Bad Flying Lesson - has this happened to you?

[Glasswasher Man]

I am on the road to becoming a CPL. I am part way through PPL.

Had my second set of circuits today.

Totally messed them up, Nothing I did went right. Messed up the RT, Circuit Pattern, Landings, Take-Off. Everything. Had a new Instructor who was nice, but it was frustrating because everytime I screwed up I couldnt get it together, just kept getting more tense. I am a perfectionist and hate failures.

Left the lesson feeling demotivated, down and feeling embarrassed.:ugh:
Has this happened to you? How did you deal with it?

Thanks.:confused:

[pipertommy]

Dont take it to hard, your learning, second time in the circuit!! Give yourself a break.
What you could do is use that last lesson to see what you could have done better? De-brief:)
Maybe draw a plan of the circuit and mark in all the key points ie turn,R/T, power settings (roughly) and then build on that.

Go over your checks to become more familiar with them (if you need to)

I know its only human nature not to cock up but it happens, your instructor has probably seen it all before.

Just use your lesson points to help you learn. If found it best to write stuff down.

Enjoy.

[Aerospace101]

The best advice I can give is to do whats called "chair flying". ie the best flight simulator is your arm chair at home.

Basically, sit in a chair and useful if you have a cockpit panel poster or photo in front of you or on a wall. Then sit there and actually go through a flight. Verbalise it and do touch drills on checks. Even more, get a mate to sit along side you and help with RT or spot mistakes etc...

Dont think of this as a 'stupid' thing to do. Or something youre too cool for. I think every fast jet pilot has done this in their training - think how big their egos are!

[Leezyjet]

I had one of those days last week on the day of my CPL skills test. Went up on a flight beforehand to practice a few things, (limited panel, timed turns, unusual att's etc) and just couldn't get them right. Landed feeling totally deflated with the situation, so decided to scrub the test for another day as by then I just wasn't in the right frame of mind to take an important test.

A few days later, went and did the same flight again beforehand, got everything more or less spot on, landed feeling much better and much more confident, took the test and passed.

As a pilot you will make mistakes along the way but you cannot dwell on them, you have to accept it, and move on - as the a/c will still be moving whilst leaving you further and further behind which can then lead to more and more mistakes as you try to catch up with it. You also have to make tough decisions too - for me to cancel my test was a very tough decision, but speaking with the CAA examiner, he agreed that it was the best course of action for me and it was a good decision given the circumstances.

If you are making multiple mistakes, rather than trying to correct them all at the same time which might then lead you to carry on getting things wrong and feeling more and more deflated, try to get one thing at a time right on each circuit, then on the next, try and get something else right, and gradually build yourself up, then when you do get that first thing right, you will then boost your confidence, rather than it taking another hit and you will have learned from the lesson rather than feeling it was a failure.

Ask the instructor to do the radio for example to begin with, to let you concentrate on flying the a/c, this will reduce your workload and you can still learn from listening to what he is saying and where in the circuit, then gradually as you build up, take over the radio when you feel you have enough spare capacity to handle it.

:)

[ChrisLKKB]

As Aero, fly the aircraft in your head over and over until all your checks become second nature. Make sure you include everything, from power settings, look out, radio calls, after take off checks, down wind checks etc etc.

Write it down to make sure you haven't forgotten anything then picture the circuit as you fly it and physically carry out the actions so don't just say look out, actually turn your head left right and left again, reach for the throttle and look at where the tach would be and do the same for the mixture, fuel cock, fuel pump, landing light etc etc. (try looking through google images for a picture of the instrument panel to help you)

If you can't do it in the arm chair without thinking and without hesitation then reschedule your next lesson until you can, it wont magically come to you in the aircraft. Flying from the arm chair is the cheapest lesson you'll ever have but possibly the most valuable.

Personally i'd wouldn't deligate any tasks to the intructor, you're the commander, it may take the load off temporarily but you've got to be able to handle it, learning to do circuits without radio then with radio is an expensive way to do it. You should know your radio calls before getting in the aircraft and you should also know what responses to expect. If not ask your instructor or borrow a transeiver, write them all down and include them in you arm chair sorties.

(btw it's quite normal to have a bad flight every now and then when you are learning this probably wont be the last)

[flyvirgin]

I wouldn’t worry if I was you. When I was starting my circuits I found them very hard and it was getting me down. I fought I was a failure, but I kept at it and after a while I could see there was a dramatic improvement.
While your training for your PPL you will be doing hundreds of circuits, the worst thing you could do is get disheartened with it.
Good luck with your training:ok:

[roll_over]

Just remember how disappointed you were and turn it into motivation for doing better next time. When you go up again and nail all of it, not only will you feel better but your instructor will be impressed you managed to turn it all around.

