100 Hour PPL slump

[100hours]

Hi everyone

Well, here I am, a 100 hour PPL pilot. The problem: I seem to have reached a slump. I went up with an instructor over the weekend to prepare for my PPL renewal - and thats where it hit me - I fly worse than a 10-hour SPL. It all started at around 95 hours - I just make mistake after mistake - bad landings, bad takeoffs, poor steep turns, poor prec. landings, poor radio work ... small things. Then - when I went up with the instuctor - it all went bad in one go. He even told me - "it is okay ... but you should do better" - that says it all.

The weird thing is I concider myself to be a good pilot, and I never made these mistakes - until now (for some weird reason).

Has this happened to some other guys here also ?

[A and C]

I should get a second opinion about your flying, you (or the instructor) might just have been having a bad day.

[Pilot Pete]

It all comes down to being current. You still feel you are as good as you used to be, but when you get into the aircraft you just forget little things, which all added together mean your overall performance is not great. How often do you fly? It's not like riding a bike, you DO get rusty fairly quickly in this game. The simple solution is to go flying more often!

All the best.

PP

[100hours]

hey PP

I try to fly 1 hour per week, however since 21 December I only flew twice.

Thanks for the reply !

[robdesbois]

I'm only a 45hours student pilot but hope I can offer something useful here -- it's probably also beneficial to practice your skills when out flying sometimes, rather than just bimbling around the skies.

As well as the emergency drills such as PFLs that we all need to be current on, things like practicing the basic skills - straight & level flight, level turns, climbing/descending turns, proper trimming, the list goes on.. and more advanced such as radio nav, diverts, steep turns etc - all need practice every once in a while.

I'd suggest that perhaps 1 hour a month of your flying is dedicated to making a list of areas where you need work, and going and working on them - doing a 360degree turn accurately and in balance without losing height.

As Pilot Pete said, "it's not like riding a bike," but just being in the air and flying isn't necessarily enough, it's taking the time to critique and improve yourself.

I hope that helps you :) best of luck,
--rob

[100hours]

thanks Rob

that is great advice, I will make sure to schedule 1 flight per month to practice from now on ... that way you stay current all the time !

[Heli-phile]

Continuity keeps you up to speed. find some other licensed guys and do some cost share flights, you get more exposure even sitting in the back you will be learning and to critique the driver is a good way to learn too, PIC is great but PICSAW is nearly as good (pilot in command sitting and watching) - Just ask any instructor!!
;)