Solo confidence issues, holding me back

T

TimidTerry

Guest
I'm currently at 44hrs (36 of which are dual time). This weekend my CFI is "kicking me out of the nest" to do my long Solo XC. It's the last required flight I need to apply for my practical test. I've done a few short XC solo flights without incident. I don’t have a problem handling the plane in the air and don’t feel like I have any issues getting lost or disoriented. It's just from tearing through the NTSB reports, podcasts, watching YouTube looking at other pilots I've developed a straight up fear of choking and putting plane off the runway. I've never had that happen or anything it's just something that is stuck in my head now and it's become a distraction. The only thing noticeable is my landings are flat compared to landings with my CFI.

When we fly together I'm confident, comfortable and overall I feel like I'm handling the plane well. My CFI and I get along, he's a great guy and seems more confident in my flying than I am at times. The procedures on the way to short final are all there, I've got everything I need clicking in my head to get myself to that point once I level off and get to the flare my brain shorts out and suddenly I'm tense as hell. I can hear myself think "dont hurt the plane.. don't hurt the plane".

I discussed the issues with my CFI so last week I cancelled the Solo XC I need and instead we took the plane, and first went to the practice area and did some work with the foggles, unusual attitudes, emergency procedures went well. We came back to the pattern and I logged 5 more landings again without issue. He's happy and complimentary and says "what's the problem again?" Wednesday I went up with another CFI I’ve not flown with before and did pattern work.. he too was good with where I’m at.

Like many I had to put flying off to raise my family. (I'm 41) I'm always anxious to get to the next lesson. I'm enjoying the training. I'm excited by the thought of sharing aviation with my family. At the same time, even if I had the ticket I don’t know if I would put someone in the plane with me yet. Being entrusted with someone in the plane is huge and until I know I can get my own ass out of a crack I can't allow myself to dwell on the fun part.

I've driven 8 second drag cars for the last 10 years, SCCA racing nose to tail with other guys all day long. Nothing I’ve tried to accomplish has had me this concerned before.. yet none of those activities were as rewarding either.

It's getting frustrating and expensive redoing these flights. I don't feel like I want to quite, quite the opposite.. it’s all I think about and I’m loving it. My concern is if I don't figure out a way to squash this bug I WILL end up hurting myself being fixated on it.

Tell me someone else out there gets/had the jitters??

Thanks for any advice,

Terry
 
We all had the jitters before our first long solo XC flight. It's 100% normal, so don't sweat it. You just have to force yourself through it.

Now go watch Top Gun, play "Danger Zone" really loud on the way to the airport, and slap yourself in the face a few times before launch. You'll do fine.
 
It sounds to me like you are ready, Terry. Just relax a little and go do it. You will continue to be nervous, but it gets less and less as you fly more and more. Don't pressure yourself and always remember you can land somewhere and drive or have somebody pick you up if you need to.
 
This sounds healthy. The students who have no fear- they're the ones with which I'm uncomfortable.....
 
Completely normal. Nerves will settle down after a couple of checkpoints have rolled by and things are going as planned.
 
bbchien said:
This sounds healthy. The students who have no fear- they're the ones with which I'm uncomfortable.....
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:yeahthat:
I do flights for LifeLine Pilots, and still get nervous, knowing the trust those patients and their families are putting in me. You've had two separate instructors say you're ready for the solo XC. Even after you do that, you'll have a lot to learn! But you've had the training and have demonstrated competency!

Are you a perfect pilot? Heck no! There's a reason we call it a "license to learn" even after you fly with the DPE. But you're ready to, and need to, get out and push your envelope a bit by flying the solo XC.

The exact same thing will apply when you're ready to go out and fly with the DPE!
 
Stop reading the NTSB reports! Have you ever read one that went like.." It was a good flight and the pilot had a great time?" They are accident reports! :mad2:

There is a difference between driving a drag car and a plane. No one is watching you flying. Maybe you are into motor sports in which you need affirmation, flying is not one of them. You need to assess why you fly and what you are looking for. You might not want it bad enough.
 
A long XC is not but a series of short XC's that you have done already. Each leg could simply be to the next airport on the route but without landing. If you tell yourself "I can land at the next one if I want to." it might help.

The people who are best suited to judge if you are ready think you are good to go so go.

Cheers
 
You say you're stuck at the long XC, but that your concern is with landings.

The way to overcome your concern with landings is to practice enough that you develop confidence in your ability to land.

You've done fine doing pattern work with your CFI in the plane. And of course you've already soloed at your home field. So you know you can do it.

