Question or 2 for Whirlybird

[G_STRING]

Whirlybird, hope you don't mind, but I'd really like your feedback on the following.

I've been following threads on this board a long time before I ever began posting, and have always read yours, (plus your answers to others), with great interest, for the reasons below.

You have obviously done very well in your career, (believe you are instructing rotary at Tatenhill), but yet, you have always been able to admit to what you perceive are your faults on various occasions.

You have stated in the past that you had trouble with instructors when doing your PPL, had an issue with your CPL examinations, have openly admitted to having problems with confidence, plus numerous other things have come out in your postings.

Despite all this, you have been sucessful (commercials, instructor rating, article writing, test pilot), to name but a few, and I commend you for it.

What is the secret of your success? I have massive problems with confidence at the moment, I really believe I shouldn't be flying, and can never seem to get to where I want to go (bettering myself), without the disbelief in myself forcing me back down. (I am happy with my handling, I just have no confidence in the nav side, and get disorientated easily).

I can't see airfields, even when everybody else can, and I think to myself, 'God, not again'. I can navigate OK, but when it goes wrong, I appear to develop dyslexia, and cannot get myself back on track properly. Don't use GPS, want to do it properly on my own. I also seem to forget things that I've previously learnt, NDB tracking, for instance.

I live in dread of being 'found out', that I'm not really fit to fly. I think I have a love/hate relationship with it. If it goes right, (rare), I feel amazing. If it goes wrong, (usual), I feel in despair. Nothing else in life can generate such ups and downs.

I know that you have gone through this sort of thing yourself, how do you get around it, not just the once, but how do you continually keep pushing yourself. Where do you find the sort of drive you must have?

It is refreshing to read about somebody who obviously has one hell of a lot of determination do well - can you share the secrets of your success?

[tacpot]

I have also had problems with confidence, but as you build up experience, you realise that many of the problems you have with flying are just down to lack of experience. (If that isn't a circular arguement!)

The more experience you get, the easier things you used to find hard become. I'm sure Whirly will have found this, and this is perhaps the secret of her success, she didn't give up, but kept practising and, over time, built up experience.

I use the following tricks for finding airfields:

. as part of the flight planning I look at an aerial photo of the area to see what landmarks stand out and where the airfield lies in relation to them. This also allows you to see what features on tthe airfeild stand out.

. I look at the chart to see what roads, railways lines, lakes etc. pinpoint the position of the airfield.

. when you ring for PPR ask about local ladmarks, e.g. at Derby airfield, the Toyota factory at Burnaston as at the base to final turn onto runway 23.

Don't think that it isn't a valid technique to fly to a line feature, e.g. a railway and follow the line feature to the airfield!

Good luck

tp

[Whirlybird]

G_STRING,

Flying is difficult. It is not a natural activity, for most of us. It requires a combination of many different sorts of skills, all of which require practice. On top of that, it's expensive, so many of us can't even really afford the practice. :{

What you're experiencing is normal. It's also very common. Loads of us have problems finding airfields and doing basic nav. Why else is GPS so popular?

I know what you mean about being in dread of being 'found out'. So does another PPRuNer with way more experience than me - Genghis the Engineer. He posted something about that recently, about fearing that the next check or exam would be the one where someone realised he should never be flying in the first place. It's in a thread on Rotorheads somewhere; sorry, don't have time to search for it.

I suspect that far more people feel this way than admit to it. That's probably epecially true among men, although I know that sort of generalisation is never entirely accurate. But women seem to find it slightly easier to admit they're not perfect, at least to each other.

Anyway, you ask what I do. I don't know, really. I suppose I've learned to accept myself, and the way I am, and not fight it. I'll never be a natural pilot. I've never done anything in the minimum hours yet, and I probably never will. But does it really matter? I know that if I practice I can get there. I only know that because I've done it so many times. And I don't really have a lot of determination. When I was doing my CPL and instructor's rating, I decided that if it was too hard, and I really couldn't do it, then I'd pack it in...but at least I'd know. I find that giving yourself permission to fail, so long as you've tried your best, is really important. I know it goes against everything you hear about going for it and thinking positively, but it seems to work for me.

It's somewhat like learning to hover. Everyone finds this extraordinarily hard. You have three controls, which all move different ways, all affect each other, and all have a lag of a different amount. Most students can only learn in very short sessions of a few minutes at a time. You can only do it if you stay relaxed, even though you're concentrating 110%. Once you get tired, you get tense, and you can't do it. People with drive and determination are driven crazy by it; they want to go on, to do more, but it doesn't work. But if you accept the way the process works, and keep struggling to hover over a football-sized field, gradually the fields you need get smaller, and then it all clicks...till the wind picks up and you go through it all again on another level. You can't fight it, but if you keep going without expecting or demanding anything, you learn to do it.

I think maybe that works for more things in flying, and also in life generally.

I don't know what else to tell you, because I really don't know the answer to your question. I read the things you said about me in amazement. I still don't really feel that I know very much. But if any of that helps, feel free to use it.

And it does get easier the longer you fly...though not all that much!

Take care,

Whirly.

