Most difficult thing in training.

AdamZ

AdamZ

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Adam Zucker
So for you students what is the most difficult thing in pilot training to get your hands or brain around and for you Pilots what was the most difficult thing for you to nail down in your training.

I think mine was cross wind landings and slips primarily because I trained at field with two runways 90* from each other. Other than that it was stalls w/o loosing much altitude.
 
AdamZ said:
So for you students what is the most difficult thing in pilot training to get your hands or brain around and for you Pilots what was the most difficult thing for you to nail down in your training.

I think mine was cross wind landings and slips primarily because I trained at field with two runways 90* from each other. Other than that it was stalls w/o loosing much altitude.
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Stalls and accelerated stalls. I finally got accelerated stalls just before my practical test.
 
VOR tracking. The whole TO/FROM thing just didn't compute until another instructor said something that just clicked.
 
during private training: memorizing cloud clearance requirements
(kind of mental thing since I always figured to have it on my kneepad)

and during my instrument training, the lead/lag of compass turns.
 
Holds confounded me for a while in IR training -- I don't think they were clearly explained by my CFII.

I finally played with some hold simulators online and it all came together.
 
I hated power-on stalls when I first started my primary work. Learning cross tracking into DME arcs and holding on imaginary intersections of radials from 2 VORs for IR practice..then having a left turn nonstandard hold thrown at me, partial paneled, figuring out the correct entry procedure and using the clock and mag compass only in the hold.

Oh and those damned multiple choice questions on the written...poorly crafted, ambiguous and had nothing to do with the actual flying environment.
 
kevin47881 said:
VOR tracking. The whole TO/FROM thing just didn't compute until another instructor said something that just clicked.
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So what did he say that turned on the light? May not work for everybody but I love the look on someones face when I get to say something that clicks. It's priceless!

Joe
 
Visibility requirements in the various airspaces, and pretty much anything where i couldn't reason myself to an answer were the most difficult. Questions like "Which condition would cause the altimeter to indicate a lower altitude than true altitude?", I never had memorized, but could think about and get an answer. On the other hand, If you asked me "what are the visibility requirements in uncontrolled airspace above 10,000MSL and above 1200AGL?", there was nothing I could do besides memorize. Getting there, though. Thats part of the reason I wanted to learn to fly, so I could get that part of my head working.
 
Only just completed Flight #3. For me it's

  • Remembering to visually clear the airspace (by looking about) before performing any maneuver. I get fixed on "here we go" and starting the maneuver get busted by my instructor asking if I looked about.
  • Power-off stalls. Doing the entry pretty good, but am anticipating and not allowing the stall to occur; and letting the stall occur but then letting the nose drop too much and we lose more than the 100-feet the CFI is trying to keep me within. But per my CFI, we'll have hundreds of opportunities to do more, so I'm confident by #269 I should have it down pretty good :D
  • Right Rudder! (now I know why the CFI's of the various boards are always writing about this)
  • S-Turns about a straight line. First time we did this was today. It is one of the trickier maneuver's to perform even on a very calm day like this morning. I set up way to close to our reference line which increased the difficulty unnecessarily. Need to pay better attention to how my instructor sets these up and do better about copying that
.

But I still reflect that it's been 3 lessons and that I have learned quite a bit and am enjoying myself greatly.
 
Arbiter419 said:
I like to think I have a decent enough handle on things...I'm just dreading the written... :(
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I don't know if it's appropriate to the idea of the thread but this one is easy.

Depending on how much you dread the written, go to a free website or buy a commercial CD and run enough practice tests.

The question bank is fairly well known. Get enough practice to get about 10 points above your minimum (or consistently 100%). Like anything else familiarity breeds confidence.

Joe
 
jasc15 said:
Visibility requirements in the various airspaces, and pretty much anything where i couldn't reason myself to an answer were the most difficult. Questions like "Which condition would cause the altimeter to indicate a lower altitude than true altitude?", I never had memorized, but could think about and get an answer. On the other hand, If you asked me "what are the visibility requirements in uncontrolled airspace above 10,000MSL and above 1200AGL?", there was nothing I could do besides memorize. Getting there, though. Thats part of the reason I wanted to learn to fly, so I could get that part of my head working.
Click to expand...