I'd say what you need to do is make a few flights where all you do is pattern work. Land a few times at your home field. Then fly to a nearby field and land there a couple times. Then fly to another nearby field and land there. Then go home and land.

Then think about how well the plane handled your landings. Look around at all the planes that land every single day. Think all those pilots are better at landings than you? Probably not. Your plane is not make of glass and balsa wood. It's not going to break unless you do something really dumb.

Your instructors think you're ready to fly your XC, and that you're not going to do something really dumb. They're almost certainly right.
 
Jay Honeck said:
Now go watch Top Gun, play "Danger Zone" really loud on the way to the airport, and slap yourself in the face a few times before launch. You'll do fine.
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:rofl::rofl:

More seriously, as others have said, you're ready. Two CFIs have said you're ready. Go fly.

After you fly, ask your instructor to show you a little bit of what the aircraft will take in terms of abuse in approach and landing. We all find our own limits but sometimes hit helps to have some demonstration close to the ground. We get shown how to do most things but recovering from screw-ups near the ground is not one of them. If you're flying a 172, they'll take a lot of abuse and just shrug it off. Side loading? no problem. Hit hard? the gear makes the neatest "sprooonnnggg" sound when ya bounce it just right. Landing on nose gear? don't do that!

Maybe if you see some do's and don'ts, you'll have a better feel for what ya "have" to do and what you can get away with when ya just gotta.
 
Just do it. It's amazing how your nerves settle down once you pass that point of no return.

You're already a pilot. You are just going to airport-hop for a couple hours.
 
It's entirely normal to be nervous. I still get a little nervous at times when flying solo or with a non-pilot passenger, just a little less each time. You should have heard the thoughts running through my head on my long X/C! As has been said here before -- experience builds confidence. But, every time I do something new (like landing at an entirely unfamiliar airport) and live to tell about it, I'm a little less nervous. Even when I don't do it perfectly, it's experience and I learn from it.

The only experience that does NOT build confidence is flying with your CFI in the right seat. It's time to cut him loose and fly on your own. You can do it.
 
Totally normal to be a little nervous. But don't let that hold you back. You have two qualified instructors telling you to get out there and do it. Listen to them and have fun.

I remember when I went on my first long distance XC. It was a little hot and i had a big climb to get over some terrain. I had heard all sorts of horror stories about Density Altitude so I did a couple of climbing turns to get to altitude before I turned towards home. When my instructor did the debrief, I told him that was my only deviation from my original plan. Although he didn't think that I needed to perform the turns, he's glad that I made a decision and saw the potential danger. My point is, a healthy dose of fear makes a better pilot.

Now get out there and check another one off your list!
 
TimidTerry said:
The only thing noticeable is my landings are flat compared to landings with my CFI.
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Terry, this probably means you are landing a little fast.

Your landing speed should be adjusted for the weight of the plane. Without your CFI, and after burning fuel off such as during your long x-c, your landing speed should be slower. Get with your CFI on the ground and calculate the correct landing speed for a handful of different weights, equal to a varying number of passengers and fuel loading. Then go stick those landings!

-Skip
 
I agree with everyone else. The jitters are good. You'll pass your first couple checkpoints and then think "Geez this is easy - can't wait for the next checkpoint in....4 minutes" da da da da "okay 2.5 minutes" blah blah. and before you know it you're at the end. You think "My instructor wouldn't send me unless I was ready and you'll nail the landings. :)

You want to be a certificated pilot -well then go do this and report back. :) "Long XC - Checkpoints found easy landing" will be the title I look for in the upcoming weeks.
 
I was doing touch and goes today, and some wind caught me and sent me about 20-30 degrees off center as I landed. Some pedal to bring it back straight and off we went. My CFI didn't even think twice about it.

All my landings up to that one have been fairly textbook. I am so glad I had that happen however, because it made me realize how un-perfect a landing can be, before it's considered something to make the CFI lunge for the controls.

Really boosted my confidence to see that window of acceptable error expand.
 
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Terry,

About 10 minutes into my long X-C, I ran into some very mild turbulence. It was nothing I hadn't flown in with my CFI, but it was enough to get the nerves going. I actually considered turning around. Knowing the wx was good otherwise, I forced myself to keep going. A few minutes later, it smoothed out and I was fine the rest of the way.

Sometimes, you just have to push through the nerves and get to the other side.
 
Quit thinking about them. Flying, especially flying to other places, is too much fun to ruin it by thinking about what can go wrong in the last 10 seconds.

You know how to fly the airplane, you're probably better at it than a lot of us.

