My Road to the PPL

[Sierra Echo]

Started on Monday. See https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/community/threads/its-time-anything-to-prepare-for.109802 for some of the pre-discussion leading up to this day. I'll use this thread to chronicle my adventures.

Warning: This first post is lengthy. I won't be offended if you tl;dr; it.

First - the story of the flight:

My CFI surprised me with an early call asking if I could fly a bit earlier in the day than expected. So I dropped everything, drove out to TMB, and met him in the club office. After going over the required club paperwork to check out the plane (172), we went out for preflight. He showed me around the plane, worked with me on all of the preflight procedures (using the checklist as a guide), and even had me finish up the last bit on my own. With the plane being rather symmetrical, i was just repeating the tasks we just did on the other side. We noted the one item we found and then got in the plane.

Once in the plane we continued the checklist, fired up the prop, and once ready began our roll off of the ramp and to the taxiway. My instructor did the radio work here, and I taxied us up to the run-up area. My instructor showed me how to rotate the airplane to keep my prop wash from blowing ground bits into other airplanes, which I wouldn't have thought of. We let ATC know we were ready to depart, and then waited for a couple of jets to land before we were asked to go - in a hurry.

So we hightailed it onto the runway, got lined up, and applied the gas. It didn't take long at all before he had me rotate, and up we went. ATC called us and asked us to get out of the way, so we took a right turn earlier than expected. Then we climbed to about 2000' and headed out to the practice area.

The time in the practice area was mostly just getting me comfortable with the plane. I needed to learn to relax a bit (more on this to come), and get a feel for how the airplane behaves. Over time I got comfortable doing some basic turns, getting those turns coordinated at least somewhat, climbing, descending, and just flying. Then my CFI decided to show me a few things, so we did power on and power off stalls, and a couple of steep turns. Then we talked some more while flying around (question: what do you do if one of those huge turkey vultures goes through your windscreen? CFI answer: kill the bird!) and finally he helped me navigate back toward TMB. We called ATC about 10 miles out, and were asked to fly direct to the numbers. Once closer were were given clearance to land, but to keep our foot on the gas. We landed quite smoothly (I had full control of the throttle, but I'm sure he helped me on the yoke even though I couldn't feel it) and then we were asked to exit the runway without hesitation. So we did so. Then I made the call to ground control, taxied us back, and parked it. Called for fuel, cleaned up the plane, locked up, and did the logbook and financial paperwork. Done!

Now - the story of how I felt:

This was interesting... I had flown with a friend from the right seat before and that experience was great. I was relaxed, had a great time, no worries in the world. Not so much this time. My CFI is probably one of the more easygoing, peaceful people I've ever met. He was encouraging but didn't pressure me at all, for anything. Despite this, I was EXTREMELY tense for most of the flight. It took the first 10 minutes once in the air for me to finally truly let up on the death grip I had on the yoke. My legs / feet were never comfortable on the rudder/brake pedals. I was constantly leaning forward, not relaxing at all. The power off stalls were a walk in the park, but the power on stalls (which we did I believe 3 of) got me a bit airsick. Then doing 45 and near-60 degree turns immediately after that didn't make the airsickness any better. The last 15 minutes of the flight I couldn't wait to get onto the ground. When I got off the plane I was sore in my legs and back from being so tense, and I was queasy from the airsickness. Oh - one more thing - I mentioned that I did the ground control call to taxi home, right? Well I froze up when asked to do it. My CFI had to remind me 3 times of what to say. So weird - I'm not normally like that. I walked away thinking I need to re-evaluate this whole thing.

So for the last day and a half, I've been re-evaluating. Here's what I've come to understand: I was truly never afraid we were going to crash or anything like that. My tension started from just really being uncomfortable with my legs / feet, and then just wanting to be sure I didn't screw up. Right when I finally got relaxed, we did the stalls. I was actually in a really good place doing the power off, and those were no big deal at all. The first power on was fun - it's like a rollercoaster, and I love those. But once the airsickness kicked in, I got tense again, and became miserable the rest of the way.

My original intention was to fly again next week, and continue once weekly until my medical gets back from whatever black hole it's in (I'm waiting for an SI). Then go 2x weekly at least. But I need to get back in the airplane quickly, to further diagnose and fix whatever issues I'm having so that this will be fun. Because I'm not going to spend the time, money, and energy doing this if it's not going to be fun. So I'm working with my CFI to get back in the saddle on Friday.