Also speak to your instructor, they can probably see why you are making these mistakes.

[WALSue]

I know how you feel Glasswasher, I'm on circuits and was starting to get the hang of everything then off I bimbled today in a dirty big crosswind.
This was my first time in anything other than a light cross breeze in the circuit and I screwed up the crabbing on the first couple of times.
Coupled with the fact I had a new instructor, I felt it wasn't my best of lessons.

At least my instructor picked up on the bits I was doing right and I know where I was going wrong.
I'm sure flying sideways with the ground approaching will get less daunting over time!

[Mark1234]

Yes, it happens, probably happened to all of us!

What happens is that you get a few things wrong, and it disturbs your flow, you anticipate less, things build up, you get more pressured and the situation gets worse. It's also refered to as letting the aeroplane get ahead of you.

The only way to tackle it is to cure that overload. Someone mentioned asking the instructor to handle the R/t. Excellent idea. Hand a few things off for as long as it takes to get back on track. I'd even go so far as to say there's a point you should discontinue the lesson.

Same thing may happen to you even after the PPL - again you have to manage/correct/reset and not press on into a worsening situation. Slow down, orbiting for a while, or even land somewhere, whatever works.

Right now.. don't worry. It's all part of the process.

[Jumbo744]

write down all the things that went wrong, study them on the ground, go in the cockpit, simulate takeoffs, patterns, landings, comms. Go back right away in the plane and practice it again. it's nothing to be worried about, i'm sure it happens to everybody! i used to screw completely crosswind landings, i was very very frustrated, and the method above worked for me! good luck! :ok:

[ali1986]

Glasswasher man

A pilot is made, not born.

Everyone who is learning even the big boys make mistakes.

I'd say learning to fly is a very steep learning curve indeed and you are gonna make mistakes lets face it, as we 're only human after all, its just a minor glitch, if you can take something positive out of it and apply it to your flying, and forget about it put it in the past and you ll be a better pilot for it.

Wish you all the best for the rest of your training :)

[UncleNobby]

Problem is you're a perfectionist! Get used to imperfect landings they come with the territory. The goal is to get down safely not necessarily perfectly.

[Artie Fufkin]

Totally messed them up, Nothing I did went right. Messed up the RT, Circuit Pattern, Landings, Take-Off. Everything.

Sounds like my average flight with 150 pax down the back :}

Some days you're on fire and the sun shines out of your @rse. Other days it would have been best to have stayed in bed. Wasn't there a famous line in Top Gun about a good pilot being complelled to analyse where they went wrong and to move on?

[Luke SkyToddler]

Everyone even Chuck Yeager himself, needs to learn the new skill set one piece at a time. If the whole thing is coming unglued during the pre-solo phase, that normally as an instructor means to me I'm asking the guy to do too much at once.

Ask your instructor to take care of the RT and maybe even the downwind checklist etc, for a few circuits or a few lessons or as long as it takes, so it unloads your mind just a bit and you can just focus 100%, on putting the plane in the right place at the right height and speed and power setting and config. As that starts to embed and you can do it without thinking too much, re introduce the RT and checks and start to develop the rest of the circuit situational awareness that you'll need prior to solo.

[JB007]

Agree with everyone here, especially as you're getting replies from guys flying for a living now. If your intention is to do your ATPL then you're going to have days like you've just had for the rest of your career...the biggest pressure comes from within...

Everyones had to learn how to do this, you ain't born with this skill, and man has only been flying for just over 100 years...

[chrisbl]

For a start you will not be able to emulate your instructor just yet so dont worry about it.

Chair fly as has already been suggested

Most importantly be properly nourished. I do fly much better having had a light meal, preferably pasta or something like that. It helps to have the brain and muscles woring together.

[rbaiapinto]

Hi Glasswasher,

I'm too taking ATPL and had a few of those bad lessons (still having):ok:

One of the evaluations is the mind preparation, like when things go bad you should not become very hard on yourself, because that will happen in the future on a carrier and you'll have to deal with it.

Just think that when you get to the instrument phase it will be a lot worse :E

But don't worry too much, it's the normal path and to become a great pilot you'll have to deal with and try to overcome it.

The mistakes you do on one lesson you'll study them to not repeat on the next one. It's also a training technique, to let the students do their mistakes so they can realize what they did!

Nice flights and we'll meet up there one day on a big carrier:ok: