Just took first flight lesson...is it normal to feel overhwhelmed?

[QUOTE="You aren't old. I'll be 65 in April. :) Passed my PP ride 2 days after turning 49 and passed my IR ride at 59. But, this is a great way to learn something new. Have fun![/QUOTE]

Thanks! Good to hear I'm not old! Just weird turning 60. But hey, never too late to learn...I hope. Never thought I'd get myself into flying, as I've always been afraid of it, and yet, at the same time, I enjoy it! Have always loved airplanes, and it's hard to beat the feeling of flying over the landscape. Just need to get myself to relax more so I can really enjoy. I've always been a bit of a worry wart, and thinking of what can go wrong. All that said, I look forward to my upcoming lessons! Very exciting! Perhaps just what I need.
 
Jeff Szlauko said:
[QUOTE="You aren't old. I'll be 65 in April. :) Passed my PP ride 2 days after turning 49 and passed my IR ride at 59. But, this is a great way to learn something new. Have fun!
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Thanks! Good to hear I'm not old! Just weird turning 60. But hey, never too late to learn...I hope. Never thought I'd get myself into flying, as I've always been afraid of it, and yet, at the same time, I enjoy it! Have always loved airplanes, and it's hard to beat the feeling of flying over the landscape. Just need to get myself to relax more so I can really enjoy. I've always been a bit of a worry wart, and thinking of what can go wrong. All that said, I look forward to my upcoming lessons! Very exciting! Perhaps just what I need.[/QUOTE]
There is NO WAY u are stealing the drama king title from me. Don't even try, I was poop scared of banking when I started, not so much anymore... funny, power off stall didn't scare me

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NO it is NOT normal.
You should have felt ike Tom Cruise "Maverick" and handled everything on your own perfectly.. and made a perfect landing while under the hood and you should be solo-ing by lesson three.
: )

congrats, your a student pilot and welcome.
enjoy the journey.

good luck on your training.
 
I'm also 60, and a fairly new student. I grew up around planes, my father flew, and I with him as passenger and now and then got to "fly" but as expected it was like when your dad teaches you to drive...so not w lot learned except by watching, and spent my early years in a Cessna 172 with him.

But other than that no real extra "edge" except that I see small planes as inherently safe. Though I know well that the most dangerous factor can be the pilots skill.

Anyway, for me my first flight was like "coming home". Had been many decades since I flew with my dad and it felt so familiar. Of course learning to fly can overwhelm. Mostly I was also worried about my age. I learn things differently now than I did as a younger man. Also reaction is a little slower. Mostly I kick myself for not starting way earlier but I never had the extra cash, and when I actually could have swung it, it was not in my mind, I had kind of written off learning to fly as not doable. But then something jogged my memory and desire.

I can feel overwhelmed and see that in the beginning I was comfortable with flying, straight and level, shallow banks (10, 15, 30 deg.) etc. then slow flight...was getting used to it, but the CFI upped it, and was drilling me to different types of turns (level, climbing, descending) to different compass points, at different altitudes, changing it up. I think it rally only was a half hour and I was totally worn out, and felt like I didn't know what I was doing. He then said he thought I was doing really well. I felt I knew less than when I started. Got home, realized what I had to do. This I think is what folks here mean with getting ahead of the plane. When he tells me to "turn in 30 degree bank to the left, while descending to 2,500' while doing a 360" the first thing I have to find a ground reference that I will recognize when I have done a full 360, then look out for other traffic, then...

And as I get to leveling off at 2500 he may say "now ascend to 3200' while turning to 90 deg." Etc and I have to just think it through but with a plan.

Before I got the idea, I'd be turning 360 and he'd ask me if I had come around to the same heading...and I didn't know. Not using the compass, but ground reference. That's what he really wants me to get used to. But you still have to do checks, and also it's very hard but a necessity to look out for traffic.

Point is, where I would like to feel more comfortable with the maneuvers, he I think wants to both see how I react, and get me used to when things ARE overwhelming...where there is a lot to take in and do right. So he adds more and more any time I seem to be feeling comfortable. It's my theory anyway.

