Relax Damn!t!!!!

[Whalebite]

To all studs or wings.

My problem is not knowledge, or even the finer points of flying the t-34, my problem is BAW and SA due to being tense in the cockpit.
The stress/ being tense makes me forget the most obvious and easy things, and at times I white knuckle the stick (without realizing it, straight and level normal climbs. descents/ and turns I am fingertips, but pattern, landing and maneuvers I create my own problems on the stick). This is hurting my performance.

I have talked to all the right people, and now pose my problem to you all. Its hard to "relax" when your faced with DONT FAIL!!! RELAX!!! DONT FAIL!!! RELAX!!! and its hard to have confidence when you keep screwing up. I’m not the only one that has BAW SA problems but I am too tense, and don’t know how to fix it.

Even this morning just a random stud I have never met before was like, damn man you look tense, I was just sitting there. I usually don’t even feel nervous or tense at all, but more than one instructor (and random stud) has pointed it out. Short of asking the doc for some medicinal pot, any suggestions?

 

[FelixTheGreat]

I used to get that way when I took checkrides. The best way I think to get over it is to have confidence in yourself. I got to a point finally that I would say, "no matter how nervous I get or hard this flight will be, I have worked hard and deserve to pass and do well and I am going to get through this". I tell my students before rides now that they should do something, anything that will give them a boost in cofidence, not complacency, to help reassure them that deep down inside they know what they are doing and that everything will go off without a hitch.

 

[illinijoe05]

Try rubbing one out before hand....j/k
I usually have 2 or 3 beers right before I walk. Works like a charm.

 

[BOMBSonHAWKEYES]

I'm sure you're just experiencing an amplified condition of what we all go through. As far as clenching the stick and reducing SA goes, I would reccomend to buy a paper printout of your cockpit and CHAIRFLY your hop from strap in to shutdown. The reason why the paper printout works better than the sim is because you actually have to visualize the changes that you make in the cockpit instead of just flipping a switch and moving your concentration on to something else in the cockpit. The best way to chairfly is to break the hop down into several stages. You can do each maneuver seperatley, but I think its best to use 4 phases: 1)Ground ops to takeoff 2)Departure to the area 3)Area maneuvers (or approaches/enroute procedures depending on your stage) 4)Recovery/Pattern/Shutdown. Breaking down each part of the flight will help you give ever part of it attention so you won't take anything for granted. The hardest maneuvers are ususally the ones we do best, but the easy things like level offs and checklists are often what bites people. But if you've chairflown all elements of the sortie yesterday, then chances are you'll have a great hop today. By knowing what is "ahead" of you during the flight, you will be able to anticipate your future maneuvers/comms and that will relieve the stress of secondguessing.

It is natural to be nervous infront of your instructor. Just think of your flight like a preformance that he/she is along to watch. People go to movies and find scenes that the don't approve of, but if the overall picture is entertaining, then they will walk away satisfied. As long as humans are controlling these things, we will make mistakes and your IPs know that. But with hard work and perservearance you will gain experience which will help reduce the number of mistakes you make until you are able to do it all by yourself - solo.

 

[Schnugg]

I found I was making way too many small corrections when I flew precision approaches. Let the change take effect before making another. It forces you to slow down which in my case made me relax.

 

[1rotorhead]

When I get tense and start squeezing the controls, I make myself smile. Sounds funny, but for some reason it makes me relax. Just think of my avatar, you'll smile.

 

[pittflyer]

Wiggle your toes...seriously.**When I'm behind a tanker getting gas, I can, like you, feel myself tense up.**I consciously tell myself to wiggle my toes and believe it or not, you'll relax and the SA comes back to the little movements that it takes to maintain that 'precision' we all seek.**You'll NEVER be perfect.**Just accept that now.**Flying is a serious of correcting errors.**Relax, wiggle the toes, and you'll begin to 'feel' those errors easier.**

 

[squorch2]

US and A!


... but seriously... if you're stressing that bad and can't fix it on your own, go to fleet and family support center or doc and see about some stress-relieving techniques. Some things I've heard and tried as far as stress alleviation include the previously mentioned chair flying... like ridiculously explicit chair flying ("I will set the PCL to 650 ft-lbs, then make this radio call..."), flying with your fingertips on the stick, flying with a pen between your hand and the stick, chair-flying in the static trainer, etc. etc. Ask your buddies for help too, and STUDY WITH THEM - it's much harder to get through the program on your own than in conjunction with your buddies.

