So, student pilots.. Who are we and where do we stand?

Peter Anderson said:
Thank you thank you!


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Most welcome. I got a kick out of you talking to yourself and also apologizing to yourself. Hahahahaha.

(I do it too. The voices in my head say “You’re too slow, dummy!” Stuff like that. And there’s always the instructor’s voice mixed in there too. Ha. “If you don’t add power and pull the nose up, we’re both going to die in about 20 seconds...” hahahahaha! Okay maybe not that bad...) :)

By the way you fixed the radio thing the second lap. No big deal. The taxi instruction was pretty long and the controller was just following the rules where he needs the airplane to say the crossing instructions and runway to go to, along with their tail number, all in one transmission. He knew you “got it” (well, after you realized you’d started to turn left and then turned right.... you rattled yourself right there, didn’t ya? :) ) but he needed it all in one transmission for his procedures.

Little tip... if you’re a bit rattled on something like that just say “Standby, l’ll stop here when I’m off and read that back for you in just a sec.” Or really overloaded/rattled, just “Standby, we’ll clear the runway and call you.”

No need to rush. It gets easier to do it fluidly with time and without skipping any beats, but you’d already told him it was a first solo and student pilot so he’d be plenty patient with ya.

Absolutely nothing at all wrong with coming to a compete stop across the hold short line on the taxiway side, cleaning up the airplane, and then calling “N12345 is ready for that taxi clearance again please.” As long as you exited where he wanted you to exit (and you caught that part before you went the wrong way and fixed it) all the rest is “throwaway” and you can ask for it again.

It won’t make you popular at someplace like JFK or something... haha... but student pilot soloing? They’ll work with ya. No sweat. Plus you can write it down and actually look at the taxi diagram, which you probably don’t need by now at your home airport but it’s a good habit to get into as you go other places.

Taxi off the runway, taxi diagram up, taxi clearance understood and looked at on the diagram... or just stop and ask. No reason to move if the instructions are unclear in any way or they said “expedite”... and even then, “unable” always trumps expedite. :)

Just tips. Not criticism. You did fine.
 
P.S. And don’t forget the other tool of lost pilots on the ground with confusing taxiway diagrams...

“Request progressive taxi”! :) :) :)

Some days you just really don’t know where the heck you are... hahaha.
 
denverpilot said:
Most welcome. I got a kick out of you talking to yourself and also apologizing to yourself. Hahahahaha.

(I do it too. The voices in my head say “You’re too slow, dummy!” Stuff like that. And there’s always the instructor’s voice mixed in there too. Ha. “If you don’t add power and pull the nose up, we’re both going to die in about 20 seconds...” hahahahaha! Okay maybe not that bad...) :)

By the way you fixed the radio thing the second lap. No big deal. The taxi instruction was pretty long and the controller was just following the rules where he needs the airplane to say the crossing instructions and runway to go to, along with their tail number, all in one transmission. He knew you “got it” (well, after you realized you’d started to turn left and then turned right.... you rattled yourself right there, didn’t ya? :) ) but he needed it all in one transmission for his procedures.

Little tip... if you’re a bit rattled on something like that just say “Standby, l’ll stop here when I’m off and read that back for you in just a sec.” Or really overloaded/rattled, just “Standby, we’ll clear the runway and call you.”

No need to rush. It gets easier to do it fluidly with time and without skipping any beats, but you’d already told him it was a first solo and student pilot so he’d be plenty patient with ya.

Absolutely nothing at all wrong with coming to a compete stop across the hold short line on the taxiway side, cleaning up the airplane, and then calling “N12345 is ready for that taxi clearance again please.” As long as you exited where he wanted you to exit (and you caught that part before you went the wrong way and fixed it) all the rest is “throwaway” and you can ask for it again.

It won’t make you popular at someplace like JFK or something... haha... but student pilot soloing? They’ll work with ya. No sweat. Plus you can write it down and actually look at the taxi diagram, which you probably don’t need by now at your home airport but it’s a good habit to get into as you go other places.

Taxi off the runway, taxi diagram up, taxi clearance understood and looked at on the diagram... or just stop and ask. No reason to move if the instructions are unclear in any way or they said “expedite”... and even then, “unable” always trumps expedite. :)

Just tips. Not criticism. You did fine.
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Awesome advice! Every landing up to that point had been turning left. That was the first taxi back I had done. And when I turned the wrong way it totally rattled me for sure. And on top of that, I was wired as I had just made my first landing on my own. Definitely lots to learn from it. I had a great controller working with me and I am thankful for that! Thanks again for the kind words and advice!!