I also have trouble with the airspace/vis requirements when studying/practicing the written material.

I've taken a break from written study to do some actual flying (which is helping to understand the material). But when I return, I'm likely going to make up some flash cards or quiz sheets (fill in blank) to help me get that part of the material down.
 
Areeda said:
I don't know if it's appropriate to the idea of the thread but this one is easy.

Depending on how much you dread the written, go to a free website or buy a commercial CD and run enough practice tests.

The question bank is fairly well known. Get enough practice to get about 10 points above your minimum (or consistently 100%). Like anything else familiarity breeds confidence.

Joe
Click to expand...

I have the Gleim test prep CD/software. It does a pretty good job at helping you prep. No experience with the others, yet.

But I do agree with Joe that continuous work with the practice exams helps a lot. Like getting in the air to practice the practical maneuvers, seeing the questions again and again will ease your anxiety about the written.
 
Areeda said:
I don't know if it's appropriate to the idea of the thread but this one is easy.

Depending on how much you dread the written, go to a free website or buy a commercial CD and run enough practice tests.

The question bank is fairly well known. Get enough practice to get about 10 points above your minimum (or consistently 100%). Like anything else familiarity breeds confidence.

Joe
Click to expand...

I'll definitely do that, thank you! :)
 
AdamZ said:
So for you students what is the most difficult thing in pilot training to get your hands or brain around and for you Pilots what was the most difficult thing for you to nail down in your training.

I think mine was cross wind landings and slips primarily because I trained at field with two runways 90* from each other. Other than that it was stalls w/o loosing much altitude.
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Primary: steep turns, landing sight picture, and mic fright.
Instrument: mic clumsiness, NDB tracking/approaches/holds
 
Mike fright is a big one. I don't get it but my wife would rather do spin training than talk on the radio so I kind of understand.

This one is practice with the instructor before you press the PTT. Until you solo it's point a finger at the instructor instead of pressing the button. From my perspective if you know you should be talking but don't know what to say you well in front of the ones that miss an ATC call.

Joe
 
Areeda said:
Mike fright is a big one. I don't get it but my wife would rather do spin training than talk on the radio so I kind of understand.
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Haha, that was me. Later on I got a job which required a lot of negotiating on the radio so it's hard to believe I ever had that problem but I did at first. Manipulating the airplane was the easier part.
 
Heh, they need to rename the PTT button to PTF, as in "Push To Forget". I thought I had it down until I pushed the button and had a total mind blank after saying "Waco Approach, Cessna N2150G....uhhhhhhh"

I had started a thread on communicating on the radio comms on the Red Board. Consensus was to get a copy of Bob Gardner's "Say Again..." book and listen more to LiveATC.net. The book is very good, and it's interesting to listen in on the real radio calls.
 
Areeda said:
I don't know if it's appropriate to the idea of the thread but this one is easy.

Depending on how much you dread the written, go to a free website or buy a commercial CD and run enough practice tests.

The question bank is fairly well known. Get enough practice to get about 10 points above your minimum (or consistently 100%). Like anything else familiarity breeds confidence.

Joe
Click to expand...


Joe that is a supurb suggestion. It is exactly what I did and raised my grade from an 88 in the PP to a 96 in the IR. It WORKS!
 
The hardest things, for me, are the same now as they were then:

-Doing nothing when I'm tempted to do something
-Doing something when I'm tempted to do nothing

As my tailwheel instructor put it: "Forty years I've been flying this plane, and I still catch myself doing too much..."

:D


As for the specifics: never got hung up on any one thing, but I went through the usual anxiety-to-acclimation phases with all of it- radio work, stalls, crosswind work, and taxiing... for me,I guess taxiing is still hard to do with the desired precision; just a little harder than holding the desired altitude at all times. I was told early on that those two things take the most practice to master, and I believe it, even now.
 
Finding an instructor that really understood how to instruct and not just grab the money.

Radio was easy.

Landings, hard because the CFI didn't understand how to diagnose problems nor how to teach.
 
murphey said:
Finding an instructor that really understood how to instruct and not just grab the money.

Radio was easy.

Landings, hard because the CFI didn't understand how to diagnose problems nor how to teach.
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Sounds like you ran into some poor instructors along the way.