Anyway, I don't know how many years I realistically can have after getting my PPL, and am debating if even want to know. At 60, I think I won't have a chance to be as good a pilot as my father was, but the goal is to be a good safe pilot. Not do dumb things :)

Good luck to you! The main thing, all we can do is our best, learn at the rate we can, make sure we advance and learn...up to us really.
 
Thanks for the input! Just completed my second flight lesson yesterday. At the start, he said we would just go up and do steep 45 degree turns. We completed that, then went into slow flight, followed by power-on stalls! I actually did pretty well in both...according to him. The stalls were WAY easier, and less scary then I thought they'd be. Then headed back to the airport, where I proceeded to land the plane. Well, landed it, but I'm guessing with a bit of assistance from the instructor. Overall, a very rewarding flight.
Sometimes I feel my sense of being overwhelmed is just me overwhelming myself. I mean, sure, there's a lot to learn, and with it all being so new, of course it would seem like a lot. But sometimes, I feel that perhaps I just need to take a deep breath, relax, take it all in, and then move forward, and complete the task at hand...without the harsh judgement I put on myself. My instructor is terrific, being VERY hands on, and VERY patient. Seems like I'm my own worst enemy.
Then there's the times I look at the big picture, with the upcoming need to talk to the tower, navigate once I reach that point, get comfortable with landings and takeoffs, and so and so forth, and I then get the feeling of "oh my god, will I really get all this?" This is where I need to just take that deep breath, and realize that you accomplish this all one step at a time.
Seems like along with learning to fly, I may very well learn a lot about myself!
 
Never did that with my students. I fed stuff in small bites as to not overwhelm them. I didn't even explain a pattern until they learned the basics. Last thing I wanted was a student worrying about landings when what I wanted was them to learn stall recovery.

Different strokes....
 
Awesome progress on your second flight... keep it up

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Jeff Szlauko said:
Thanks for the input! Just completed my second flight lesson yesterday. At the start, he said we would just go up and do steep 45 degree turns. We completed that, then went into slow flight, followed by power-on stalls! I actually did pretty well in both...according to him. The stalls were WAY easier, and less scary then I thought they'd be. Then headed back to the airport, where I proceeded to land the plane. Well, landed it, but I'm guessing with a bit of assistance from the instructor. Overall, a very rewarding flight.
Sometimes I feel my sense of being overwhelmed is just me overwhelming myself. I mean, sure, there's a lot to learn, and with it all being so new, of course it would seem like a lot. But sometimes, I feel that perhaps I just need to take a deep breath, relax, take it all in, and then move forward, and complete the task at hand...without the harsh judgement I put on myself. My instructor is terrific, being VERY hands on, and VERY patient. Seems like I'm my own worst enemy.
Then there's the times I look at the big picture, with the upcoming need to talk to the tower, navigate once I reach that point, get comfortable with landings and takeoffs, and so and so forth, and I then get the feeling of "oh my god, will I really get all this?" This is where I need to just take that deep breath, and realize that you accomplish this all one step at a time.
Seems like along with learning to fly, I may very well learn a lot about myself!
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I had some trouble with 45 banks. I had it wrong in my head that when he said to me, bring the nose up, it meant up skyward, but I needed to bring up relative the airplane. Plus the g forces felt pretty heavy to me.

I think I maybe know what you mean though about making things harder on yourself. Maybe that is n age thing, I comfort myself that I may well be overthinking, yet the thiñking oart has to be there. Like you I feel there is SO much to learn and none of it is trivial though we also have to prioritize. You mentioned I think you completed ground school, I'm still in ground school but had been flying. I think it helps me with ground school, but came around to that I want to do it like you did. Get ground school out of the way and then only concentrate on flying, (here I cannot solo without having taken the exam anyway) and keep the theory on my mind, but let my instructor just show me what to do.