-se

 

[jordane93]

Good luck on the rest of your training

 

[mscard88]

This was your first lesson? If so I don't know why the CFI had you doing stalls and steep turns. Usually first lesson is just basic climbs and descents, turns, and just getting you familiar with how the controls are used in various flight maneuvers. Doing stalls and steep turns is a good way to turn off an aspiring pilot IMO, especially power-on stalls.

 

[Sierra Echo]

This was your first lesson? If so I don't know why the CFI had you doing stalls and steep turns. Usually first lesson is just basic climbs and descents, turns, and just getting you familiar with how the controls are used in various flight maneuvers. Doing stalls and steep turns is a good way to turn off an aspiring pilot IMO, especially power-on stalls.

Yes. Prior to doing the stall work my CFI said "I can't make you like stalls, but you have to be able to handle them". I indicated that I would be comfortable giving it a shot. To be clear, fear wasn't my issue. It was airsickness. I don't usually have motion sickness problems so I'm hoping this isn't chronic.

 

[mscard88]

Yes. Prior to doing the stall work my CFI said "I can't make you like stalls, but you have to be able to handle them". I indicated that I would be comfortable giving it a shot. To be clear, fear wasn't my issue. It was airsickness. I don't usually have motion sickness problems so I'm hoping this isn't chronic.

I don't introduce stalls until the 3rd or 4th lesson. Same for steep turns. Obviously doing these on your first flight affected you and could have changed your mind about becoming a pilot. I knew a CFI who did a spin on a first lesson! That student quickly decided flying wasn't for him and never went back. But this is my opinion from many years of instructing. You can even look at any syllabus and stalls aren't done until later. Good luck, just remember you can change CFIs too if you're uncomfortable.

 

[WannFly]

i think you did good. in my discovery flight, the dumb your CFI did a aggravated power on stall with Zero G that scared the crap out of me, AFTER telling him before the flight that lets keep it normal. I would ding your CFI on that. being tense is normal and it takes a while to get relaxed (ask me about it ). the more you fly, the more relaxed you will be.

 

[Sierra Echo]

I don't introduce stalls until the 3rd or 4th lesson. Same for steep turns. Obviously doing these on your first flight affected you and could have changed your mind about becoming a pilot. I knew a CFI who did a spin on a first lesson! That student quickly decided flying wasn't for him and never went back. But this is my opinion from many years of instructing. You can even look at any syllabus and stalls aren't done until later. Good luck, just remember you can change CFIs too if you're uncomfortable.

Funny you mention spins. He was trying to induce some level of rotation out of one of the stalls but the plane wouldn't do it. Pretty sure that would have been my intro to spins. I'm glad it didn't work.

I'm not giving up on the CFI after one lesson. I really like him and I think we can be successful, and I know he will be here and not jumping to an airline. But I DO intend to discuss what worked and what didn't before our next flight, and I've already told him such by text.

Thanks for the support.

i think you did good. in my discovery flight, the dumb your CFI did a aggravated power on stall with Zero G that scared the crap out of me, AFTER telling him before the flight that lets keep it normal. I would ding your CFI on that. being tense is normal and it takes a while to get relaxed (ask me about it ). the more you fly, the more relaxed you will be.

Thanks friend. I'll keep your comments in mind as I work out the kinks

 

[mscard88]

Funny you mention spins. He was trying to induce some level of rotation out of one of the stalls but the plane wouldn't do it. Pretty sure that would have been my intro to spins. I'm glad it didn't work.

I'm not giving up on the CFI after one lesson. I really like him and I think we can be successful, and I know he will be here and not jumping to an airline. But I DO intend to discuss what worked and what didn't before our next flight, and I've already told him such by text.

Thanks for the support.



Thanks friend. I'll keep your comments in mind as I work out the kinks

As far as liking the CFI, that's important and great. But now your saying he tried to do a spin, and couldn't get it to?! Geez hope he knows how to recover from a spin if he can't even get the plane to spin. Look, it's your call but I have doubts about your CFI doing this crap on what is an introductory first flight. How long has he been instructing? Is this a flight school or is he an independent CFI? These are the type of CFIs that give all CFIs a bad reputation.

 

[rtk11]

Sierra Echo, the feeling you had after your first flight is normal. You’re in an unfamiliar craft doing unfamiliar things. The adrenaline is what you’re feeling (fight or flight... no pun intended) and you’re tensed up to react to maneuvers and bumps in the air that you can’t anticipate. This is all normal. Most students will get used to this by the 2nd or 3rd flight.

