PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Any experienced guys suffered loss of confidence?
Old 16th May 2023, 07:16
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Central Scrutinizer
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Europe
Age: 33
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Hi, I'm not nearly as experienced as you and have also had up and downs in my confidence.

What has helped me in the past was renting a PA28/C172 at the local club and practicing touch and goes when nobody else is flying during windy conditions, crosswinds etc. (nothing so extreme that it's unsafe).
The best thing about this is that there's nobody to judge you or whom you would be negatively affecting if your landing isn't pretty. You can bounce, balloon, go around etc as much as you want (within safe limits obviously), and nobody will be there to see it or judge it. This removes a lot of the pressure and stress on you as compared to sitting on the RHS of the A320, worried about what the Captain's is going to think, what all the pax are going to say if you need to go around, what the extra cost for the airline is for the extra fuel burn etc, all of these little stressors are gone and will let you focus and show yourself that you can do it.

Of course a C172 and a A320 are not the same, but from a pilot's mental point of view the scenario is identical in my humble opinion. The mission is getting an aircraft down on the ground safely during hard conditions, C172 or A320 doesn't really matter.
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