Do you "psych" yourself out before a flight?

ajstoner21

ajstoner21

Cleared for Takeoff
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Andrew
I can only afford to fly about an hour or two every month or month and a half or so. Everytime I get to fly, I try to make it a cross country flight combined with all the usual practice maneuvers (Steep turns, stalls, slow flight, few touch and goes, the usual). I do that to do my best to remain proficient, and I can hold everything just fine to the PTS.

My problem is, it seems everytime I go fly, I have doubts going to the airport about stupid things. I seem to let "slightest" wind bother me, but yet, I have never had a problem with a wind (landed with a 20G30 with the gust component, max demonstrated crosswind once just fine - was quite the surprise as winds were supposed to be around 10 kts).

Its as if I'm trying to talk myself out of it the whole way to the airport, but once I'm in the plane, I feel confident again. I feel I have the potential to cancel a flight i'm perfectly capable of. I've never had a "close call", I have only had to abort one landing for a real reason and probably could have been easily salvaged (other than training exercise).

Is there a way to stay confident about flying, esp with a little wind? Obviously, flying more often would easily fix that, but, anything else?
 
Intentionally go fly when the winds are up beyond your comfort zone. And if the wind is coming straight down the main runway, do touch and goes on the cross wind runway. It may make you nervous at first but will end up giving you a lot of confidence.
 
I think if you want to feel more comfortable and confident in a broader range of conditions, then you'll need to fly more than you're flying. It's possible to be safe and relatively confident flying less but you'll find yourself waiting for perfect days to fly like you're doing now.

If it's truly a money thing, then you can look for cheaper ways to get up more often like splitting the time with another pilot. If it's more of a motivational thing or fear, then get involved in something that gives you a more meaningful reason to go fly than just boring holes in the sky. Do Angel Flights, or Young Eagles or get together with a group of flying buddies and go somewhere once a month for lunch and maybe while you're there have some spot landing contests.
 
Just keep flying...nibble at the envelope, and look carefully at your use of the words 'never' and 'perfectly' in the original post. I would suggest that you take those words out of the equation totally, and mentally prepare yourself for EVERY variable. You'd be amazed how much that simple change will go far as to the psyching out you feel the need to do. Oh, and anytime you get in the plane and it doesn't feel right, take out the keys, lock the plane up, fly another day. I bet we all have been there many times. I know I have, and it's no negative to do just that.
 
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DutchessFlier said:
Oh, and anytime you get in the plane and it doesn't feel right, take out the keys, lock the plane up, fly another day. I bet we all have been there many times. I know I have, and it's no negative to do just that.
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All good advice but I've encountered two very different pilot personality types: "Gotta hold 'em back" or "Gotta push them out."

Some folks are paralyzed by various "feelings" and eventually drop out of flying. For these folks I strongly suggest have a solid checklist (not just airplane, but self-check and limits as as well) and going through it before heading out to the airplane.

Once there, if the airplane checks out, fly.

On every airplane, in every weather condition, on every airport anyone can find one good excuse to not fly.

The key is to develop mental discipline to manage the feelings. In time you'll develop a better "this ain't right" meter, and feelings may indicate you check something more closely before launch (which is what Ray is suggesting, I think).

One in a hundred pilots will admit to having doubts, fears, concerns, whatever on the way to the airport.

It's normal and should be treated as such. By pretending to be fearless we ignore issues that should be addressed -- not ignored.

A gust of wind surprised you once and you keep wondering when it will happen again. Maybe turbulence had you wondering "How strong is this 40 year old airplane?" Or you had momentary disorientation in a steep turn, or bounced a landing, or heard the engine miss...

We can either pretend there's nothing wrong, be afraid that something may happen and so avoid the activity, or figure out what caused it and work on doing whatever it takes to handle that.

I suggest the latter course if you want to keep flying. :thumbsup:
 
dmccormack said:
Exactly -- fly more.

CAP needs pilots -- the rates are low and you can get excellent additional instruction and mentoring.
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Is the need for pilots nationwide? I got the impression that the local CAP had all they needed about 4 years back.

To get the thread back on track- you may consider flying with an instructor on a windy day and do some crosswinds takeoffs and landings.
 
Do something else, and take a friend. Try a $100 hamburger/breakfast run with a buddy. Find the utility in flying not just flying for training. GO BUY SOMETHING at a distant pilots shop. We didn't get our PPC to just poke holes in the sky practicing what we were taught.
If costs are really an issue, partner with someone to share the time (or if done right), double the time.
When you start doing this for FUN and/or utility, you'll be less apprehensive.
 
It sounds like the cure is just doing it more often and making sure you
follow a set preflight preparation each time so you're not stressed about
forgetting something. Use a checklist every time. Throw in a couple proficiency maneuvers each time.