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Peter Anderson said:
Awesome advice! Every landing up to that point had been turning left.
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Yep. I figured that. Ha.

Primacy of instruction is real... if you do it a hundred times one way and learned it that way, the first time a controller asks for the other way, your brain locks up solid for a second.

Wait, what did he say?? Haha.

We’ve all been there! :)

Later when you have more experience that turns into, ...Wait, what’d he say? Ask-right-now-quick! LOL.

“Tower, confirm that’s a RIGHT turn at Delta for Seven Niner Mike?”

As you’re braking heavily straight ahead and waiting for confirmation of which pedal to push. Hahaha.

Sometimes the brain just doesn’t want to pay attention or doesn’t believe what it hears. :)
 
First third of IR training done, 11.7 hours logged so far and "passed" the stage check for stage 1 this morning. Now if I only could hold altitude within the ACS standards, for a change it was all over the place again.
 
Hi! Sorry to be late to the party on the thread. PPL student, checkride is scheduled. Starting to get apprehensive about it!
 
LoLPilot said:
Hi! Sorry to be late to the party on the thread. PPL student, checkride is scheduled. Starting to get apprehensive about it!
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Get 'er done! No need to be apprehensive, well yeah, one does get nervous about it. Your CFI prepared you for it, you'll do fine. Good luck!
 
Did my first cross country solo today. Went 120nm round trip and had a great flight from KCCR to KMOD and back! Landing at KCCR I had a 12knot crosswind component that was very challenging and not pretty. But I got it done! Tomorrow is prep for my stage 2 check. 32 hours and counting!! Earlier I was really fighting motion sickness. Had lots of little shorter flights and finally feel like I am over it as well. Definitely good stuff!! Here is a pic of my favorite plane to fly at my school sitting at KMOD.
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My wife went up with us last week. Her first flight in a GA aircraft. My instructor had me do a takeoff with the hood on and she didn’t know what to think! All in all it has been a great few months learning how to fly and the wife is now all in after doing a few passes over the Golden Gate Bridge!

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Harvdog said:
Student pilot pursuing my private pilot's. Was ready to solo about 3 months ago but my medical was delayed. Fortunately, I was able to work on other things like short and soft field takeoffs and landings while waiting on the medical. Just solo'ed on Thursday (7/18) at 37 hours. Currently studying for the knowledge exam. Also looking forward to my solo cross country, as well as, night takeoffs and landings.
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Congrats! I also just Solo'ed on the July 20th at 32 hours (repeated lesson 8 maybe 10 times due not being able to fly more that once a month for various [most of which not mine] reasons). Passed the written while waiting to get to this point. Excited to FINALLY move into the cross-country phase!
 
I SOLO'ed on July 20th! It was absolutely amazing to FINALLY get to fly the plane and know for a fact that I can do this without a person sitting there. What a HUGE confidence builder because I was starting to think maybe this might not be for me. So now it's on to Cross-Country phase and next month I'm taking leave to fly full time for two weeks to hopefully finish PPSEL. We'll see how that goes.
 
Well third time was a charm. Weather held up and ceilings were just high enough to get my checkride in. Did well on my oral, not my best on the flight portion but within standards. I’m on my phone now, I’ll post details when I get to a computer. Feels really good. Time to start reading up on instrument flying.
 
Ronbonjovi said:
Well third time was a charm. Weather held up and ceilings were just high enough to get my checkride in. Did well on my oral, not my best on the flight portion but within standards. I’m on my phone now, I’ll post details when I get to a computer. Feels really good. Time to start reading up on instrument flying.
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Congrats!
 
Ronbonjovi said:
Well third time was a charm. Weather held up and ceilings were just high enough to get my checkride in. Did well on my oral, not my best on the flight portion but within standards. I’m on my phone now, I’ll post details when I get to a computer. Feels really good. Time to start reading up on instrument flying.
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Congrats ronbon!
 
Ronbonjovi said:
Well third time was a charm. Weather held up and ceilings were just high enough to get my checkride in. Did well on my oral, not my best on the flight portion but within standards. I’m on my phone now, I’ll post details when I get to a computer. Feels really good. Time to start reading up on instrument flying.
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Alrighty then! He made it! Congrats!

