was new to wearing glasses and astigmatic correction tends to distort shapes, but I ended up getting it and in the end I think my main problem was that I just wasn't waiting long enough to round out.
 
I'm happy to report I've still got it. Flew yesterday in some challenging crosswinds. One landing was FIRMER than I'd like but the rest were perfectly acceptable to me. My cfi said the firm one was ok.

Took glasses off for all the landings. I can see the airspeed indicator well enough and for the flaps I glance over to see where they are vs. looking at the gauge.

Everything close in is blurry anyway at 65 kts...right?

Got my pre-solo knowledge test signed off on today. Going in for my medical tomorrow. The plan for the next lesson is go over some stalls and other maneuvers then 3 landings/touch and goes. If all is going well and we feel good he's getting out with the camera. :yes:
 
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