I'm trying to think back years ago when I first learned and was renting. I
think the fact you only have the plane for a limited amount of time might
raise the stress level of the whole thing. And only flying that small amount
never really gives you the chance to feel comfortable doing it.

I can honestly say I don't think about it much driving to the airport. I'm usually just down there dinking around or doing something on the plane and
flying is usually .. "maybe I'll go out and ride around for a while".

RT
 
His discussion also relates to the 'own' versus 'rent' psychology issue on how often you fly... In a lifetime of banging around airports I have been on both situations... One thing I have clearly noticed is that I fly more when I own... It's the psychology...
When I rent an extra time or two around the pattern means that damned Hobbs is running every minute...
When I own an extra time or two around the pattern, only means some fuel and and a squirt of oil...
And what makes this psychological trap even worse is that renting is cheaper than owning... (I have the bills to prove it)

denny-o
 
Bruce's advice is good -- nibble at the envelope, go out in conditions that are just barely outside your comfort range, and expand it gradually. If you get surprised and have a close call (I know you wrote that it's never happened, but there's always a first time!), get back on that horse right away, with an instructor if necessary.

And I agree that the psychology is very different when it's your plane vs a rental. I am much more relaxed flying my own airplane, and sometimes I worry that I'm too relaxed. I never want flying to be as laid back as driving, as it's SO much less forgiving. On the other hand, I probably would have been more spooked by the outflow boundary or whatever it was that nearly blew me off the runway after landing last spring, if it had happened in a rental. In my own plane, I was quick to get back on the horse (once I'd made sure I hadn't had a prop strike), which is exactly what I needed to do.
 
Aside from the obvious need to confront strong winds/xwinds to increase your confidence for those times you have little or no choice but to land in such conditions, it sounds like maybe you just need to do more pattern flying and less XC/airwork stuff.

A couple of hours of nothing but takeoffs and landings helps a lot, even when you can't fly very often. I used to do that when it had been several weeks... also, if I had plans to go someplace, I'd make time to do a couple of circuits before leaving the home area. Sometimes I'd even forget my XC plan and just do pattern work. It's not a step backwards if you feel you're getting something beneficial out of it.

I think navigation and airwork skills don't deteriorate as quickly as pattern and runway skills, and you can afford a little slop enroute, but not so much in the airport environment.
 
Do you "psych" yourself out before a flight?
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NO! When you can no longer fly, you will look back on those missed flights with extreme regret!

(now, you do have to decide if each flight is beyond your/the ac's capabilities)
 
When I haven't flown for a few weeks I like to "go up" in the flightsim for awhile. Do everything by the book just as a refresher. Don't even skip using carb heat or turning on the transponder (pretending to anyway). Maybe even take a short trip with 'random failures' turned on. (I think that's especially helpful for low hour pilots. It improves the comfort level if something does go wrong for real. I had a vacuum pump failure in VFR at about 100 hours. That's a non-issue in VFR but at 100 hours I would probably have taken longer to figure out what happened and what to do about it except that I'd been through it so many times in flight sim that my immediate reaction was instead, "Hey, cool! A vacuum failure!" And then I just flew to my destination - home.)

As for getting "psyched out" after not having flown for awhile - yeah, a little bit. And I can say that flying 4 hours a month vs. 2 seems to me like more than twice as 'comfortable'. Other things kept me from flying more than an hour or two a month during the first half of the year but lately I've been trying to get a minimum of 4 every month and my confidence level has gone way up. My flyng skills are probably not that much better but I feel much more betterer about them.
 
It happens, esp. depending on what you're doing. For example, I bet you don't get psyched out when you head out to the airport for some T and Gs on a nice day. But if you're about to embark on a 1,000 mile X-C, solo, in or around weather, and you haven't done it in awhile--that might give you pause. But it is just like what I tell my cello students as they prepare for a recital: full preparation and a good night's rest are you're best confidence booster! For flying, you also just have to know you and your aircraft's limitations. Then, make your decision, and proceed with confidence!
 
So, I went out to fly this weekend and canceled.

Saturday: TAF/METAR's calling for broken/overcast 1500' AGL. Not safe, borderline legal.

Sunday: Weather was absolutely perfect. I have never had a weather briefer say "light and variable" for surface winds, and winds at 3000 AND 6000 feet. I was super excited to fly. I get to the airport and things turn south. I am only checked out in the SP models (although, I am fully capable of flying an M or N model....), so thats all I'm allowed to fly. They have three SP's. One was in Las Vegas, the other one was booked all day, and mine, had a problem. Figures.

Left main tire looked almost brand new. Right main tire looked like it was a landing away from a blow out. Yes, I know what that looks like. I had a tire better looking than that blow out on me. Not fun (I kept it on the runway and damaged NOTHING but the rubber tire itself! 8) ) The fact only one tire was replaced kind of tells me the other tire had blown out or went flat.... Which SHOCKS me they didnt just put two new on knowing it was that bad.