Though it is important to know the theory, the real nuts and bolts is when I can match it up with experience. I do find going over and over the ground school no other sources, here also, helps s lot after ech flight.

I think drive to get it right makes us expect too much sometimes, but it is still important overall. Learning to drive an auto, stick shift, at some point as a kid seemed overwhelming...at first, but now I automatic. I thinks it is similar just more thing that can go wrong nd more drill, but we shouldn't make it impossible in our minds, it can be taught and learned.
 
Absolutely yes, it would be abnormal not to be overwhelmed. You will find that if you keep at it, it gets less intense every time, you get confortable. Then power on stalls come up!
 
Jim Case said:
Absolutely yes, it would be abnormal not to be overwhelmed. You will find that if you keep at it, it gets less intense every time, you get confortable. Then power on stalls come up!
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It sure is normal, but I'll suggest the CFI is not doing any favors bringing stalls and slow flight in on the second lesson.

Those are landing prep, along with ground reference maneuvers. Important, but basic control in cruise alone might be a better starting place.

What's next? Engine outs and unusual attitudes in the third lesson?
 
MAKG1 said:
It sure is normal, but I'll suggest the CFI is not doing any favors bringing stalls and slow flight in on the second lesson.

Those are landing prep, along with ground reference maneuvers. Important, but basic control in cruise alone might be a better starting place.

What's next? Engine outs and unusual attitudes in the third lesson?
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No that's not what I meant, I was saying that just as you get used to flying, doing turn patterns and basics, then it gets even harder.
 
MAKG1 said:
It sure is normal, but I'll suggest the CFI is not doing any favors bringing stalls and slow flight in on the second lesson.

Those are landing prep, along with ground reference maneuvers. Important, but basic control in cruise alone might be a better starting place.

What's next? Engine outs and unusual attitudes in the third lesson?
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My CFI did engine out on lesson two...I was quite freaked out for a good a bit! It was incredible how well we flew at idle, though. We maneuvered for maybe 6-8 minutes that way.
 
My first lesson went so smooth, I thought I'd have it down in 5-10 hours. Watched the Sporty's videos a bunch and did some flight sim. My CFI rolled his eyes when I told him - but I did already have a pretty good basic understandng. On first lesson, he talked me through pre-flight, taxi, and run-up and then discussed control transfer and said I could fly until intervention was necessary. We did TNG's, steep turns and "S" turns. There was ZERO wind and everything went perfect to flare, so he let me land ... first one was a GREASER, CFI said let's see another ... second one not as smooth, but good. After that, I got all windy days during lessons and was immediately humbled:confused::eek:
 
For the OP. Yeah, totally overwhelmed. Which was a bit embarrassing, because when I started my ASEL rating, I was already had a Private with a Glider rating (although very rusty).
 
Having completed two flight lessons, with slow flight, steep turns, and power-on stalls, along with piloting from takeoff to landing, I'm feeling a bit more comfortable with the plane. Obviously I have a LONG ways to go, but it's a start. I think at this point my main concern is talking to the tower. Not so much a fear of keying up and saying stuff to them, as much as hearing them reply back and having to repeat what they say to me, as half the time, I can barely grasp what they said! They seem to speak so fast, and at times, rattle off so much that I'm afraid I just won't be able to remember what they said in order to say it back. For instance, after landing we got this call from the tower:
"One four three eight Uniform, turn right, taxi to the South end via Alpha, Charlie, Kilo, hold short runway two five right."
I could just see myself trying to say back what he said, and only getting as far as "right at Alpha, Charlie...uh...uh...ah damn it!"
Perhaps a lot of understanding the tower, and remembering what they say is based on KNOWING what they are PROBABLY going to say ahead of time? And perhaps knowing the layout of the airport, so when they string a bunch words together denoting the taxiways, it doesn't come across as just alphabet soup? I've been using the LiveATC app on my iPad and listening to the airport I've been practicing at to get a feel for the communication. Figure it can't hurt. Maybe it all just sinks in after a while? I have a flight lesson later today, so I'll run this by him and see what he says.
 