[rotorfossil]

The thing about navigation is that it is almost impossible to do too much preparation. If you have done that properly, then the basic rule applies: If you fly the headings accurately for the right times at the right speeds etc, you have to arrive in pretty much the right places. That takes confidence which only comes with (continuous) practice.
I have noticed that when people say that sometimes it all works and sometimes it doesn't, it's because sometimes two errors cancel, ie inaccurate heading counteracted by forecast wind being out. Unfortunately, when the errors are in the same direction, you can go off track rather quickly.
When you look at an airfield chart, turn the picture round and visualise it from your approach direction, same principle as track orientating your map in the air.
If it's any consolation, when I was doing it every day I never thought about it. Now I don't do it every day, I have to work at it a bit harder, ie more preparation. In the end however, practice is everything.

[Droopystop]

G_String,

I don't think there is anything wrong being a humble pilot, in fact I think there is quite alot right with it.

Navigation is hard and it takes practice, but if you stick with it, it becomes easier and easier. I don't know what chart you use but I can highly recommend the quarter mil rather than the half mil. When I trained to fly, the half mil I thought I needed was never used (except for flight planning exercises) and I have used a quarter mils ever since. When planning identify features that you think might stand out along the way eg strange shaped woodland, towns, lakes etc and know where they are relative to you route. Finding airfields can be a little awkward, especially the likes of Fenland, but roads and other line features are useful. Finally (and I am sure this is trying to teach you to suck eggs) always orientate your map in the direction you are flying and make use of a DI or vertical card compass if it is fitted.

Enjoy the flying and remember when you crack the nav, imagine the confidence that will give you!

[bencoulthard]

I've had the problem of spotting the airfield too, and I'm not just talking grass, I couldn't see Sheffield with the lights on!!!
One thing I have thought of, but not tried out yet, is using Google earth. You could find the strip you want on there then you can tilt and rotate it into the direction you expect to come from. This way you could see where the strip lies in relation to other landmarks.
If anyone has tried this, does it work in practice?

Ben

[Whirlybird]

For the post by Genghis that I referred to above, see http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=230019. It's about the sixth post in the thread.

[MyData]

I think the majority of us have the problem of spotting airfields when learning and flying to unfamiliar places.

My 'claim to fame' is that I was inside the Leeds/Bradford CTZ and *still* couldn't see the airfield :{ Fortunately I had my instructor on board. Once I was told what to look for from a distance it was a doddle. Until I was on my Dual QXC and couldn't find Sywell for looking - until I was almost overhead.

Interestingly I've since taken family and friends for flights over very familiar landmarks over Yorkshire. Pointing out a whole town (e.g. Malton) or major landmark (e.g. Castle Howard) is missed on my passengers. I was really surprised: "Look there: the dual carriageway, the road that splits from it, it leads to a town with a river...", "Over there?" - pointing way off the mark - "No, there, on your right, I'll have to bank now we are so close", "No, I still can't see it", "Aaaarrrrggghhhhh - There. Big Town. Church. River. Railway Line...", "No, don't know where you mean".

A couple of minutes later as we make a lazy turn... "Oh look, that must be xxxx town down there - I can recognise the pubs on the high street"... So I learned from this that as pilots we are trained to look at the world in a different way. Most people wouldn't know how a river or railway line meanders through a town.

As you do more flying you will get to know what to look for and what to expect. Ben C. - yes, I've used Google and Microsoft Live to look at airstrips and local features, especially large fields and roads / rivers / railway lines nearby. But not for approaches as at that angle it doesn't really work for me.

[G_STRING]

Thanks for all your replies. Whirly, the analogy of learning how to hover was a good one, feel like the principle of what you are saying is helpful to me. thanks also for link.

I didn't realise that other, (more experienced), people had these problems too.

I will endeavour to try to practice more, to get my head around things, but may be off for a few weeks, as mrs g_string will shortly be giving birth to g_string junior!

Thanks again all

[BroomstickPilot]

G_STRING,

I think Whirly has answered your question superbly. I too have the same problems that you have and am working on them in much the way Whirly has suggested. Nevertheless, I think I'll print off Whirly's reply and refer to it every time I get dispirited.

Here's an idea of my own, however, that has helped me and just might help you with your navigation. One thing that has always unhinged me has been to find, when airborne and miles from base, that there is some item of my navigation planning that has been either missed or else done wrong. I now have a procedure of my own that prevents late discovery of errors and omissions and also prevents me from distrusting my own flight planning.

As you know, there are many elements that need to be planned prior to flying. Notably the completion of your flight planning form (working out MSA, magnetic heading, distance, groundspeed, etc) and inclusion of the various items on your chart (eg, track-lines, w/v arrow etc) in preparation for a flight.

What I have done is to produce a checklist table for all these elements, adding in a gross error check at the end, to ensure that all my calculations are correct before flying. I have put this inside one of Snowpake's stiff 'Showcard' display laminators and bonded this to the inside of my FB4 kneeboard with double sided adhesive tape.

On completing my flight planning, I go through the checklist, ticking off each item with a fibre-tip. When I am satisfied that my checklist has been completed satisfactorilly, I then wipe the ticks off the Snowpake Showcard with a bit of meths on some kitchen towel so that it is ready for use again.

If you want a copy of my checklist table, send me an email address and I'll send you a copy as an attachment.

Broomstick.