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Self-confidence and flight training

Every flight I had, I just assumed it was my last. I figured I'd screw it up bad enough and they'd duh duh duh attrite me. However, I got through. Assuming the worst made me study all that much harder. Its scary, but worth it. Just keep the fear/apprehension in check or you will end up with the helmet fires. As for jets--I hit my first formation flight in primary, and I knew without a shadow of a doubt that jets weren't for me. It just felt too close. Forms in a helo were more comfortable, but only when we were in a loose formation. You will figure out what you want to do by the time you finish primary. good luck
 
It's funny you bring this up, because I was just thinking about this the other day. I'm the type of person who needs to be just a little on edge or I don't do well, be it something as mundane as driving or as complex as flying a P-3 with (simulated) emergencies (no real real emergencies yet, knock on wood). They say that musicians who play when they're completely relaxed, no nerves at all, don't play nearly as well as if they were just a little on edge.

Being nervous has been a constant, but what hasn't remainded constant is how nervous I need to be to do well. I was terrified a lot in Primary, but only before the flight itself--during the flight I was fine. I was absolutely convinced I was going to do something hosed up and get kicked out, and I got very, very nervous before events. I have no idea why; it was some kind of defeatist mentality, and I think if I'd started with a better one, I would have done better overall. I'd also say that you should study with other people a LOT; it's easy to get paranoid when you study by yourself. By the time I was done, though, I was pretty good at flying the T-34, but only after I'd proved to myself that I could do it. To a lesser extent, that's how I felt in the C-12 (which is ridiculously easy to fly two-engine; single-engine is harder) and how I'm just barely beginning to feel like in the P-3. Take each success for what it is and use it to show yourself that you can learn how to fly; take each failure as a teaching point on what you don't know and what you need to work on.

I would also say that anytime you don't feel comfortable with something, just pull out the book and look it over. Fly the pattern in your head after they teach it to you; build your instrument scan on the poster they give you; give yourself an altitude and spin a bottle on a floor for a wind direction and walk through a PEL (with corrections) in your living room; walk through the BI patterns until you have them memorized.

Something my band director (yes, ha ha, I was a band geek--and band camp was awesome) told me when I first started playing stuck with me for a long time. He said, "I never said this would be easy." That is probably the truest statement of anything you want to do well, and this is by far no exception.
 
not diggin this flying thing

ok all you aviators and studs out there, I have a question that seems to fit this thread. Like most, I've wanted to "Fly Navy" since i was a pup. however, since IFS and now in primary I'm not so sure I'm liking it. I have no fear of flying, but I really just don't like it very much. I'm not bad at it, I'm not great at it either, but I dread it like the dentist. It started in IFS, my first flight experience, didn't like my first flight, or any after that. Hate Stalls, hate even the idea of spins and aerobatics. What I want to know is when do you know aviation is not right for you. Should I see this as a sign to go and do something I know I'd be good at and probably enjoy like an AMDO or something, or is this just the standard "Training takes the fun from everything" Thanks everyone.
 
Everybody is different. Some people hate every minute of flight school and think flying is not all cracked up as they thought it would be. Others can't get enough of it.

My advice is to stick it out until after your C4390 at the very least. Most people seem to start to enjoy it more after the solo.

Best of luck
 
othromas said:
I'm the type of person who needs to be just a little on edge or I don't do well.
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I think that's how everybody is. It's that whole performance vs stress curve that 50 lb heads have studied. You essentially do your best work just shy of shatting yourself.....push the limit.....and performance goes south and you shat yourself.

You can doubt yourself and your abilities in private all you want, and you can downplay those doubts(if your smart) amongst your peers all you want. You will eventually gain the confidence in yourself to know hands down that no matter what happens, you and you alone have the ability to hack it. It's called a type A personality and if you don't have one yet, you'll either learn the fine art or you'll fail.

SemperGumby, besides stealing my bros username on here, I'm not even going to blow sunshine up your arse. Flight school and flight training is hard and it is very difficult and no matter what you are flying or how fast you are going, the majority of the time it sucks. If you don't like it and aren't enjoying it, quit. But remember, not many people enjoy Primary, ESPECIALLY not the first couples month when you're trying to figure stuff out. I hated the RAG the first couple months until I felt comfortable and wasn't fumbling around like a fool. After that, the fun level jumps up immensely.

2 years of the butt pain called the training command was all worth it for me when I got my first catapult launch....and then after seeing the smiles on my buddies' faces after we realized we all qual'd I realized we truly do have the greatest job in the world.
 
SemperGumby said:
ok all you aviators and studs out there, I have a question that seems to fit this thread. Like most, I've wanted to "Fly Navy" since i was a pup. however, since IFS and now in primary I'm not so sure I'm liking it. I have no fear of flying, but I really just don't like it very much. I'm not bad at it, I'm not great at it either, but I dread it like the dentist. It started in IFS, my first flight experience, didn't like my first flight, or any after that. Hate Stalls, hate even the idea of spins and aerobatics. What I want to know is when do you know aviation is not right for you. Should I see this as a sign to go and do something I know I'd be good at and probably enjoy like an AMDO or something, or is this just the standard "Training takes the fun from everything" Thanks everyone.
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My advice is to stick it out a little longer. When I was in flight school, I started in the middle of winter and it was always freezing when we flew. I wasnt comfortable in the aircraft, didnt know what I was doing, and actually got air sick the first couple weeks (not spewing, just queezy), and my fingers were little icesicles trying to learn control touch. I was actually happy if the flights got cancelled due to maintenance. It was a real downer for me, because flying is the only thing I had ever wanted to do, I had had a one track mind since I was 7, and here I was dreading it every day. I didnt considered dropping out, and as time went on and my comfort level increased my love for it was the love I knew I would have since I was 7. It feels foreign right now because its a series of systems and processes that are unnatural to you, but I promise if you stick with it that aircraft will become an extension of yourself. The first time I drove a car I couldnt understand how on earth people could listen to the radio at the same time they were driving...