Jeff Szlauko said:
Having completed two flight lessons, with slow flight, steep turns, and power-on stalls, along with piloting from takeoff to landing, I'm feeling a bit more comfortable with the plane. Obviously I have a LONG ways to go, but it's a start. I think at this point my main concern is talking to the tower. Not so much a fear of keying up and saying stuff to them, as much as hearing them reply back and having to repeat what they say to me, as half the time, I can barely grasp what they said! They seem to speak so fast, and at times, rattle off so much that I'm afraid I just won't be able to remember what they said in order to say it back. For instance, after landing we got this call from the tower:
"One four three eight Uniform, turn right, taxi to the South end via Alpha, Charlie, Kilo, hold short runway two five right."
I could just see myself trying to say back what he said, and only getting as far as "right at Alpha, Charlie...uh...uh...ah damn it!"
Perhaps a lot of understanding the tower, and remembering what they say is based on KNOWING what they are PROBABLY going to say ahead of time? And perhaps knowing the layout of the airport, so when they string a bunch words together denoting the taxiways, it doesn't come across as just alphabet soup? I've been using the LiveATC app on my iPad and listening to the airport I've been practicing at to get a feel for the communication. Figure it can't hurt. Maybe it all just sinks in after a while? I have a flight lesson later today, so I'll run this by him and see what he says.
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They eventually sink in and listening to your own tower via live atc helps a lot. Study your home airport taxi diagrams so when they say taxi via bravo, cross 27, left on Charlie you will exactly know which route to take. Took me quite a few attempts before I got the grasp of it, even then my calls are like ... 245charlie is at... eee...ahhh... 27... intersection...er bravo, I think... ready to to take off to... aaaa.... nw practice area?

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Yup, I fumble a lot on the radio. Watching my videos from my lessons is a good training tool and a little humbling


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Jeff Szlauko said:
...I think at this point my main concern is talking to the tower. Not so much a fear of keying up and saying stuff to them, as much as hearing them reply back and having to repeat what they say to me, as half the time, I can barely grasp what they said! They seem to speak so fast, and at times, rattle off so much that I'm afraid I just won't be able to remember what they said in order to say it back. For instance, after landing we got this call from the tower:
"One four three eight Uniform, turn right, taxi to the South end via Alpha, Charlie, Kilo, hold short runway two five right."
I could just see myself trying to say back what he said, and only getting as far as "right at Alpha, Charlie...uh...uh...ah damn it!"
Perhaps a lot of understanding the tower, and remembering what they say is based on KNOWING what they are PROBABLY going to say ahead of time?
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That reminds me of the time we were returning to our Class D airport and tower gave me instruction like "Cessna 63 kilo roger, check wheels down, report 2 miles out expect left downwind for 23 Right, winds 250 at 8, altimeter 29.96". I just sat there and my instructor asked "Do you know what he just said to you?" and I said Of course! "OK, what'd he say?" to which I replied "63kilo, the wheelbarrow is on the right, cleared for fudgesicles" or some such gibberish. We had a good laugh over that one.

I keep a little notepad in my plane and write down the instructions from Ground or Tower. Just yesterday before I called Ground I had written down in my notebook: RWY __ via __ & __, Winds ___@___, Alt ____. (Note, ATIS is not available at my home drome, ATC gives it to you.) Sure enough I got Cessna 77R, taxi to runway 22 via Bravo then Alpha. Winds are 250@10, current Altimeter 29.96. Garmin Pilot has a scratchpad function you can use for the same thing. I started doing this about 2 years ago when I flubbed up my approach and entry into the pattern. So now when I make my initial call up, I'm ready to jot down their instructions so I can read it back to them.
 
I love this thread! Reminds me of my flight training days! And, I started training at an 'older age', too.

Yes, you will be overwhelmed. It's the CFI's job to teach you skills, and as soon as you almost have them, introduce something new to try to assimilate. It's when you can fly it all, talk the talk, and let that almost be in the background of your head, so you still have time to process an emergency, or unfamiliar issue, that you'll be released into the wild that is Private Pilot.
 
