FI scared of turbulence!

[yellowvestman]

I am a flying instructor with around 1000 hours flight time, and recently I have found myself getting tense and stressed about bumpy weather, I am talking about moderate/mild chop and thermals.

I know that my edginess has affected one student and I want to put a stop to it.

What kind of factors contribute to this sort of thing?

I have previously dealt with students fears about being flipped upside down or thrown about. This is the sort of issue you get over some time during your PPL, not something that hits you with 750 plus P1 hours!

As soon as the wind gets above about 15 knots, or it is thermally, that is it, I find I am covering the controls, and generally feeling uncomfortable and wishing I was on the ground, or finding excuses not to fly.

A good wing drop and I up for going back to land.

Over the last year os so instructing I have flown in some bad weather, but recently extreme caution has come into play and I am unsure how to deal with it.

Any feedback reagrding causes, and ways of dealing with this kind of matter would be greatly appreciated.

[gingernut]

Yellowvestman, do you mind me asking what exactly you are scared of, is it the sickly feeling you can get in the bumps, is it a fear of something else (eg crashing), or is it that there is actually no underlying fear, just generalised anxiety whn tossed about ?

Without wanting to go into too much detail in this (open) forum, is their other things that have gone on, in your life, recently, to explain your present feelings ?

The answers given may give a clue to the underlying cause, and treatment. (yes there are many)

By the way, it doesn't sound like your losing the plot. I'm a lot more inexperienced than you, granted, but I still feel sick everytime I think of going flying when its bumpy, I thought everyone did !

[Wycombe]

I'm not an instructor, but I am a PPL/A, 250hrs TT and am happy to confess to getting a bit jittery when things get a bit bumpy.

I found the best cure the Sunday before last (admittedly this was with an instructor on board, as I needed a Club currency check in any case) - go flying when it's rough and see how you cope.

Last Sunday was a windy day in Southern UK (with some big haily CB's around, but good viz so we could keep clear of them), but on the basis that it was straight down the runway (albeit at 20G35) I decided to have a crack.

It was pretty rough at times below 2000', especially over wind-facing terrain (as you would expect!) but allowing the aeroplane to ride the bumps rather than a hard grasp on the controls seemed to make it a lot less stressful.

On the approach, I gave up trying to fly an accurate speed (except to say it was a bit faster than usual to allow for sink, windshear etc) and resorted to "point and power" to try to keep on some sort of profile. Seemed to work ok and resulted in 2 decent landings :D

My problem is probably more of self-confidence. When the instructor said I would have been fine solo, I felt much more happy with my ability to fly in these conditions.

[sky330]

Are you still 'nervous' when flying yourself or is it only when instructing?

In the second case it could be that you just don't feel comfortable with your abilities to 'revover' from a trainee mistake because you don't train it often enough.
When was the last time you fly the aircraft at the limit of the operating enveloppe to give you confidence.
How about a refresher on aerobatics by a correct instructor, even on a different type of aircraft.

Just an idea.

[mad_jock]

How many hours are you flying a year? Are you doing 12 hour days 6 days a week?

It could be more of a case of instructor burn out than anything.

I know when I came to the conclusion i was burnt out. Your not 100% concentration and on nav ex's you go into a stupor almost.

Its your brains way of telling you that your are more than tired you are fatigued and deep down you know you need heaps of rest and relaxation. Brain is a funny old thing.

MJ

[Loose rivets]

There are some valid comments here, address these first - then come to terms with what you are taking on in the long term.

I'll make the assumption that you are working towards an airline career, and mention a couple of things that I have experienced that stick in my mind. They are typical of many, many aircrew's experiences.

Severe weather, lightning, moments of virtual loss of control. (My post in lightning strikes recently )

T-tail twin-jet 90 pax, at 100' on T/O ---clear but windy night at Palma. Aircraft shook violently, thrown to the left, over tall hanger type buildings. One ASI showed 160kts, the other zero! Everything went calm, nothing further happened.

Over the Alps, beautiful night. T-storm below under stratus. Gave the core a 10NM clearance. Suddenly, A/C dropped 1,000 feet so sharply that my jacket went horizontal on it's hook, then it did it three more times, like going down 1,000' concrete steps. We climbed back up and nothing further happened.

There have been dozens of rough flights, and times when I thought the wings were coming off, but there was only the two of us up front and nowhere to hide.

AT the end of the day, you are going to have to make the decision to take the airplane by the balls and show it who's the boss. A highly focused and determined aggression if you like. People penetrate hurricanes to the eye, it's b-rough but they do it regularly. DC3's and the like flew through the ITZ night after night. No wonder aircrew take to drink!

I have made comment about this because as I mentioned in the l-s post, I almost quit flying over one particular flight when I was a couple of years into my career. A lot of work down the drain. The Steward ( as he was called then ) never flew again, and our brave lassie, got hurt trying to get passengers back in their seats. They were kneeling in the isle to pray.

I've never met an experienced pilot that hadn't got a tale or two to tell, it goes with the territory. I remember a pal recounting a darey-do tale, the beer in his mug was slopping slightly as his hands shook still. But the glint in his eye said that he would not trade places with anyone.

[airtids]

My best advice is to spend a few hours training aerobatics. Knowing what an aircraft is capable of, and how to make things look 'right' again will do wonders for your nerves.

[FakePilot]

I had a similair experience (not with flying), but with a "dangerous" hobby, caving. Slowly but surely I started withdrawing, nah, don't feel like it today. Then it started getting worse. Finally I couldn't even bring myself to do it without a sick feeling in my stomach etc. Turns out I had an Acute Anxiety Disorder. Once treated, life was wonderful again. Now I can't wait to get back down!

Very complicated factors can add up to this.
Don't know if it's what you're experiencing, it just kinda of sounded similair.

Good luck! These things are treated all the time!

[doubleu-anker]

A little fear is very healthy. It's what keeps us alive.

A person with no fear has no place in civil aviation involving the carriage of passengers today.

It does sound like you might benifit from loosening up a little. Perfectly normal the fear of flying. We were not born with wings, to state the obvious.

Good advice on aerobatic instruction though.