I always like to be in control. I am inexperienced, my hours are still in the hundreds, but if I don't have control I get a bit anxious. Hopefully this is something I can sort out before I fly an airliner, but unless I have an instructor next to me or a very experienced pilot I get anxious and watch the other pilot like a hawk. A good and a bad thing.
For example, one of the twin aircraft I've flown is a bit of a death trap if you don't know what you're doing and flys like a sack of potatoes, not to mention it's pretty old. It's a GA aircraft so as a passenger I can see whats happening up front and now I refuse to sit in the back unless the person flying is experienced and I trust them.
I've watched students fly (whilst sitting in the back pax seat) and despite the instructor being there I do get anxious when the instructor says "speed" or "don't get too low". I feel useless in the back when the student could potentially kill us. Probably won't happen, but still scares me.
However, I have so much fun flying these death traps if I'm in control, I trust myself and my skills but still have huge respect for the aircraft. Maybe it's just the fact that I fly with quite a lot of low hour pilots that makes me nervous, so maybe my feelings are normal.
I hope that when I end up in an airliner that I won't have these issues as the crew would be trained to a higher standard than that in the leisure world.
Things can and do go wrong very quickly in aviation, but I have accepted that and the amount of fun I have flying outweighs the fact that I may not live to be old.
Last edited by pudoc; 29th Oct 2012 at 19:47.