Question or 2 for Whirlybird
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?