Now just go do it. The airplane knows how to fly, you know how to land. Piece of cake.
 
I do not know what kind of plane you fly, but what really helped me with my landings was going out and sitting in the right seat with some very proficient pilots (in substantially different aircraft I might add). I sepnt a lot of time focusing on the sight picture and on the "feeling" of the aircraft as it was hitting the ground, and I found that if I wasn't actually LANDING the plane I could spend quite a few more cycles EXPERIENCING the landing. 4 or 5 "demo" landings and it really hit home. I went out and practiced what I saw for about an hour and haven't really had a problem with soft field landings since then (except for the occasional surprise).

I recommend you consider getting 4 or 5 demo soft field landings under your belt with you not touching any of the controls and see if that helps fix your flat!
 
kimberlyanne546 said:
Funny, this is why my CFI wouldn't let me solo. He said I had no fear.
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I'm with you. I look forward to CC flying, each one is an adventure and no two are the same. The feeling of satisfaction when I close the hangar door and go home is one of great accomplishment.

Look at my map below. I need to update it as I have added all but 4 states. I would love to clear it off and start all over again. :yesnod:

Next year I will fly to Alaska after first completing the lower 48.

Life is meant to be enjoyed!
 
I think you can!

“It’s All In A State Of Mind”
If you think you are beaten, you are,
If you think you dare not, you don’t,
If you like to win, but you think you can’t,
It’s almost a “cinch” you won’t.
If you think you’ll lose, you’ve lost,
For out in the world you find
Success begins with a fellow’s will;
It’s all in the state of mind.
Full many a race is lost
Ere ever a step is run;
And many a coward fails
Ere ever his work’s begun.
Think big and your deeds will grow,
Think small and you’ll fall behind,
Think that you can and you will;
It’s all in the state of mind.
If you think you’re outclassed, you are,
You’ve got to think high to rise,
You’ve got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.
Life’s battles don’t always go
To the stronger or faster man,
But sooner or later, the man who wins,
Is the fellow who thinks he can.
-Walter D. Wintle
 
It will always be more stressful thinking about it it than actually doing it. I am sure you will be just fine once off the ground.
 
kgruber said:
It will always be more stressful thinking about it it than actually doing it. I am sure you will be just fine once off the ground.
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:rofl: Whenever someone asks the inevitable "What were you thinking?" my stock response is "I wasn't, if I stopped to think I'd never do anything, same as you." It's fun watching people as they try for a response.:lol:
 
Hi,

I recently did my long x/c and I felt some of what you describe. Interestingly, the short solo x/c i didn't really had a problem with because I had already it flown with the instructor in the day time, and at night.

The solo long x/c got me a bit worried for a number of reasons - but I think I would have had not many worries had I flown that route and new airports before.

So here's waht I did to help myself out and be less worried
- i looked at the chart often, until i had pretty much memorized the route: magnetic courses, distances and estimated time for each leg at some given cruise speed (of course, didn't factor the weather).
- i even "flew" the course on a PC game
- i planeed the flight during the week at at time that would allow me to finish before noon mainly to not have to deal with a lot of traffic while on flight following.
- i followed the very helpful advise in managing another issue i had.

To tell you the truth, I have no idea how much those things helped me (with the exception of the good words of advice i had gotton from posts on this forum), but suffice it to say once I was under way and approaching the first checkpoint, i tuned out all my concerns and just flew the plane! It worked. I was still on pins and needles trying not to miss a beat from ATC (am uncomfortable with radio comm), but it got better as the flight went along.

After 2.5 hrs i made it back home and I felt almost like a hint of a pilot. I mean, more like relieved and very happy and excited that I "did it". Too bad I had to rush to work, or else I would have just hung around the aiport for a while and make that moment linger just a bit more.

(even now it still hasn't fully left me - i think it was more of a thing for me than my first solo).

As eveyrone else said here, including your own CFI who likely knows you better than anyone that's posted and offered good words, you are ready ;)
 
If I read this correctly, you have a total of 8 hours logged solo flight time.
and at least one solo x-country flight. So, that would indicate that you have landed the airplane, while solo, several times, without breaking it. Your instructor sez yer ready for the long x-country. You're nervous about landings.
Someone has suggested that you go fly, and do some T&Gs. I reccomend that you do it solo, without your instructor. Mabe the first one or two with, then finish up without. You will end up with about 2 dual landings, and 6 solo landings for an hour on the hobbs. Mabe go to a nearby airport, for a few T&Gs there then back to home base.
 
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