Updated Tales of a Sproggy FI(R) Student
Okey dokey,
We are now at the end of Week 3 and let's see where we are.....
Mmmmmmmmmmmm........
Thinks..........................
Oh. Ma Gawd!!!!!!
Well, owing to mother nature I have managed 11 hours of flying here and there but at least lots of groundschool has been rummaged through.
I seem to have settled into the Ground Briefings fairly comfortably but being a tad older, with a fair bit of experience, civil and military, of standing in front of people and making a complete t*t of myself, I could be seen to have a bit of an advantage (at making a complete t*t of myself!).
I wish as much could be said for the flying side of things. I am still finding this very difficult. I don't think that the fragmented flying training is helping but there's nothing that can be done about that and we have to get on with it - at least the time on the ground is being used productively (Pro Pilot Wannabee whingers pay attention!!). I have a fellow student and we use the time to practice on each other - that sounds dodgy!!.
The biggest problem is that, over the years I have obviously developed my own ways of doing things and now having to undo those traits and re-learn 'the book' way of doing things is taking so much of my concentration that I am having trouble levelling an equal amount of concentration on learning the instruction of the lesson. I think a few hours of 'back to basics' before the course would have gone a long way.
Added to this I have changed aircraft types but this isn't a major factor for me as I've always been fairly comfortable jumping from one aircraft to another, however, it may be a problem for someone else so any prospective FI(R) students should think carefully about (a) what you fly now, (b) what you may be training on and (c) what you will be teaching on in the future (if you already have a job to go on).
What I am having a very BIG problem with (and this is not the first time this has manifested iself) is that I cannot seem to treat my instructor as a student and have trouble treating the 'give back' sessions as real lessons. I have never been good at artificial scenarios and perform far better at the real thing. The result if that the whole experience is far too mechanical and I am not able to relax.
The good news is that, having discussed these issues with my instructors, I have been assured that I am not experiencing anything new. My feelings, fears and frustrations have been shared by many in the past and that, around the 22 - 24 hour mark a bright light will appear and the penny will drop.
More good news is that my own flying is improving (slowly) and that, by the end of the course I am certain that all the bad habits developed over the years will have been relegated to the bin and the cobwebs will have been dusted off.
So, ending on those positive notes (see, I have learned something), watch this space for further developments in the tales of a sproggy FI(R) student!!
TTFN
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