Jeff Szlauko said:
Hello all. I completed ground school months ago and finally began my flight training. My first lesson was in a Cessna 172 just a couple days ago. Am currently scheduled to do a flight lesson every Saturday. In clarifying my question in the subject line, I do NOT feel overwhelmed at all by the instructor, as I feel very comfortable with him, and he's great at explaining everything and making me feel comfortable. When I say "overwhelmed", I mean it just seems like so much to know, even with the simple tasks like entering the pattern and then lining up for final. Then there's the dealing of crosswind. I mean, it's like your dancing on so many controls at once, since as you lower the nose, you pick up speed. You throttle back, and then drop more. You pull up, and slow down. All of a sudden it seems you can be going too slow, or too fast, or too low, or...whatever. So much happening at once.
Just wondering how you guys out there felt after the first lesson, and how long it took to get a good feel of the plane, and if you also felt a bit overwhelmed at first by it all.
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This is a video of the first couple of hours of a primary lesson on how pitch and power controls energy.
Hope this helps a little.
 
Jeff Szlauko said:
Having completed two flight lessons, with slow flight, steep turns, and power-on stalls, along with piloting from takeoff to landing, I'm feeling a bit more comfortable with the plane. Obviously I have a LONG ways to go, but it's a start. I think at this point my main concern is talking to the tower. Not so much a fear of keying up and saying stuff to them, as much as hearing them reply back and having to repeat what they say to me, as half the time, I can barely grasp what they said! They seem to speak so fast, and at times, rattle off so much that I'm afraid I just won't be able to remember what they said in order to say it back. For instance, after landing we got this call from the tower:
"One four three eight Uniform, turn right, taxi to the South end via Alpha, Charlie, Kilo, hold short runway two five right."
I could just see myself trying to say back what he said, and only getting as far as "right at Alpha, Charlie...uh...uh...ah damn it!"
Perhaps a lot of understanding the tower, and remembering what they say is based on KNOWING what they are PROBABLY going to say ahead of time? And perhaps knowing the layout of the airport, so when they string a bunch words together denoting the taxiways, it doesn't come across as just alphabet soup? I've been using the LiveATC app on my iPad and listening to the airport I've been practicing at to get a feel for the communication. Figure it can't hurt. Maybe it all just sinks in after a while? I have a flight lesson later today, so I'll run this by him and see what he says.
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Sounds like a big airport.

I got in the habit long ago, of keeping a notepad to jot down nontrivial taxi clearances. Use a shorthand.

-> a c k HS 25R

The important thing is to look at a taxi diagram before you start moving to figure out the whole route, or if that isn't possible, ask for "progressive."

And there is no shame in asking "say again," especially if you pick out parts you didn't get.
 
When I was first training one of the other students in the club had made little cheatsheets for the common VFR radio interchanges at our home airport. They had fill in blanks for ATIS, taxi, takeoff, initial call returning and landing instructions. For the first couple of hours those things saved my brain.

At first it was overwhelming. Now, of course, it's all simple and I have no problem with it. Then I started IFR...
 
Good to hear that this whole "fear of talking to the tower" thing is very common. I had a flight lesson yesterday and voiced my concerns of tower communications, and my CFI also said that all students are apprehensive. Quite normal. He described what is needed to be said, and went over several scenarios. When we were leaving the hanger area, we stopped short of the taxiway, and I had my first experience talking to the tower. My CFI wrote down on a pad of paper what to say to them, in a bit of a shorthand way, and also wrote down what their response was most likely going to be. Got thru it OK, but it was funny listening to myself once I got home and had a chance to view my GoPro video. I sounded like I was speaking in slow motion compared to the other communications you typically hear. Getting cleared for the runway went OK, except the tower complained of a bit of static, at which point my CFI took over and get it all cleared up. Oh well, got to start someplace, and as my instructor said, as what everyone here has also said, is that we all struggle with it in the beginning, but it will eventually sink in. I'll keep listening to LiveATC, and will try the other techniques suggested here.