 

[nittany03]

Two things. One mental, one physical. First, people will tell you to relax like it's something that's easy. It's not. The skill you may be having trouble picking up is compartmentalization. It's perfectly natural to be worried about your performance. This is something you want to do well at, badly, but yet you have never done it before and are justifiably concerned about "what if I suck?" Yet chances are, you do not suck (in a philosophical sense anyway), you're just new.

At some point before you start up, be it in the ready room, briefing space, maintenance control, or cockpit, you need to get in a little mental box where all that matters is flying that hop. Getting winged hasn't happened yet, but neither has getting attrited. So don't focus on bad stuff that hasn't happened. The fight you had with your girlfriend/wife/roommate/best friend never happened. Or whatever else. Mentally shove all those extraneous philosophical concerns into a box in your head and lock it. Consciously. Take a deep breath and focus. Then continue on. If the little voice in the back of your head starts niggling about how you're going to fail this flight, take a second and shove it back in there. It sounds bizarre, but sometimes it takes conscious thought to say "I'm not going to think about that now." It really gives a wonderful zen when it works though.

Think of it this way. Each maneuver can either go well or it can go badly. You are given every tool you need to do it well; a cockpit, a brain, and four limbs to move controls. Are all those philosophical concerns going to help you do well? Heck no. So then don't think about them. Just execute the maneuver. If you do something wrong the IP will tell you and teach you. No problem; it's his or her job to teach, not fail everybody. But there is no boogeyman waiting to make your flight go badly. You are in control. Quiet cockiness/confidence about your own potential is a good thing as long as you're not being an ass to others or using it to ignore or contradict IPs. "Yeah, I screwed that up, but I'm a good pilot and I won't do it again." "Yeah, I had a bad day but I have the skill to do this and I'm going to rock it tomorrow. Self, let's go home and hit the books." It takes conscious thought. Cultivate it.

Okay, enough psychoanalysis. My second point is purely mechanical. Are you trimming? The answer is easy to tell because if you're not, you'll come back worn out. Sometimes, especially in the T-34 where you have to take your hands off a flight control to trim, it's easy to forget when you're horsing the plane around that yes, you need to trim. One sixteenth of a degree on those trim wheels can make all the difference. If the stick is ever pushing against your hand, your first reaction should be to eliminate that force. Then stabilize any deviations. Retrim. Correct back to parameters. Retrim. Repeat every 3 seconds. You will be amazed how much easier it is to fly when this becomes habit. Trimming will only help you. If you think you're doing it enough, you're not. Everyone says it enough that it can kind of become a cliche, but it's vital. Especially when flying forms. A well-trimmed plane behaves itself while you change radios, fly the pattern, or whatever else.

 

[Gatordev]

What event/flight are you currently on?

 

[scoober78]

Whalebite...that random stud was me...


EDIT: I'd go for the pot...what can it hurt?

 

[Snacks]

Actually, 1rotorhead is giving good advice. At the beginning of primary, I wasn't having all that great of a time (lots of puking). I went 1 flight without puking, and realized that I was having FUN and was starting to relax. Every time after that, when I started to feel sick or tense, I smiled and thought about how much fun I was having, and the tension/nausea went away. Well, except for PA1, where I filled 2 bags, but that's different...

By the way 1rotorhead, that avatar almost made me puke at my computer...

 

[Fmr1833]

My advice is to just realize that you are going to make mistakes. And you know what? The IP's know it. The real test is what you do about those mistakes as the flight continues on. A stud who screws up and catches his mistake and corrects it (if possible) and presses on will do well. No flight is ever as briefed nor will it be perfect. Our profession is one of flexing to whatever comes our way. So just do the best you can and rid yourself of the mindset that you are there to either pass or fail...think rather that you are there to learn and to show that you can do so.

 

[Pags]

Agree with what has been said above...but will add work out to the mix. I definitely use both the wiggle and smile technique (wow, that sounds bad).

A buddy of mine had to run before he could fly fams in the HTs...otherwise he'd be too tense on the controls. Just don't go so hard you get too tired.

Another favorite of a lot of folks is gum chewing. As said by an O-4: "you gotta chew gum when you fly"

 

[FMRAM]

Remember the last scene in Boogie Nights? I'm as star...yea...that's right, a big bright shining star..."