After first solo problems...and strange fear

[acuba 290]

Hallo everybody! Great forum! With all your advices and help from many of you i passed now all written exams ans already made first solo. But now i have strange fear from flying: very affraid to be lost, i am serieous

I have already 22 hours flying in past 2x weeks. 2 days ago done first solo.was ok. today was thinking, what if i can not do left hand circuit and must make righthand to direction where i've been just twice. Actually same princip- I have to say off course: I HAVE NOT DONE ANY NAVIGATION FLIGHT YET.

Today instructor said to me, that i can make untill 5 circuits on my own if all ok with me. I have done 1 circuit, first touch'n go and on second downwind Tower asked me to make short one and turn right after take off and make right circuit and possibly hold, because one big MD-80 was approaching. A answered to Tower, that i can make right, but later on final was very nerveous if i'll get lost there with possible holdings and not going to find runway. I have some flightsimulator experience and off course first i'am thinking about is to put VOR frequence, but VOR is 6NM away and i acn not just fly to VOR. To ask Tower about vector to airdrome...well, also maybe not the best idea:rolleyes:. So wenn i was on final i requested fullstop landing and have to shame now about it. I know, that i learned navigation for exams, but never used it for flying yet, and also know that i must fly VFR and not IFR with instruments like in flightsimulator (which maked me a lot of problems, like bad lookout etc., tipical ex flightsim players problems).

Did somebody had this problem from you at the beginning of solo? Just a kind of fear to get lost...

[Halfbaked_Boy]

Acuba,

I was fortunate/unfortunate enough to learn at a grass airfield with an AFIS, therefore came across no problems with regard to navigation in the circuit and following procedures.
I am not an instructor, but the best advice I can offer from a personal point of view, is to step into that aircraft confident in your abilities as a pilot. You are in command of the aeroplane, and if it helps, prior to taking to the skies again on your own, read up once more on the areas of Navigation and Radiotelephony you feel you are lacking confidence in to reinforce the instincts you have so far been taught. Talk to your instructor about how you feel - perhaps he can arrange for a similar scenario to be set up by ATC whilst you are flying dual so you can see how it is done. Also, when listening to the radio, do just that, LISTEN! From the sound of things, you are flying from a controlled airport, therefore the controller will be highly trained in his field and will pass all information required to you, but if you feel as though something has not been explained fully from your point of view, either ask the controller to 'say again', or tell them that you are a student/inexperienced pilot and to speak slower and/or explain what they want you to do.
On a final point, never feel ashamed of something like this - you made a decision in not continuing with a touch and go because you did not feel comfortable with the situation. This is a skill that indeed many experienced pilots lack, so you can be commended on that.

Flying, like life, is a continuous learning experience!

All the best, Jack.

[Final 3 Greens]

Acuba

It is quite natural to be concerned about being lost when you are a student pilot - most of us felt the same way at 22 hours!

Never be afraid or ashamed to ask for help.

Does your airfield have radar? If so, you could ask air traffic to confirm your position and give you vectors back to downwind.

I would also speak with your instructor, explain your concerns and ask him to go with you on a few right hand circuits, simulating an orbit downwind.

As your experience grows, you will find this type of occurence a minor irritation and will deal with it easily.

[Whirlybird]

I agree 100% with Final 3 Greens. :ok:

This is perfectly normal. In fact the situation you were put in sounds pretty scary to me....just done first solo, out on your own for the first time, Tower tells you to do something completely different to what you've done so far. Most people would be nervous...though many wouldn't admit it!

Most of us have experienced being near the airfield, but not being able to see it...it's suddenly gone, someone seems to have moved it!!! This can especially happen if you've had to orbit, which can be quite disorientating in the beginning. If you can, try and reorientate yourself by looking at the compass, working out where you should be with respect to the runway, then looking for familiar ground features. If that doesn't work, as Final 3 Greens says, ask the Tower for help. Don't worry, you won't be the first to do that, far from it.

If it makes you feel any better, here are a few of my...er....non-conventional radio calls - all quite recently, when I'd been flying for several years.....

In the middle of Paris, approaching the Arc de Triomphe...
Errrr....Molyneux, I'm really sorry, but I'm not where I just told you I was. In fact....I have no idea at all where I am. (They gave me a squawk and directed me to Paris Heliport)

Going into Kemble, or thinking I was....
Kemble Information, sorry, but we're not downwind for your runway after all. I think we're at a different airfield. We'll call you when we've sorted it out.

In France, having asked several times for instructions to be repeated...
La Baule, we can't understand what you want us to do. Would it be alright if we.... [we suggested a type of approach and landing that seemed sensible, and they agreed to it].

These were not emergencies; just the normal things that sometimes happen to normal people. I'm not suggesting that you copy that type of radio usage, just hopefully convincing you that being lost and admitting it is not a hanging offence!