And I will go so far as to challenge you to think about all the bumps in the road and steering corrections you do while driving today. You probably don’t notice them anymore, but they’re there. If you think and concentrate, you’ll feel them again. You just got used to the sensation, so they are no longer factors as you drive. The same will occur with flying. Give it time.

To mscard88’s point, you may want to chat with your CFI about why he decided to introduce stalls, a potential spin, and radio calls on your first lesson. Did you tell him that you had done flying from the right seat previously (i.e. as a passenger) and was he expecting that you had some flight experience? Typically this kind of workload on a student isn’t introduced until later when the student is comfortable with basic maneuvers and can execute radio calls knowing what to say.

 

[denverpilot]

Awesome isn’t it? I told ya you’d take a couple days to process it from overload... heheheh.

I am not going to be harsh on him, but the CFI introduced some things I wouldn’t in the first flight, but you also sound like you enjoyed it... so not a big problem. As long as the next flight he goes back to basics.

I believe the hook is set.... Hahahaha.

Have fun with the new training! There’s a lot more fun stuff to do from here!

Hopefully you have your second lesson scheduled?

Check you out... you started to learn to fly!

 

[BrianNC]

Way to hang in there SE. I personally would have a talk with him about what you experienced and also mention that if you're getting airsick you don't need to do maneuvers that are going to aggravate that. Get back in the saddle quick like you said. After all is said and done you may need another CFI if his style isn't compatible with how you want to learn.

 

[EchoKilo]

This was your first lesson? If so I don't know why the CFI had you doing stalls and steep turns. Usually first lesson is just basic climbs and descents, turns, and just getting you familiar with how the controls are used in various flight maneuvers. Doing stalls and steep turns is a good way to turn off an aspiring pilot IMO, especially power-on stalls.

Shoot, my instructor showed me how to slip into a field on my first lesson.

 

[BrianNC]

Shoot, my instructor showed me how to slip into a field on my first lesson.

On my very first lesson my door popped open on the 152 on the takeoff climb. But he didn't do that on purpose...I don't think.

 

[BrianNC]

I'm not an instructor, although I may be one day. I just don't see the point of some of the things CFIs do on the first flight. I personally would take everything easy, introduce it to them, give them a full expectation of what is about to happen, etc. No surprises, no stunts, etc. I know there's some old school CFIs that would disagree, but I don't see the point. You can definitely scare someone away from flying with something that if would have been approached different it never would have bothered them.

 

[jordane93]

I'm not an instructor, although I may be one day. I just don't see the point of some of the things CFIs do on the first flight. I personally would take everything easy, introduce it to them, give them a full expectation of what is about to happen, etc. No surprises, no stunts, etc. I know there's some old school CFIs that would disagree, but I don't see the point. You can definitely scare someone away from flying with something that if would have been approached different it never would have bothered them.

I agree. The first flight is just the 4 fundamentals. We run through the pre flight, checklists, etc and the only goal for the lesson is to have fun. Occasionally I’ll have a person who is really interested and reads up on stalls and wants to see one. If that’s the case, I have no problems demonstrating and even talking the person through one.

 

[EchoKilo]

Just checked my logbook. Didn't start doing stalls until 6 hours in.

 

[Skyrys62]

Throw up on him. That'll get the message across nicely.

 

[Sierra Echo]

How long has he been instructing? Is this a flight school or is he an independent CFI?

He is CFII and MEI, and A&P, and whatever the qualification is that lets him inspect other folks' mx work on behalf of the FAA. He is the lead instructor for our club and leads the mx work for our planes, and is an officer of the club. He's been around forever and isn't going anywhere. That's part of the allure. He was recommended by multiple complete strangers who I met and talked to at the FBOs at my airport when I was looking for instruction, so he has a good reputation even outside of the club.

All of that said - I hear you, and he might not be right for me. I intend to find out sooner than later. As I say in my day job - "hire slow, fire fast."

rtk11 - thanks for the comments - I like your "bumps in the road" analogy and I'm banking on that being the case. I didn't expect to be fully comfortable on my first left seat flight. I was just more UNcomfortable than I expected. And yes, I will be discussing the training plan with my CFI to get an understanding of how quickly he expects me to be doing some of the slightly more advanced items on the workload.

Hopefully you have your second lesson scheduled?

Just confirmed for Friday early morning. I'm getting back in the saddle quickly, to work out the bugs. I'll be alright - I've waited too long for this for me to burn out.

Thanks again for all of the support everyone!

-se

 

[BrianNC]

Just checked my logbook. Didn't start doing stalls until 6 hours in.

Good idea.

First flight, straight and level; turns to point; trim. That's it.

First stalls were after 3.4 hours. "Slow flt; Stalls". That was an hour. Then the next flight an hour, "slow flt; app-dep stalls; turns around pts".

 

[EchoKilo]

One thing I think looking back is that when my instructor signed me off to solo, I don't think he should have done it. I wasn't truly ready. It was as perfect a solo, with three textbook landings that could not have been more beautiful, but time has told me that I still wasn't where I needed to be now that I look back on it. If it hadn't been a gorgeous day with everything right, it might not have gone so well. Being a confident and capable pilot takes experience. Tons of it. To this day I'm nowhere even in the ballpark of where I need to be. I still leave each lesson with more concerns and questions. I still don't feel like I know anything close to enough or have anywhere close to the skills I need to be confident.

 

[BrianNC]

It was as perfect a solo, with three textbook landings that could not have been more beautiful, but time has told me that I still wasn't where I needed to be now that I look back on it. If it hadn't been a gorgeous day with everything right, it might not have gone so well.

Don't you think that he possibly took that into consideration?

 

[dmspilot]

I don't get why aviation is still having issues with instructors doing things like this...or maybe I do, since instead of giving practical advice, the FAA feels a head-spinning diagram of Bloom's Taxonomy of the Cognitive Domain is important for CFIs.

 

[Volitation]

I had the same motion sickness issues, they should go away after a couple more flights. Mine persisted, so I tried ginger supplements and candy- immediately better, and I do even think about it now. (Except those unusual atttiudes under the hood.) lol.

 

[MacFlier]

Started on Monday. See https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/community/threads/its-time-anything-to-prepare-for.109802 for some of the pre-discussion leading up to this day. I'll use this thread to chronicle my adventures.

Warning: This first post is lengthy. I won't be offended if you tl;dr; it.

First - the story of the flight:

My CFI surprised me with an early call asking if I could fly a bit earlier in the day than expected. So I dropped everything, drove out to TMB, and met him in the club office. After going over the required club paperwork to check out the plane (172), we went out for preflight. He showed me around the plane, worked with me on all of the preflight procedures (using the checklist as a guide), and even had me finish up the last bit on my own. With the plane being rather symmetrical, i was just repeating the tasks we just did on the other side. We noted the one item we found and then got in the plane.

Once in the plane we continued the checklist, fired up the prop, and once ready began our roll off of the ramp and to the taxiway. My instructor did the radio work here, and I taxied us up to the run-up area. My instructor showed me how to rotate the airplane to keep my prop wash from blowing ground bits into other airplanes, which I wouldn't have thought of. We let ATC know we were ready to depart, and then waited for a couple of jets to land before we were asked to go - in a hurry.

So we hightailed it onto the runway, got lined up, and applied the gas. It didn't take long at all before he had me rotate, and up we went. ATC called us and asked us to get out of the way, so we took a right turn earlier than expected. Then we climbed to about 2000' and headed out to the practice area.

The time in the practice area was mostly just getting me comfortable with the plane. I needed to learn to relax a bit (more on this to come), and get a feel for how the airplane behaves. Over time I got comfortable doing some basic turns, getting those turns coordinated at least somewhat, climbing, descending, and just flying. Then my CFI decided to show me a few things, so we did power on and power off stalls, and a couple of steep turns. Then we talked some more while flying around (question: what do you do if one of those huge turkey vultures goes through your windscreen? CFI answer: kill the bird!) and finally he helped me navigate back toward TMB. We called ATC about 10 miles out, and were asked to fly direct to the numbers. Once closer were were given clearance to land, but to keep our foot on the gas. We landed quite smoothly (I had full control of the throttle, but I'm sure he helped me on the yoke even though I couldn't feel it) and then we were asked to exit the runway without hesitation. So we did so. Then I made the call to ground control, taxied us back, and parked it. Called for fuel, cleaned up the plane, locked up, and did the logbook and financial paperwork. Done!

Now - the story of how I felt:

This was interesting... I had flown with a friend from the right seat before and that experience was great. I was relaxed, had a great time, no worries in the world. Not so much this time. My CFI is probably one of the more easygoing, peaceful people I've ever met. He was encouraging but didn't pressure me at all, for anything. Despite this, I was EXTREMELY tense for most of the flight. It took the first 10 minutes once in the air for me to finally truly let up on the death grip I had on the yoke. My legs / feet were never comfortable on the rudder/brake pedals. I was constantly leaning forward, not relaxing at all. The power off stalls were a walk in the park, but the power on stalls (which we did I believe 3 of) got me a bit airsick. Then doing 45 and near-60 degree turns immediately after that didn't make the airsickness any better. The last 15 minutes of the flight I couldn't wait to get onto the ground. When I got off the plane I was sore in my legs and back from being so tense, and I was queasy from the airsickness. Oh - one more thing - I mentioned that I did the ground control call to taxi home, right? Well I froze up when asked to do it. My CFI had to remind me 3 times of what to say. So weird - I'm not normally like that. I walked away thinking I need to re-evaluate this whole thing.

