I did my first flying at an AIRTC gliding camp. I got called at the last minute (Easter sunday) to come to the camp which required a 15 hour bus ride and hitching a lift with one of the instructors. Because of that I missed the first few nights of theory instruction and was rushed through the first 3 flights when I got there. They consisted mainly of some quick intro and a few fun spins and manoeuvres.
The next flight I was on I got a new instructor. His first words: "If you don't do this right, we are going to crash" (spin recovery). As a naive 15 year old that put the wind up me. It was the only flight in ten that week the tow plane threatened to dump the line on me because I was so nervous and out of position. Compare that to my first three flights I got complemented on how well I was holding position for a first timer.
First spin in I was sweating and struggling to do things smoothly. I could do nothing right, any excess stick movement was corrected by the instructor yanking his control such that it smacked my control into my leg. Same went for the rudder if I was too stampy there, he would kick it back at me. I think there was some taps to the back of the head as well (not sure, it was all a blur but it felt like it). The rest of the lesson was gruff and assumed a lot about theory I had not yet had a chance to catch up on which made me even more off balance.
My view, the pressure was unnecessary and actually took focus off my ability to learn - I get the intent, but it just did not work on me. I found I preferred one of the older instructors who explained things well, but tolerated nothing outside what he was asking me to do. Nothing physical, just stern corrections when wrong and actually some compliments when I got things right.
Last edited by SgtBundy; 31st Dec 2012 at 11:21.