Sometimes in flying 'less is more'. Hypertension will definitely lower your ability to learn and your ability to perform. Your instructor is there to teach you and adjust their techniques to your learning style. If they can't, they should think of possibly swapping themselves with a different instructor.
Hypertension is the medical term for high blood pressure. I doubt this is the problem since the symptoms (few that they are) do not usually include those you describe. I suspect you mean nervous tension. Similarly I would disagree with the comment that the instructor is there to adjust their techniques to a candidates "learning style." Whilst it is certainly true that an instructor should be able to recognise a problem and find perhaps more than one way of resolving the problem, it is at this level not incumbent on the instructor to have to adapt to the candidate. Often a second opinion or assessment will be sought if a candidate is failing to make the requisite standard at whatever level they are being trained or examined.
Tima84 I would say the following.
I have worked with cadet pilots for the last 15 years. My biggest concern when I started doing so, was the absolute lack of exposure and experience that they brought to the role they were required to fulfill. However the flip side of that particular coin, was the enthusiasm, attitude and core "CRM" awareness that usually enabled them to understand their own (and others) limitations and to resouce advice and knowledge in a sensible and mature way. That attitude and maturity coupled with properly structured training, often providing the counterbalance to the concerns generated over the lack of experience. Of the cadets I have worked with over this time period, all have gone to on to make good captains within the normal chronological and experience required timescales. Many have gone on to make excellent managers within a wider remit.
I do have serious concerns that as the "cadet," and indeed the whole commercial flight training regime grows, the quality of output becomes diluted. I firmly believe that without measured and careful controls on selection, training and numbers, the flight deck of a jet airliner is not the natural or right place for a new 250 hour licence holder. Unfortunetaly many 250 hour licence holders believe that it is. This belief is borne out of a conviction that however a licence is acquired what is "
good for the goose is good for the gander." When that is often demonstrably not the case. Similiarly the advertising hype of commercial schools is often geared to nourish this same misconception. Finally the vocal witterings of one or two high profile (publicity hungry) CEO's lends an added credence to those people hungry for vindication of their own perceptions.
Going back to your post, I think you are quite brave in being honest about your feelings and the situation you now find yourself in. I don't think there is anything unusual in being overwhelmed by requirements that would normally far exceed your level of experience. Given what I have already said, and the situation you have described, I would do that thing that your CRM weighted training should have taught you was central, and that is an extension of what you are doing in this thread,
communicate.
It can sometimes be a difficult thing to do, but I would ask to speak to your instructor or chief training captain in private and tell them your feelings and concerns. Most people will not only appreciate your self awareness and honesty, but will also want to exercise their own skills in seeking a satisfactory resolution where one can be realistically achieved. I doubt your instructor feels you are a complete idiot, more likely that is your perception because it is how you feel you are coming across. The remedial training you are stating you have had, may be insufficient if your own self confidence is not commensurate with the standards you need to achieve and display at this point.
Being nervous, apprehensive, concerned, unsure, worried are all normal parts of the adrenalin producing "
fight or flight" response. The vast majority of people will have these things to some degree, every time they are placed in a position of jeopardy or perceived jeopardy. Controlled, it is a necessary part of what allows us to deal with difficult and threatening situations. Uncontrolled, it often develops in to what we call "panic" or "breakdown."
Confidence comes with experience, as you have already discovered. Stress is often a trigger for the production of adrenalin necessary to deal with these aspects of examination or jeopardy. The important thing is being able to control the levels and duration of that stress so that they do not become negative or damaging. Often experience provides the cure, so in the absence of that experience you need a greater sense of self awareness and caution. Even with years of experience the potential jeopardy of an examination still gives most people (including me) the same worries and performance anxieties.
Control your stress as best as you can, and try and use it to produce the performance you know you are capable of, and are expected to display. If your concerns go deeper than this, then discuss them in a timely and appropriate manner with your instructor or head of the training department.
One thing everybody wants is for you to be successful.
When I just started flying on the piper I had a similar problem, after a while I got more confident and less nervous. But that was piper, a toy. Airbus is a real machine, requires thinking ahead, which I cannot do.
No, the Piper is not a toy, it is an aircraft. The Airbus is an aircraft. It is a much bigger and more complicated aircraft, but it is not a toy either. You fly the seat you are in and what is bolted on the back will simply follow. The airbus is also a multi crew aircraft that requires an additional operating philosophy. Both require the ability to "think ahead" to anticipate, plan, reserve options, adapt, communicate. It is unlikely that you would have become "more confident and less nervous" in the former if you had not already exercised these attributes. The Airbus will certainly require you to exercise them in spades, and you should ensure that you do. You might argue that the simulator is a "toy" in that it is not an aircraft and can be reset to forgive errors and mistakes that might be serious or fatal in the real world. However it is a very expensive toy that is designed to replicate the threats associated with the real article.