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I am 5 lessons in and absolutely hooked on this flying thing. I had total overload on the first couple lessons and wondered if this was really for me, but things started to slow down on the most recent ones and I even flew the whole pattern and made two landings with minimal CFI help after some pretty intense work on stalls and steep turns during the lesson. Feels like sinking a 30 foot putt on hole #18 after a bad round of golf...has me wanting to go back for more as soon as possible!

I'm currently 8.5 hours in the book and I've been taking about one lesson per week, which I think has caused a little regression between each one, but has allowed me to keep up with the studying. I have a random work schedule and a couple little ones at home, so I can't really hope for a much more flying time. However, I am looking at taking a couple weeks off work towards the end of August and trying to fly 3 times a week to see how much faster things move for me. Would be interested to hear other's thoughts on pace of training and whether it helped to focus things for a couple weeks at a time where possible.

I'm not in a big rush to get my PPL or anything. Just really enjoying the learning experience and definitely looking forward to Solo and XC phases!
 
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Passed my stage 2 check today. Had two landings not quite text book short field and soft field, then made up for it with two better ones. Navigation was good. My examiner today made me use paper only then VOR’s. The VOR work is normally easy for me and today I was not quite as proficient. It helps when you read the compass correctly! Overall stoked I got it handled. Not off to my long Cross Country on Sat!


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Once again back in a little lull since my cross country. Haven't flown since due to weather, schedule, and finances. It sure is depressing when this happens, but I need to drive on and get back in the plane.
 
Alright so finally back in town on my computer, I'll spill the beans on my checkride. I am an awful writer and tend to ramble on, so sorry in advance for that and the long post. If someone wants to proof read and edit it and send me a PM I'll gladly edit this post:D.

This was for Tuesday 7/24. The forecast was crap. Low ceilings in the AM followed by thunderstorms rolling in when the ceilings would rise. This DPE was willing to drive to my field which was fantastic. Allowed us to start the oral at 9am and then evaluate the weather for a go/no go decision. My last attempt led to a cancellation before it started because the DPE said if they don't think they have a reasonable chance that the flight will occur, they won't start the oral. I told this DPE that, and he said he would be more than happy to do the oral and then go from there.

I prepped the night before with my cross country. KCEU to KPDK in our C152. Used I-85, different airports along the route, and lake Hartwell as checkpoints. Could only fill 18 out of 24.5 gallons to stay legal. Funny how all my training flights were out of limits :rolleyes:. Got a good nights sleep and woke up ready to go. I can't lie though, I was definitely stressing. I felt unprepared for the oral just by the huge amount of information that could be asked.

We began with checking my logbook, endorsements, and legal information. The DPE couldn't locate one of my endorsements and my CFI was on the way to Oshkosh so I though oh boy, another reschedule is coming. However I found it on the next page handwritten after some cross country endorsements. Felt foolish by not being able to point it out right away. We then started the oral. Took just under an hour and 45 minutes. All of it was real world situations and questions. He followed the ACS, asked a couple questions on each subject, and moved on when he was happy with answers. There were a few times we had to dig deeper into the POH, or the FAR. He said you may not always have the right answer, and if that is the case I want you to prove to me you know how to find it. I won't stress everything he talked about in the oral as different examiners would focus on different areas more intently. I will say though I was surprised how little we scratched the surface on some topics. Never looked at a weather chart and I studied those like crazy because I felt that was my weakest area. Finished the oral and said I did extremely well. I felt great at this point, as I was stressing over the oral much more than the flight portion.

