Wow. First of all, thanks to everyone who took the time to reply. I got one email alert and thought I would wait for a few more replies but got no further alerts. And everything has kicked off since then. So apologizes for the delay in getting back to you. I will try to answer your questions and clarify anything>
Originally Posted by
jmmoric
So if you love both your current job and flying, then that would be my advice.... keep both, and be happy
I don't particular like my current job
it just pays the bills. Flying was something I have always wanted to do but only feel I am in a position to pursue it now.
Originally Posted by
avtur007
...Laziness and spoon feeding is unfortunately a trait of many of students these days and yes they will get a ppl but would I want to sit in a cockpit for 5 hours with them, probably not... Go flying!
Thanks for your point of view. It seems you are saying that the a lot of students these days don't put the effort in, in your experience. How do you define spoon feeding? Teaching and imparting the benefit of your experience is part of of the course, surely you don't expect just to recap the night reading the student has done alone? I think most people would find it bizarre if these words were uttered by a driving instructor or maybe a scuba instructor, to increase the potential danger of the activity.
It seems likely at £200+ an hour there is going to be very few frivolous 'have a go heroes' chancing their way through the PPL. At what stage do you stop and question 'this section isn't working, can I approach it from another place or build complimentary skills that would support coming back to this later?'. Or do you just repeat the same 3 phrases repeated over and over or put up with the f-word being used at you as friend of mine did training at the same time before he finally switched instructors (but he had 18 months training ahead of him as motivation). I definitely agree with you that the last sentence is the cure, it is how to do that safely from this point (after lock down et al).
Originally Posted by
poporange
Go back to when you thought your dream would be piloting your own plane and tell me if quitting still an option on your mind.
No, I don't think I could leave the idea to lie for long if I did.
Originally Posted by
avtur007
Grow a pair and actually do something that all your ppl training has taught you to do. Ie plan a route, interpret weather, fly away, learn, improve and relish the challenge. Then you might feel like a pilot. I agree some folks are happy to fly in sight of their known features or airfields and that's fine, but I suspect the OP isn't one of these but that's all he's been exposed too, hence his disappointment with flying. See it all the time with my students. Fear of using their gifts.
If I had to guess, I would presume you are ex-military ! I recognize the temperament.
Originally Posted by
Slopey
And you're giving up after the PPL because you didn't like your instructor???? Good luck with that!
You've got the PPL. If you want to go further, get on with it. Nobody will make it happen but you.
Steady on, I'm not quitting yet. I am looking for inspiration, maybe guidance from those who have been in the same place as me. Any learner/teacher relationship has to have a good basis and a major recurring idea in the guidance before doing your PPL is about is visiting the airfields, meet the instructors, ask them questions. I did that. I found a great instructor who was relaxed, highly respected and I was very excited to start with. I booked the start date with them a few days before starting I found I had been reassigned to another unknown. Started out OK but ended badly, as described above. I know I am not the only person to have had an experience like this.
When you say good luck with that, are you saying that instructors you didn't get on with was the norm for you?
Originally Posted by
rudestuff
It does sound rather like you've lost all enthusiasm for flying. Or maybe you like the IDEA of being a pilot but aren't actually interested in flying? Guess what? Everyone feels like they know nothing when they get their PPL. 9 weeks is not an accelerated PPL, 2-3 weeks is an accelerated PPL! How many times have you gone flying since you passed? For me it was every day.
It's quite an easy decision - If you like it, do it.
I was very enthusiastic about flying up until about hour 23 and I don't feel my enthusiasm was lost. More than it was slowly ground out of me, I left each day glad I had got the hours and completed the tasks but relieved it was over for the day. I suspect my instructor may have been going through something, he was often leaving quickly to visit his mother. If so, this is an issue that should have been managed rather than a burden to be borne by both of us. This is the 21st century.
I was a trained skydiver as a younger man, to pass the time at uni and fail to impress girls. It was a similar feeling when I got my CAT A licence but you still had the community around you to guide you through the next potentially dangerous few steps of your journey increasingly outside your comfort zone until, 10-15 jumps later, you are starting to assist helping others come through. It is safe and it works. My PPL feels like this but without the community. If I went back to my training airfield now, obviously none of the instructors are available and most of the guys I knew would already be moved on. It is just a production line, it must be an issue for a lot of airfields.
Is it possible to do all the revision, exams, flight manual revision and the flying in 2-3 weeks? If so then I will review my outlook. I struggled at times to complete in 9 weeks, the commute was 80min each way which was also a factor (my closest airfield with the company closed down). I haven't flown since, and won't know until lock down is eased of course, allowing the gremlins out to play on what you think you know.
Originally Posted by
rudestuff
I'm failing quite nicely 👍
Glad you didn't take it personally, you know what I meant...
Originally Posted by
MrAverage
Which part of the country are you in?
Derbyshire, 1 hour+ to my local airfield... Except the gliding club. Do you know any good mentors you think might be on my wavelength? My focus is on safety and support, bravado will get you killed (as witnessed in skydiving, regularly, from the pro ranks).
I should also clarify my flight ambitions :S I obviously don't get expect to get called up for ESA tomorrow.
My career path is highly speculative, to the point where it doesn't exist today. If train and fly to become an experience multi-engine large jet pilot over the get 10-15 years, SABRE engines or similar are perfected and start the advent of the space plane era, 10 years after that they are mainstream and I am experienced enough to consider eligible to fly one. For the last 5-10 years of my career I achieve my goal. Simples. Everyone has to have a dream.
Apologies for the length and if I missed anyone's points.