So for the last day and a half, I've been re-evaluating. Here's what I've come to understand: I was truly never afraid we were going to crash or anything like that. My tension started from just really being uncomfortable with my legs / feet, and then just wanting to be sure I didn't screw up. Right when I finally got relaxed, we did the stalls. I was actually in a really good place doing the power off, and those were no big deal at all. The first power on was fun - it's like a rollercoaster, and I love those. But once the airsickness kicked in, I got tense again, and became miserable the rest of the way.

My original intention was to fly again next week, and continue once weekly until my medical gets back from whatever black hole it's in (I'm waiting for an SI). Then go 2x weekly at least. But I need to get back in the airplane quickly, to further diagnose and fix whatever issues I'm having so that this will be fun. Because I'm not going to spend the time, money, and energy doing this if it's not going to be fun. So I'm working with my CFI to get back in the saddle on Friday.

-se

I started my training roughly a month ago and my first lesson was all about slow flight, power on, power off stalls. We even did accelerated stalls. We also did coordinated turns, level flight.
Power on stalls are a bit unsettling, and accelerated ones are much worse, especially the g's you pull recovering from the dive.
But my truck was to focus on the procedures and trust they'd work, and it helped me take attention away from the fact we were flying towards the ground for a couple of seconds...

 

[dmspilot]

I started my training roughly a month ago and my first lesson was all about slow flight, power on, power off stalls. We even did accelerated stalls. We also did coordinated turns, level flight.
Power on stalls are a bit unsettling, and accelerated ones are much worse, especially the g's you pull recovering from the dive.
But my truck was to focus on the procedures and trust they'd work, and it helped me take attention away from the fact we were flying towards the ground for a couple of seconds...

(That's directed at your CFI, not you.)

 

[MacFlier]

(That's directed at your CFI, not you.)

In the end, I actually enjoyed it. It was a ton of information to digest but I was glad I kept my cool and now, after a few stall practices, I became better at recognizing and recovering from those.
I tried to do the radio also but eventually he did it because I thought it was too much multitasking flying and talking... I'm now more comfortable on the radio

 

[Sierra Echo]

Bad news and good news. Bad news: my wife and 11-month old son got sick late last week, which meant me staying up all night and not being in shape to fly on Friday. So I rescheduled for Monday (today) but of course the transitive property of family illness caught up with me, and I've been sick since Saturday. Given upcoming work commitments and an out of town wedding next week, it will be interesting to see when I can squeeze another flight in. Bad timing for this illness.

Now the good news: I received my 3rd class medical (by way of SI) today. My AME only mailed out my file on March 15, and the letter back was dated April 2nd, so they turned it around in about 2 weeks. I was expecting 2-3 months. Amazing. I had to do a lot of pre-work before ever my AME would mail the file, and he had a phone conversation with the FAA folks prior to sending my file over, so they knew it was coming and how my he felt about it. Still, I expected a much longer delay.

So despite being sick, I'm psyched! Now - to get in the air again...

-se

 

[BrianNC]

Now the good news: I received my 3rd class medical (by way of SI) today.

Congrats! I fly on a SI myself for sleep apnea.

 

[Half Fast]

So, taking your post as a whole, you’re sick, but the FAA has certified you healthy.

Get well soon. Or stay well. Or whatever....

 

[Sierra Echo]

Congrats! I fly on a SI myself for sleep apnea.

Thanks! Mine is for Ankylosing Spondylitis. Had it since I was 16. Never thought it could keep me from flying, given how functional I am...

So, taking your post as a whole, you’re sick, but the FAA has certified you healthy.

Get well soon. Or stay well. Or whatever....

Even when they get it right, they get it wrong! Or vice-versa?

 

[Sierra Echo]

Was supposed to fly today. Trump TFR over Miami ended that idea. It’s too bad, it’s severe VFR today with cool (for Miami) temps. Now vacation will keep me grounded for another week. C’est la vie.

It’s eerie seeing the airport so dead on a day like this...