That's part of my passenger briefing:

"Don't worry if I talk to myself from time to time. This is the habit one gets into of explaining what one is doing to the instructor, many pilots do it.

"And if I swear at myself it's also probably nothing to worry about - it probably means that I'm irritated that I've done something slightly less neatly than I think I should be capable of."

Perhaps he is flying club aircraft that he considers to be old and only marginally airworthy. Although they get through a £5000 annual, they may have only half their radios working, have a tatty appearance and develop flight stopping faults regularly.

Maybe he has been stranded at a distant airfield with a plane that has gone 'tech'. Or, dread the thought, he has actually had to do a real forced landing in a farmers field. (Regular PFL practice is quite a good idea.)

I don't think there are many pilots who fly fault free aircraft.

When you start flying you do not have much experience and can easely get to rely on an instructor or more experienced pilot to make decisions if things don't go to plan.
I used to fly in the local area on my own but for longer trips teamed up with a good friend who was a very experienced and capable pilot!
We would cost share trips with friends further afield and with him there I was confident and cheerful and playing out the role of commander on my legs when deep down I knew he was the commander!
All was well with that charade until one sunny Sunday we had a trip planned into France with a couple of friends!
They turned up early raring to go as was I brimming with confidence prepping the aircraft.
Then the call that drove fear into my heart !
" hi C here ! Had a collision with a car on way to airport and cannot come ! You take them your perfectly capable ".
My confidence vanished as I desperately thought up an excuse to cancel!
the two non pilot friends would not accept the excuses and all if a sudden I heard myself saying " come on then let's go "
We had a fantastic day and flight and the high carried me for weeks!
Sometimes we have to face our fears and dive in
For now your friend would be better teaming up with someone of his own ability so that he feels at least partially in command rather than pretending with an Ace in the right seat

Pace

Seems to me that there are two types of fear whic could be at play, both quite different.

There's the fear of some life-threatening event, but I suspect the more common fear for new pilots is the fear of simply not being as good as you want to be. It's a big mental investment in learning to fly and most people want to do it well. On the one hand, you have a PPL. On the other hand, mosty of us realise then just how much we really have to learn.

I have to say, this thread has received quite a good response, thank you everyone. Phiggsbroadband, your description of an old Cessna is pretty much a perfect representation of the Cessna I fly, had a radio and all in it also!

He's probably worried about things like engine fires and radio failures. Classic Pugs.

It's quite common to be apprehensive about solo flying shortly after gaining your ppl. Not as common to be that worried but still not that unusual.

Flying with a buddy is a good suggestion or flying solo but doing straight forward trips that they are familiar with. Not really in the true spirit of 'hour building' for a cpl but they aren't at that stage yet. A few straight forward trips which they are familiar with would soon breed confidence. Small steps and all that.

I think that wether we like to admit it or not, we can all relate to this post.
I cetainly can.
I used to only ever fly alone, and driving to the field was like driving to the dentist.
Then one day my dad asked if he could come flying.
It changed things completely for me.
I've always been wary of being 'over-confident'. Which I think is why flying 'concerned' me.
But with a passenger I really enjoyed it. I still fret 24 hours before we go, just the usual 'what if this happens'.. but I think that this is perfectly normal.
I think that no matter how nervous you are, deep down you know that you are competent. You must be, you got the licence after all.
But I can certainly relate.

Hope it all works out for you.
All the best.

I learned to fly because I was a terrified airline passenger. I was terrified through some of my training, but I had a great instructor who built my confidence. Then came the solos, some of which were fine and others had me quaking in my boots. I completed all successfully and later picked up both the 'Best PPL' and 'Best IMC rating' awards for the relevant years from my training organisation. I was still very nervous flying alone.

Now, with almost 200 hours, I still have days when flying solo leaves me a little apprehensive, but mostly they don't. Why have I kept going? Determination and a sense of achievement really. Because flying is complex and sometimes a little scary, I wan't to succeed. It is probably good to be a little nervous from time to time - it is your brain working to keep you alert and ready to handle threats to your wellbeing.

If you are worried about coping with harsh conditions, take a look at the 'Flying Wild Alaska' DVDs. They show what small planes can handle (not that I'm recommending you copy them!). Where are you based?

HH

Not flown since may 2012 and getting back in the air in about 3 weeks and doing a good few hours with the instructor.

Not scared of the what if's as im confident i could get myself out of any pickle. Nearly ran a tank dry once which shook me up a bit but got straight back on the horse so to speak..

I hate flying on my own though, its so boring. Don;t need another pilot as a PAX.

I had to laugh this weekend, I took my sister, her husband and their son for a flight Saturday afternoon when it was, well, a little blustery, to say the least. I'm coming into land, lined up nicely, looking to put in a decent landing, am in the flare when suddenly a gust of wind catches me and raises the plane about 5 feet - well, maybe it felt like that, in reality it was probably only a couple of inches before I reacted - however the very first reaction was an exclamation - "Oh ****".

Only after I'd caught the plane, corrected and made a really smooth landing did I look at my sister to see her face a picture of unadulterated relief - I asked "What's wrong, did you not enjoy the flight?" to which she replied "when you said "Oh ****", I thought we were going to crash....." :eek:

If it's to do with control then I'd recommend learning some aerobatics. It'll build a huge amount of confidence and make 'normal' manoeuvres not seem quite so bad. :)

If it's to do with navigation then I'd recommend getting a GPS as a backup and not flying when the conditions are marginal until well practised.

If it's to do with communicating with ATC then I'd recommend just practise.

Good luck to your friend. :)

That's all right then. Any pickle? Really?
You must be a better pilot than the rest of us then. I hope.

Great thread.

I'm a little anxious at the moment being 2,500ft up in a tiny little Robinson R22 while training but everyone tells me 'exposure therapy' should help.

With just over 150 hours I'm still not 100% comfortable with massive height, Yes I'll do it practicing stall's etc but I'm not there just yet. I'm much happier sitting at 2-3k in a small single :ok:

What this person might be experiencing is possibly something to do with the Dunning-Kruger effect, only in reverse.

Many of those I observe in the flying world who are brimming with confidence, seem to have all the answers and just leap into aircraft and go are not necessarily the most competent, often by a long way.

Those who understand the dangers, are aware of what can go wrong and also understand the limitations of their own skills often seem slightly under-confident until they learn to mask this with a bit of bravado but underneath they are still (rightly) apprehensive.

Aviation is not natural and the best state to successfully engage with it is heightened awareness, somewhere on the line between fear and complacency.

The person in question has passed all their exams and checks and their instructor (and the CAA) has deemed them worthy to hold a licence. It could be that they know there is so much more to know (getting Rumsfeldian here) and it's preying on their mind. Best to reassure them that some of the real 'aces' have similar doubts every time they take to the air...