By the way, I FINALLY purchased a headset online. I've been going crazy for the past few weeks trying to decide, being unable to decide between the cheaper alternatives like the Pilot USA headset, of just go with a more major, and more expensive brand. Bit the bullet, and purchased the Lightspeed Sierra. They seem to have a lot of good reviews, and I know the in-ear types also get rave reviews, like the Clarity Aloft and the Halo, but thought I'd stick to what I am so far used to, as my instructor has been loaning me his Lightspeed Zulu.
 
Yeah, you very definitely get used to it.

Scripts may make a decent crutch, but you'll outgrow them.
 
Most are over whelmed the first time you drive a car...same principle applies here...it will get better with time

The first time I flew I felt like a insect screaming thru the air
 
MAKG1 said:
Yeah, you very definitely get used to it.

Scripts may make a decent crutch, but you'll outgrow them.
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That. I started with a script, now I just take a pad with me and write down whatever important things they tell me, most of the times I never have to look at it after take off. Now if I was going somewhere I will also keep a note of the destination ATIS/ CTAF etc, but no longer need a script to talk to them. Mess up at times, call back and correct it rt away. You will get there soon enough

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If you want to be overwhelmed go fly a helicopter for a hour...its like trying to balance a ball bearing on top of another ball bearing.

When you get back in a plane you will be relieved.
 
Somewhere I read of a pilot that had a sort of stenographer system for writing down information.
i have to check again, as it seemed like a good way to get it all, quickly, organized when tower is giving you information. I meant to make a note where I read that, anyone know of ant standard notation system for writing minimally the information they can give so quickly, and so you can definitely read it back and understand it?
 
LongRoadBob said:
Somewhere I read of a pilot that had a sort of stenographer system for writing down information.
i have to check again, as it seemed like a good way to get it all, quickly, organized when tower is giving you information. I meant to make a note where I read that, anyone know of ant standard notation system for writing minimally the information they can give so quickly, and so you can definitely read it back and understand it?
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Instrument pilots do this all the time; you have to in order to get a clearance right. There are a few example shorthands in the instrument literature.

For instance, a clearance might read:

123XY C APC dep <- 270 RV SJC SALAD SGD -D-> ^ 3000 -5-> 5000 120.1 4444

Cessna 123XY cleared to Napa County Airport. On departure turn left heading 270, radar vectors San Jose [VOR] SALAD Scaggs Island [VOR] then direct. Climb and maintain 3000, expect 5000 5 minutes after departure. Departure frequency 120.1 squawk 4444.

That mouthful has to be read back verbatim. That's the reason for the shorthand.

You can make up your own. Just make sure you always do it the same way, or you'll confuse yourself.

For taxi clearance, I might get

F C B x 1L/1R h A

Taxi via F C B cross 1L and 1R hold short at A.

For weather, it looks a lot like METAR, just with runways boxed and usually no remarks unless there is something unusual.

VFR departure or arrival instructions, use a bar over an altitude for "at or below," a bar under an altitude for "at or above", or both for a hard restriction, plus 3-digit headings for vectors.
 
Jeff Szlauko said:
Thanks for the input! Just completed my second flight lesson yesterday. At the start, he said we would just go up and do steep 45 degree turns. We completed that, then went into slow flight, followed by power-on stalls! I actually did pretty well in both...according to him. The stalls were WAY easier, and less scary then I thought they'd be. Then headed back to the airport, where I proceeded to land the plane. Well, landed it, but I'm guessing with a bit of assistance from the instructor. Overall, a very rewarding flight.
Sometimes I feel my sense of being overwhelmed is just me overwhelming myself. I mean, sure, there's a lot to learn, and with it all being so new, of course it would seem like a lot. But sometimes, I feel that perhaps I just need to take a deep breath, relax, take it all in, and then move forward, and complete the task at hand...without the harsh judgement I put on myself. My instructor is terrific, being VERY hands on, and VERY patient. Seems like I'm my own worst enemy.
Then there's the times I look at the big picture, with the upcoming need to talk to the tower, navigate once I reach that point, get comfortable with landings and takeoffs, and so and so forth, and I then get the feeling of "oh my god, will I really get all this?" This is where I need to just take that deep breath, and realize that you accomplish this all one step at a time.
Seems like along with learning to fly, I may very well learn a lot about myself!
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Pretty obvious that your instructor is not using a syllabus. http://www.safepilots.org/library/contributed/Syllabi_Part61PrivatePilotTraining_5-12-11.pdf

