Self-confidence and flight training

[HeyJoe]

Ive grown up seeing fighter pilots and military pilots in general as superhuman gods. Honestly. I mean you guys have been my Michael Jordan, John Elway, and Wayne Gretzky since I can remember...larger than life itself.

Well, you'll find out everyone is human and not superhuman. Their relative experience may be greater than yours, but don't put anybody on that high of a pedestal. There's nothing keeping you from being what they are as it will come with motivation and hard work.

 

[FLYTPAY]

I find myself aspiring to be more like the Ron Jeremy of naval aviation.

Hedgehog, Well that basically excludes you from fitting into an ejection seat and selecting jets.

 

[Rothman]

1. I still get nervous before I fly, but it's because I'm not a very good pilot. My lead when I'm solo is nothing short of terrified.

2. The advice about taking things one step at a time is right on: Don't worry about what kind of gray plane you're going to fly if you can't get your gold bars.

 

[TwosBlind]

How do yall handle fear? Im sure that first solo flight is nuts. But the fear/anxiety eventually fades? How long does it take for most guys to really get comfortable in the aircraft? Do you guys who have been in the cockpit for a while still get anxious before that first cat shot? or before strapping in and turing on the engines period?

What part of training had you the most screwed up in the head...the first solo? low level? carrier quals? night traps? where did you all feel the most anxiety and how bad was it?

I kind of assume there is a little anxiety felt before every flight, even for seasoned vets with thousands of hours...but you learn to put it in check and get the job done.

 

[Gatordev]

What part of training had you the most screwed up in the head...the first solo? low level? carrier quals? night traps? where did you all feel the most anxiety and how bad was it?

I think you have some misconceptions on how "the program" works. I don't just mean primary or flight school, I'm talking overall. Everything is done as a stepping stone. First we get you in the air and hope you don't throw up. Then we take you to the pattern. Then we show you spins. Then we throw in relatively more complicated EPs. Then it's time for your first checkride. Do people tank the check ride? Sure, but if you have any sort of ability (and not everyone does) and you've been doing your part of studying, you've been set up to pass the check ride.

There may be anxiety before flights, though I'd guess that's limited more towards flight school/RAG flights (and combat flights), but it's not "fear." If it is, something needs to be adjusted. My only anxiety for both my civilian and military solo was to not screw up something stupid like a landing or a procedure, it wasn't about whether I was going to crash and burn.

I remember my CO telling me, after I made HAC, that my first flight as a HAC was going to have some weird noises I hadn't heard before. Maybe I'm oblivious, but after almost 600 hours in the aircraft, plus the other time in other aircraft (both civilian and military), I just didn't think it was that big a deal and didn't hear anything "weird."

I kind of assume there is a little anxiety felt before every flight, even for seasoned vets with thousands of hours...but you learn to put it in check and get the job done.

Again, the only anxiety you should feel is about procedures and not having someone else knocking you out of the sky (I would guess. I don't know that I've had anyone shooting at me). If you have issues w/ other mundane things like if the engine is going to quit, you might want to seek another profession. Stuff happens. We get over it and move on.

 

[phrogpilot73]

Truth be told, I've always had a slight bit of doubt in the back of my mind since my first flight in Primary, all the way up to my recent flights in GA. That doubt doesn't cause me to second guess myself or even doubt my abilities. It causes me to double check what I'm doing. In other words, it generally helps to keep me alive - so I like living with a wee bit of doubt.

 

[whitesoxnation]

I can't speak for anything but civilian flying but looking back on when after I just got my private cert. I'm suprised I didn't kill myself and amazed at how little I knew... nothing skillz wise but doing sh1t like a solo 700nm XC like 5 hours after I got my ppl at night in MVFR in an airplane model I had less than 10TT in with no instrument rating over the cornfields of Iowa + Illinois, which was like solid IMC the whole time because when you get over the middle of nowhere theres no outside reference, esp with an overcast layer right on top of you.

 

[FrogFly]

Hedgehog, Well that basically excludes you from fitting into an ejection seat and selecting jets.

I guess there are worse things that could happen...


Anyhow, this confidence vs. self doubt thingy can be a bit tricky. Of course, the only way to get a grip on it is to keep trying to do those things you seem to doubt yourself on. I'm almost always apprehensive before a flight because I don't want to screw it up like I did the time before, or I want to progress and show improvement like I did on the last flight. Usually, it's a combination of both - but that's no secret. Eventually, you have to dig down within yourself in order to crack the code. Again, the only way to get there is to keep doing those things that create that doubt.

I'm not a very good pilot, so I've run into this a time or two. My guess is that you'll always have experiences that'll build you up, only to have a later experience that knocks you on your ass. The system is built so that you're always challenged, so you'll always be working to fend off the gremlins. At least I always am.

 

[MasterBates]

I remember my CO telling me, after I made HAC, that my first flight as a HAC was going to have some weird noises I hadn't heard before.

Same here. I actually heard the ECS spooling up and down as I changed power. Weird.

 

[Scoob]

Lack of self confidence, fear, doubt, whatever you want to call it just means you need to study more. Flying eventually becomes like driving a car...and then complacency rears its ugly head and reminds you just how much like driving a car this really isn't.

Now is a good time for somebody to bring up the ol' 3 bucket theory again.

 

[Afterburner76]

No matter how much confidence you build in flight school... there'll always be an IP to crush it for you in the debrief.

 

[FLYTPAY]

Having a lot of confidence is paramount but remember this....there is always room for improvement. Get pissed off at yourself if you deviate from airspeed, altitude, etc. Easier said than done when the Dizzle is tearing you a new one for being anything other than 130 knots, 30 AOB in the crosswind....that is where compartmentalization comes in.

 

[Gatordev]

Truth be told, I've always had a slight bit of doubt in the back of my mind since my first flight in Primary, all the way up to my recent flights in GA. That doubt doesn't cause me to second guess myself or even doubt my abilities. It causes me to double check what I'm doing. In other words, it generally helps to keep me alive - so I like living with a wee bit of doubt.

Good point, but wouldn't you agree that the "doubt" is more of a procedural thing and not a "I'm gonna die" thing.

 

[phrogpilot73]

Good point, but wouldn't you agree that the "doubt" is more of a procedural thing and not a "I'm gonna die" thing.

I think you're right - it is a procedural thing, born from the inexperienced "I'm gonna die" thing...

 

[TheBubba]

Slight threadjack...

phrog, out of sheer curiosity, why is it that your last 2 posts on this thread have been edited by your better half? I mean, Mrs Bubba logs on to AW periodically, but she doesn't have me on that short a leash...

/threadjack, continue on course.