Tying the two topics in this thread together...at that point where the aircraft is an extension of you, it doesnt even cross your mind to be worried about a flight. I get anxious before flights sometimes now, but it has to do with a complicated mission, or a new area we are flying in, or an inexperienced wet-behind-the-ears co-pilot, it has nothing to do with being able to fly the aircraft. Thats like getting nervous to walk.

The last point I will make is that everyone has off days. Its those same days that you drop your keys then spill your coffee trying to pick them up then your glasses fall off at the same time - you know the days. That is why God gave pilots checklists. I have had those days where I feel off, or I havent flown for a while and feel rusty on start up procedures or something....thank goodness for checklists because it will walk you through everything you need to know no matter how screwed up you feel.
 
Bottom line: Flight school/TRACOM is absolutely, positively nothing like the fleet. Stick it out and you'll be rewarded.

Brett
 
Brett327 said:
Bottom line: Flight school/TRACOM is absolutely, positively nothing like the fleet. Stick it out and you'll be rewarded.

Brett
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You know what? I'm gonna call BS on this and say that while life in general in the TRACOM isn't like life in the fleet, flight life for helo hubbas until you make HAC is pretty much just like the TRACOM. Sure, you might have a ground job or something else that you have to do while you wait to fly, but you're just another FNG until you make HAC (as far as helo guys go.) It's remarkably similar to TRACOM. Just try and make HAC as fast as you can, and know that however fast it happens is largely beyond your control.
 
FLY_USMC said:
I think that's how everybody is. It's that whole performance vs stress curve that 50 lb heads have studied. You essentially do your best work just shy of shatting yourself.....push the limit.....and performance goes south and you shat yourself.

You can doubt yourself and your abilities in private all you want, and you can downplay those doubts(if your smart) amongst your peers all you want. You will eventually gain the confidence in yourself to know hands down that no matter what happens, you and you alone have the ability to hack it. It's called a type A personality and if you don't have one yet, you'll either learn the fine art or you'll fail.

SemperGumby, besides stealing my bros username on here, I'm not even going to blow sunshine up your arse. Flight school and flight training is hard and it is very difficult and no matter what you are flying or how fast you are going, the majority of the time it sucks. If you don't like it and aren't enjoying it, quit. But remember, not many people enjoy Primary, ESPECIALLY not the first couples month when you're trying to figure stuff out. I hated the RAG the first couple months until I felt comfortable and wasn't fumbling around like a fool. After that, the fun level jumps up immensely.

2 years of the butt pain called the training command was all worth it for me when I got my first catapult launch....and then after seeing the smiles on my buddies' faces after we realized we all qual'd I realized we truly do have the greatest job in the world.
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Read the above several times to let it sink in. It's right on, regardless of community. I had an onwing that struggled through several portions of Primary, didn't enjoy a lot of it (but still knew he liked flying). He went on and rocked the HTs, so sometimes it happens later for some than others.
 
I hated flight school until I got done with FAMs.

I've found that the guys with no doubts about their abilities were guys who topped out at aircraft commander or section lead, thought they rocked, but that the man was keeping them down. In reality those guys couldn't fly their ways through wet toilet paper.

You should always hear the footsteps behind you. If they weren't, there'd be no reason to keep running.
 
SemperGumby said:
ok all you aviators and studs out there, I have a question that seems to fit this thread. Like most, I've wanted to "Fly Navy" since i was a pup. however, since IFS and now in primary I'm not so sure I'm liking it. I have no fear of flying, but I really just don't like it very much. I'm not bad at it, I'm not great at it either, but I dread it like the dentist. It started in IFS, my first flight experience, didn't like my first flight, or any after that. Hate Stalls, hate even the idea of spins and aerobatics. What I want to know is when do you know aviation is not right for you. Should I see this as a sign to go and do something I know I'd be good at and probably enjoy like an AMDO or something, or is this just the standard "Training takes the fun from everything" Thanks everyone.
Click to expand...

I hated the idea of flying for most of the training command (thank you, USAF) and a good part of the RAG. Having a flight canceled would make my day. But I was too stubborn to quit. Flying was what I always wanted to do, and I was going to do it whether I liked it or not. All that has changed over the last 6 months or so. Now I look forward to seeing my name on the flight schedule. I still have a healthy amount of anxiety before a complex flight, but that is what keeps me (and my WSO) safe.

If stalls and spins are your biggest concern...press. You won't find too many fleet aircraft doing intentional spins. If you don't like aerobatics, just stay away from jets.

There is a difference between hating the training command, and being disinterested in flying. In either case, don't give up just yet... flying might just grow on you. If, after some more exposure, you really don't have any interest in flying, maybe it's time to think about doing something else.
 
Im nothing....but I always related flying and golf to life. There are good days and bad. Im nothing yet to other people on this forum. Im 20yrs old and I fly my dads cessna 182 turbo, Im trying to fill out my application to marine ocs as quickly as possible because I finally feel passionate about a future for myself. I tend to get ahead of myself in thinking about all of the things I have to do in order to accomplish my goals. But as long as I take it one task at a time things will work out. Right now, reviewing simple ground school stuff and focusing on college is what I need to be doing now! Then hopefully OCS next summer!
 
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