Bob
 
iflyvfr said:
"Cessna 63 kilo roger, check wheels down..".
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Military, eh? I like using "wheels down and welded" in the readback to the military kids. :)

MAKG1 said:
Instrument pilots do this all the time; you have to in order to get a clearance right. There are a few example shorthands in the instrument literature.

For instance, a clearance might read:

123XY C APC dep <- 270 RV SJC SALAD SGD -D-> ^ 3000 -5-> 5000 120.1 4444

Cessna 123XY cleared to Napa County Airport. On departure turn left heading 270, radar vectors San Jose [VOR] SALAD Scaggs Island [VOR] then direct. Climb and maintain 3000, expect 5000 5 minutes after departure. Departure frequency 120.1 squawk 4444.

That mouthful has to be read back verbatim. That's the reason for the shorthand.

You can make up your own. Just make sure you always do it the same way, or you'll confuse yourself.

For taxi clearance, I might get

F C B x 1L/1R h A

Taxi via F C B cross 1L and 1R hold short at A.

For weather, it looks a lot like METAR, just with runways boxed and usually no remarks unless there is something unusual.

VFR departure or arrival instructions, use a bar over an altitude for "at or below," a bar under an altitude for "at or above", or both for a hard restriction, plus 3-digit headings for vectors.
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That's nearly identical to my own shorthand that I came up with, even the bars above or below or both on altitudes. Whatever works, but it does need to be concise for IFR clearances.

Once in a while things get long if I'm unfamiliar with a VOR name and have to scribble the words completely for the readback and then go hunting for the thing on a chart. I try to look around the low altitude chart at names of the VORs in the area before calling for a clearance at an unfamiliar airport. If they're going to give you an oddball route, it'll usually end fairly close to the departure airport.

I can't find it now, but there was a funny YT video that started with someone in a small GA plane with audio that started off with a controller giving an IFR route that started with "copy full route clearance..." and then cut to Steve Carrell screaming "No! No!!! NOoooooo!" from a scene in The Office. Funny as hell.
 
Just for an update, I did my first solo! With a tad under 25 hours under my belt, we went up yesterday, and after 5 touch and goes, we went to the parking area, where he hopped out the plane, gave me a few instructions, and away I went! Fortunately is was pretty calm...probably the calmest I ever seen it. BUT, it was hot, being around 100 degrees! Needless to say, between the heat and the tension, I was sweating bullets. So weird to take off alone, and the old saying of "takeoffs are optional, landings are mandatory" really hit hard. As soon as I lifted off, I thought "OK, now I HAVE TO land this thing!" To have that seat next to me empty was really weird, knowing that there is nobody to bail me out should the landing go south. However, before he hopped out of the plane, he reassured me by telling me that the landings we did that day were all me, so have confidence that you can do it. He also said "have fun! It's why we do this". I ended up doing more than I thought I would, as at first I thought "OK, let's just get the 3 minimum landings and head back in", but I ended up doing 10 landings, a couple of which I thought I really nailed. Looking forward to going up again solo and practicing.
 
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On my first solo I actually turned and looked in the back to make sure no one was there.....
 
60? You punk kid...I will be 63 in a few days and just started my Sport Pilot a couple of months ago. As everyone has said, the information overload is normal. Be aware that you will likely do the '2 steps forward 1 step back' thing which is frustrating as hell. Also, after you solo you should be prepared to take about 10 steps back. I wasn't ready for the post solo 'dear lord why do I suck so bad today' thing. Sport pilot requires 20 hours minimum and the best my CFI has ever seen was 38. I'm thinking I'll be well over 40 by the time I do my check ride. I'm in no rush and not planning to be a professional so any day I'm flying is a good day.

Headsets are kind of like underwear; what works for me may not work for you. Since I'm only doing Sport and will not be doing long cross countries, I'm cheaping out initially with a pair of
Kore Aviation KA-1's from Amazon. $150 with free prime shipping. They work at least as well as those provided by the flight center. I can always upgrade later. On the other hand, a set of really good ANRs only cost the same as 5 hours of plane + CFI...

Also, not sure what kind of learner you are but I started using ForeFlight's 'track log' function a few flights ago and wish I'd turned it on from day 1. I can see exactly what i did on any given flight which helps me visualize what I need to work on. You can export the tracks as KML files which you can open in Google Earth and see the track, altitude and speed. Totally freaking amazing.

Hang in, it gets...I was going to say easier but that's not quite right...how about it gets less intimidating.
 
Doug F said:
60? You punk kid...I will be 63 in a few days and just started my Sport Pilot a couple of months ago. As everyone has said, the information overload is normal. Be aware that you will likely do the '2 steps forward 1 step back' thing which is frustrating as hell. Also, after you solo you should be prepared to take about 10 steps back. I wasn't ready for the post solo 'dear lord why do I suck so bad today' thing. Sport pilot requires 20 hours minimum and the best my CFI has ever seen was 38. I'm thinking I'll be well over 40 by the time I do my check ride. I'm in no rush and not planning to be a professional so any day I'm flying is a good day.

Headsets are kind of like underwear; what works for me may not work for you. Since I'm only doing Sport and will not be doing long cross countries, I'm cheaping out initially with a pair of
Kore Aviation KA-1's from Amazon. $150 with free prime shipping. They work at least as well as those provided by the flight center. I can always upgrade later. On the other hand, a set of really good ANRs only cost the same as 5 hours of plane + CFI...

Also, not sure what kind of learner you are but I started using ForeFlight's 'track log' function a few flights ago and wish I'd turned it on from day 1. I can see exactly what i did on any given flight which helps me visualize what I need to work on. You can export the tracks as KML files which you can open in Google Earth and see the track, altitude and speed. Totally freaking amazing.

Hang in, it gets...I was going to say easier but that's not quite right...how about it gets less intimidating.
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I'll take "less intimidating" any day! As for tracking, I've been using my old Magellan SporTrak Pro. Then I use the Windows program EasyGPS to download the track to m PC, then open it with Google Earth. And yes, that Google Earth program is amazing! Been looking at getting a portable GPS device, like the Dual Electronics XGPS150, XGPS160, or similar, to hook up to my iPad so I can have realtime tracking against a map, but cannot decide on which GPS device to get. Concerning my first solo, I know when I first began my training, I felt as if I'd by 100 hours into it before I'd solo, as everything just seemed to daunting. Ended up progressing way more that I expected, especially as I only get 1 lesson a week, with a few weeks missed here an there. So yeah, I was quite pleased to be 24.7 hours into the lessons before soloing. What's nice now is that I can, at any time, just rent the plane and go up by myself and practice. And of course, all this just puts me closer to the main goal of acquiring a pilot's license! Pretty exciting!
 
Congrats! Once you solo, you are a real pilot! The certificate is just a formality.
 
SethV said:
Instead of buying a new $300 David Clamp headset - look for a used Bose X or Lightspeed Zulu. I bought all 4 of ours that way, all were between 250 and 350.
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Do u think 400 for original Zulu is too much.
 
My CFI used to say when I screwed up and would always be apologetic "Hey man, you're learning it's all about practice and repetition". Sooner or later it becomes second nature.
 
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