I was trying to take a friend from out of town flying. I actually said to my self "Theres got to be a lesson learned here I need to be living up to" so I walked away. I didnt fall to external pressures and learned from a past experience.


This is why Renting sucks. This plane was at the bare minimum oil, landing light was out, and one NEW tire on the left, and a "slicker than a NASCAR" tire on the right (literally no sign of tread left). I am now looking for a nother rental place. They told me in the office "Well, instructors have been flying with that, so it'll probably be ok"... Excuse me? probably be OK? not good enough.
 
ajstoner21 said:
This is why Renting sucks. This plane was at the bare minimum oil, landing light was out, and one NEW tire on the left, and a "slicker than a NASCAR" tire on the right (literally no sign of tread left). I am now looking for a nother rental place. They told me in the office "Well, instructors have been flying with that, so it'll probably be ok"... Excuse me? probably be OK? not good enough.
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Hah! That's the EXACT same thing BOTH CFI's I've blown a tire with said when I alerted them to the condition of the tire. "Oh, it'll probably be OK." I guess I'm a slow learner, but I'm not gonna accept that one any more...

Of course, my only other flat tire was a BRAND NEW one on its first landing. Spun on the wheel, ripped off the valve stem, and there it goes.

As far as renting sucking, you're absolutely right. Where are you located, and what are the nearest airports? Maybe someone here can help you find a better option. I must say, being in a flying club has been a GREAT thing for me! Better airplanes, better availability, better maintenance, a sense of ownership, and lower per-hour prices - It only takes those rates 3-4 hours per month to make up for paying the monthly dues, and that gives me motivation to fly more too. :)
 
When I had my blow out, it was a bad day. I live in Euless TX. I left Fort Worth Spinks (FWS) enroute for Stephen County/Breckinridge (BKD). I think it was about 70 nm? It was on labor day. I left about 9 AM in a coworkers airplane (he is my CFII), did a touch and go at BKD around 10 AM, was planning a nother touch and go and then returning to FWS. On the second touch, a couple seconds after all wheels were firmly on the ground, it blew out on me. It really caught me by surprise. It was the right wheel. I had hard left brake/left rudder, and left aileron trying to keep weight off of it. It didn't want to stay straight though. I was really close to a taxiway and decided to taxi off (required a TON of power!) and parked in the only spot I could get to. The airport was dead, I had a small bottle of water, and it was 105 degrees. This is about how the phone call with the owner went:
Me: "Hey... uh..... I had a tire blow out...."
Owner: "uhh Are you ok?"
Me: "Yeah"
long pause..
Owner: "hows the plane?"
Me: "Seems fine. just the tire"

The owner calls someone who apparently lives on the field or near the field and works at the FBo and he comes out, checks it out, calls the owner back "Hey, this guy did a super job. The rim and brakes seem fine, only the rubber tire seems trashed"

I call the owner back: "What now?"
Owner: "um.. let me figure out a plan and I'll call you back"

About an hour later, he tells me he knows a guy with a plane who will fly him out to me with another tire. BKD apparently repairs old WWII planes, so they were capable of fixing it, but don't carry any GA tires haha.

It was about 2 PM by the time the owner could get out to me to fix it. By the time we were done, it was about 4 PM. I was so dehydrated. The owner asked if I wanted him to take it around the pattern, I told him no, i just want to go and get back.

The flight back felt like the longest flight ever. I was hesitant about landing now, a little dehydrated, and sun burnt. But, landed without incident, refueled, tied down, and now i have a story to tell.

Ultimately it was my fault for saying it was worthy to fly, so I don't make that mistake again.
**********
The place that I canceld with this past weekend was "Skymates" at Arlington Municipal (GKY). I'm looking into a place called "Spinks Jet Center" at Spinks (FWS). They seem a lot better and less busy, so I think they will be a better place.

Of course, my only other flat tire was a BRAND NEW one on its first landing.
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That is crazy! I would be thinking a few choice words haha.
 
Yes, For me its a major help to make to go no-go decision and keeps me focused on that decision. I will look at every aspect of the particular flight before I head to the airport and again once im at the airport.

I will look at the currrent wx, forecasted wx, sfc winds etc.. for the surrounding area even on local flights. I also do a very thorough pre flight on my plane, I have a few times removed the cowling as part of my pre flight to inspect the engine closer. if I find something event the slightest out of the norms I cancel the flight. The engine has to operate perfectly for me.

If the plane is good to go and the current wx and forecasted wx meets my personal minimums I take to the skies. Even if all my personal checklist items pass i still have that thought "should I be making this flight?"
 
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