Confidence !!

[Currybeast]

I am currently doing my IR, and have about 20 hours left. I did a flight last week, the first for three weeks, and made a complete hash of it.

I have been told that I have three options : -

1) Take a lot longer to prepare for flights, rehearsing what to do/ say on the ground a lot more, before going up. I will also need , I am told , about 20 extra hours.

2) Give up.

3) Wait until spring, after having a lay off, and come back fully refreshed.

My inclination is to keep on going, but my confidence has been sorely knocked.

Does anybody have any advice/ techniques that have helped. I think my problem is a lack of confidence, that translates to a lack of competence when in the stressful environment of the cockpit.

Thanks

[Kefuddle_UK]

I don't know, cos I am no where near your stage, but I've told that getting hold of one of those IFR sims like IFRPro, Elite, etc allieviates a considerable amount of learning effort in the cockpit. Maybe somebody better qualified can comment.

As for RT stuff, again I dunno about IFR, but the VFR RT CBT CDs from Oxford are supurb. Again maybe somebody properly qualified can comment.

[Splat]

Currybeast

I'm assuming that you are doing the approved course. I would have also thought that if properly structured that you should be able to do it in the time allocated or fairly close to.

If it where me, I'd take a look at the school, and maybe think of changing to a different place.

Oh, and to add, taking 3 weeks between flight is not a good idea. I had to wait 9 days to get Wx good enough for the IRT, and I had to keep current every third day and the rust could be felt creeping in even then. Training for the IR you should be able to fly more often than any other rating - infact during my training (January), there was only one day that was not flyable.

My 2d's worth.

S

[TJV]

How's your instrument flying? Is that the problem or is it the r/t, etc?
If the problem is the instrument flight then RANT (radio aids navigation tutor) is very useful. Practise with this on the ground until you instinctively and immediately know which way to turn to get the needles in the place you want them. This time on the ground can give you valuable extra capacity in the air to get the rest of it right.

PS, try and fly more often than every 3 weeks. You'll need to be a well oiled IF machine by the time you get to your IR. Once every other day is ideal if possible!!

[Luke SkyToddler]

Mate

You put a HUGE mountain in front of yourself if you're going to reach the standard that's required to pass the JAR IR with only a flight every 3 weeks.

I know because I tried to do it part time myself and was just making no progress whatsoever. I had about 800 hours at the time, and already held a New Zealand IR, so I thought it wouldn't be all that difficult, boy was I wrong

My instructor told me to p!ss off and stop wasting my money, and come back when I could commit to two or three weeks of full time training before the flight test.

It's all about currency when it comes to hand flying IFR, and I'd be bloody surprised if Chuck Yeager himself could get his instrument scan rate high enough to meet the IR test standard with only a flight once or twice a month.

Another thing, with regard to confidence - NOBODY goes into the IR feeling confident. I had a couple of absolutely shocking flights for my final revision flights before the test, my ILS's just fell to pieces my instructor wanted to postpone my test date, I said I wouldn't because I had absolutely run out of money and just wanted to have a crack at it because otherwise I'd have to go back to work and not fly again for another few months. As it happened the flight test went like a dream, it was the best test I've ever flown :-D Point is, that you could throw tens of thousands of pounds and hundreds of hours into revision and training for the test and it could all still go pear shaped on the day. You have to accept there's going to be nerves, tell yourself you're good enough over and over and leave the rest up to que sera sera when it comes to these things.

[Celtic Frog]

It's been about 20 years since I did my initial IR rating, and I still make the occasional hash of refresher training. It's soul destroying sometimes, but you gotta keep going.
eat, sleep, breath instrument flying. Pin up pictures of VORs and RMIs etc on your bedroom wall. and simulate in your mind that you must turn THIS way if the needle moves THAT way etc.
Likewise with R/T things...talk to an imaginary ATC whenever you're alone using textbook phraseology...at least when you're not flying, you'll be programming your mind.
And as for crappy instrument flying...don't know what you were doing , but whatever it was, I promise you you're not alone.
Most people screw up a bit because of over-controlling , usually due to being too tense...so if you think that's a contributary factor, try holding the controls like you were having tea with the vicar..ie: pinkie UP. It's partly psychological, but you tend to move the controls more smoothly and gently if you do that.
If possible, fly as often as you can.
And NEVER write off a flight as being a "Bad" one.
Even if you can salvage only one minor point that you learned from it, then the flight was a success.
Good luck !!