[shortstripper]

Not uncommon I'm sure!

I went from gliding at a quiet unregulated site to learning power at Cambridge will full ATC. I remember that having flown gliders, I very quickly soloed, but was very worried that the circuit pattern would be changed during the flight as I found the regulated proceedure quite intimidating. It sounds daft really as the flying was easy, and the nav was no problem ... it was just the worry of talking and figuring the new circuit when I was so used to the gliding enviroment.

It will pass, so don't worry too much as I think most of us find one or two problem areas as we go.

SS

PS ... I still hate the radio

[Fuji Abound]

Sometimes knowing you are safe is the biggest confidence builder. That is why everything seems so much easier with the instructor in the right seat.

Given you are training at a large airport have no fear - the instructor has just moved to the tower!!

The tower will know exactly where you are all the time with primary radar or maybe just DF. If you ever were to get lost ask for vestors to the overhead - it is that simple.

[Gertrude the Wombat]

So wenn i was on final i requested fullstop landing and have to shame now about it.

That sounds like a perfectly reasonable command decision in the circumstances.

ask Tower about vector to airdrome...well, also maybe not the best idea

It probably would be the best idea. Staying alive is more important than worrying about whether you're going to sound silly or not, and pretty well nothing you could say on a second solo with strange things thrown at you would sound silly anyway.

Cambridge ... was very worried that the circuit pattern would be changed during the flight

I don't think that happens very often - it only ever happened to me once at Cambridge, and that was whilst they still had the three runways. IIRC I had an instructor with me on that occasion, but I believe the usual advice is that if you can't get the picture you ask to climb away from the circuit and re-join once you've worked out where you're supposed to be?

[tonyhalsall]

I know, that i learned navigation for exams, but never used it for flying yet, and also know that i must fly VFR and not IFR with instruments like in flightsimulator (which maked me a lot of problems, like bad lookout etc., tipical ex flightsim players problems).

Did somebody had this problem from you at the beginning of solo? Just a kind of fear to get lost...

I think you have answere your own question here. On Flight Sim it is very easy to get lost in the circuit because you principally have a head forward display and have to fly accurate headings so that the airfield and correct runway conveniently come into view as you turn final.
Not getting lost in the circuit in real life is not really about navigation just about keeping a look out and being positionally aware as to the location of the airfield and runway in use. You will know where the airfield is in respect of (for example the large white building, the big road junction etc etc)
Don't worry, after a couple more circuits you will start to identify ground features in your immediate local area which will help you identify exactly where you are without reference to your map. As your confidence grows you will soon be able to quite literally 'spread your wings'
AS an example of ground feature recognition, I fly around the North West of England and there are features like Rivington and Southport Gas Tower which on a reasonable VFR day I can see from all over the Lancashire plain and will orientate me immediately as to my position - you will also learn to identify prominent features to help you locally and it will be this rather than your navigation that will give you confidence

[pulse1]

acbus,

I used to have problems with this kind of thing well after I got my PPL, having learned at a field with no radio. It got me into all kinds of problems when I later flew at a regional airport with some commercial traffic. My worst problem was that I once got so confused I landed on the wrong runway.

I then stuck a transparent compass rose on the chart over my home airfield and this helped me to be constantly aware of the approximate bearing to/from that airfield. This improved my situational awareness no end. Even now, I still get odd moments of uncertainty, I remind myself of the bearing to the airfield, and quickly work out the required heading to put me where I should be. Actually I find that Flight Sim can be quite useful in practicing situational awareness and relative bearings close to airfields. The restricted viewing angle makes it much harder than reality.

[bladewashout]

On my first solo, I started up & called the tower for hover-taxi instructions and they told me the runway/circuit pattern in use, & I realised it was a different one to those I had used previously.

I shut down, walked back into the flying school and asked for an instructor to go out with me again so I could do a couple of circuits with him on that pattern before doing it myself, because I wasn't sure I would do it right, which we did.

Successfully went up on my own thereafter but completely blew the approach (low weight on my own, didn't descend fast enough) and decided to initiate a go-araound on my first solo landing, which disappointed the instructor somewhat when he debriefed later!

That was with more that 22 hours!. You'll get the hang of it...

BW

[DBChopper]

Successfully went up on my own thereafter but completely blew the approach (low weight on my own, didn't descend fast enough) and decided to initiate a go-araound on my first solo landing, which disappointed the instructor somewhat when he debriefed later!


Disappointed??!! He should have been elated at your excellent decision-making at such an early stage in your flying career! :ok:

The only scare I have ever given myself (so far?) was lifting off for an early solo flight when I completely forgot the different cyclic position required for solo flight. Imagine my surprise as the skids lifted off the ground and I shot backwards across the airfield... :eek: A combination of quick reactions and a lot of good luck saved me and I have never done it again :=