Every student is different. Each has individual strengths and weaknesses. I am teaching a kid of a friend of mine. He can fly the plane excellent. He can repeat any maneuver to check ride passing level after 2 or 3 practices at it. However, his math skills are horrible. It took an hour to do a simple weight and balance calculation. That may be more a representation of the education system rather than the individual though.
 
Trained in a 172 with a 15kt crosswind limitation. I was convinced that every day I showed up the winds instantly rose to that level and stayed there 90 degrees off the runway. At the time I hated it, now I respect it but it know it can be done.
 
Private: Getting the hang of good landings.
Instrument: Compass turns and NDB holds.
Commercial: Eights on pylons.
Multi: Ignoring the screaming sounds my wallet was making. :D
 
Comm: Lazy 8s were a hassle because we rarely had a non-hazy day. It was either IMC or very hazy, and it's tough to see the horizon or a point in Pennsylvania haze.
 
Biggest thing I kept on forgetting is clearing turns. Still do sometimes (oops).
 
AdamZ said:
So for you students what is the most difficult thing in pilot training to get your hands or brain around and for you Pilots what was the most difficult thing for you to nail down in your training.

I think mine was cross wind landings and slips primarily because I trained at field with two runways 90* from each other. Other than that it was stalls w/o loosing much altitude.
Click to expand...

Without question, one of the most difficult "things" to master as a student is the concept that the learning never stops. Unless a student grasps this single simple idea, all flight instruction has been wasted and any and all maneuvers learned are simply that, maneuvers.

Dudley Henriques
 
Dudley Henriques said:
Without question, one of the most difficult "things" to master as a student is the concept that the learning never stops. Unless a student grasps this single simple idea, all flight instruction has been wasted and any and all maneuvers learned are simply that, maneuvers.

Dudley Henriques
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+1.....
 
During my PP, landings.

So far in my instrument - talking on the radio. I second the recommendation for Bob Gardener's "Say it Again", excellent and exactly to the point.

John
 
The absolutely hardest lesson is the one I had to do today -- make the NO GO decision.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Private: Getting the hang of good landings.
Instrument: Compass turns and NDB holds.
Commercial: Eights on pylons.
Multi: Ignoring the screaming sounds my wallet was making. :D
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Private: yup, landings for me, too. Once I found a really good CFI, took about 2 lessons to do them really well. Now, every landing is a practice for something. Sat AM with Young Eagles, I asked each one of them where I should land on the runway. Nailed 2 of the 3 requests.

Instrument: finding a CFII who'll let me make learning mistakes instead of telling me what to do at each step.

Commercial - let me get thru the Instrument first, ok?
 
AuntPeggy said:
The absolutely hardest lesson is the one I had to do today -- make the NO GO decision.
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And yet for me, that's the easiest lesson. If I'm not happy with any of the variables (weather, me, airplane, work, etc) then I don't go.
 
AuntPeggy said:
The absolutely hardest lesson is the one I had to do today -- make the NO GO decision.
Click to expand...

Those have gotten easier for me to make after having made more.
 
Ah, the screaming wallet. I like that one. I took a long break (years) from flying. I ran out of money, written test and medical all in one week. It was like starting over. A little older and wiser. When I did start flying again one of my first instructors took over the plane and proceeded to buzz a boat. I fired him as soon as we landed. The next week he was no longer with the flight school.
 
kwoody7 said:
Ah, the screaming wallet. I like that one. I took a long break (years) from flying. I ran out of money, written test and medical all in one week. It was like starting over. A little older and wiser. When I did start flying again one of my first instructors took over the plane and proceeded to buzz a boat. I fired him as soon as we landed. The next week he was no longer with the flight school.
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Ah yes, I had one of those...the school assigned a "substitute" CFII to me while working on the instrument....we had taken off, downwind about to go to the practice area for a lesson and were chatting about the commercial rating...CFII promptly too the yoke and started to demonstrate one of the commercial manuevers-power off landing from mid-field downwind...At that point I took control back, landed, and told him I'd never fly with him again - I wasn't interested in his flying ability, I wanted an intrument lesson.

Told the school the same thing, didn't go back.
 
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