So we walk out of the clubhouse and go check out the airplane. Ceilings were about 2000 AGL, giving us enough for the flight, but questionable for performing some of the maneuvers like stalls. We decided together that we would attempt the flight, and if a maneuver could not be accomplished he would issue a discontinuance. He then said he was going to go to the FBO for a little bit and to preflight the airplane. I was surprised to see he wasn't hanging around asking questions. When he got back, he asked me a few questions about different flight systems. Pointed to the fuel vent, asked what that was and it's function. Asked what would happen if the static port clogged during flight, where is the oil cooler, what the alternator belt was and what happened if it broke in flight etc. Once he determined I knew my systems we went ahead and got in the airplane. I did my SAFETY briefing before the flight, grabbed the weather, and got on our way. I won't go into all the details. It was a routine checkride, start on my cross country, deviate after 3 checkpoints, performed landings and take offs at the airport we deviated too, put the hood on after that, unusual attitudes, intercepted a VOR. Took the hood off and did turns around a point. Now the real fun began. We had to find a hole in the ceilings to have enough cloud separation and height above ground to do stalls and steep turns. Luckily I found a clearing just big enough and we were able to get them done. Nailed the steep turns, the week before with my CFI I struggled with them for some reason, so that was a nice feeling. Used landmarks to then get me back to our home field. Did some emergency procedures on the way back. I thought we were finished when we returned, we did a go around during the simulated emergency landing. But as I am lined up on final the DPE takes the yoke and starts rocking it back and forth pretty violently and goes man you just got rocked with some crazy gusts, what are you doing? Instant full power, half flaps, carb heat off and went around. He said great, lets land and head back to the ramp. After we landed he said "So you still want to be a private pilot? We didn't scare you away?" That moment right there I probably felt the most relief and satisfaction that I have felt in a long time.

We went back to the FBO and did all the IACRA work. He printed my certificate and just like that, I am a private pilot. He said it was very refreshing having a student who was so prepared and did so well during the whole exam. He wanted to sign my log book and wrote excellent flight test in the comments. He said he hasn't had the privilege of doing that much recently. It is crazy though how through the whole training experience I thought when I got my certificate I would feel more capable as a pilot. But in reality, nothing changed. It truly is a license to learn. Just printed the FAA Instrument Flying Handbook. Keeping this study train going and plan on enjoying some cross country flying!
 
Ronbonjovi said:
Well third time was a charm. Weather held up and ceilings were just high enough to get my checkride in. Did well on my oral, not my best on the flight portion but within standards. I’m on my phone now, I’ll post details when I get to a computer. Feels really good. Time to start reading up on instrument flying.
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Congratulations Jovi. When noticing that you were fairly local I have been following your progress. What DPE did you end up using? My daughter has her check ride scheduled in two weeks and curious if she’ll be using the same one.


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Greenhead said:
Congratulations Jovi. When noticing that you were fairly local I have been following your progress. What DPE did you end up using? My daughter has her check ride scheduled in two weeks and curious if she’ll be using the same one.


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I first had it scheduled with Cyndy Hollman, but scheduling and weather prevented that ride. She is a new DPE and I have no advice to offer for her. I actually took my ride with Tom Burke, and he was a great person to deal with and it was a fantastic experience. All questions were based on real life situations and he really did a good job of making it stress free and relaxed.
 
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I have a chance to fly in a couple high performance aircraft, and am hoping to gain my endorsement in case the owners are kind enough to let me log PIC. I just ordered the FAA pilots handbook of aeronautical knowledge. I liked that for explanation of the systems like CS prop. Any other good reads or sources or input on what CFIs look for when doing that endorsement?
 
So finally after 30 hours and almost 100 landings I had to fire my CFI. "But let me tell you why". Sad story really, and half of that is my fault. Half of way I realized that he did not really have a syllabus. He was not using the one I had (Gleim's) and I thought he actually had a plan, it did not look like that. He finally scheduled me for my stage check with his boss. When I came in for it I was asked to provide the stage check endorsement (well, not the official one, right? Just the local school created document). Well, my CFI did not even bother to sign it (and I did not know to make him). Then the boss instructor started asking me questions, and I only could answer what I learned from elsewhere (youtube and such), because my CFI did not bother to tell me. Of which I told to the boss instructor, and we spent two hours just going over stuff, no flying.

So now I have a new CFI, his is older, uses syllabus, and actually teaches me how to fly (vs logging hours like the other guy). On the syllabus I am about on lesson 7 (so should have i taken this guy I would have been flying by now..... !@#$!@#$) but at least I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, stage check should be in couple of weeks.

As I said half of that my fault, but I am glad I finally did it. It did not feel right but I was not sure what it was. Comparing the two CFIs this is night and day.

Moral - if it feels wrong it is. Change it and keep changing until you are comfortable with your CFI.

Will keep you posted.
 
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Still a student pilot, just an instrument student now! I haven't started training yet, I am going to just enjoy flying and get into as many different types as I can and study up on the FAAs instrument flying handbook. Yesterday I flew one of our clubs 172s for the first time, a 172N. One of the biggest challenges I had was just finding where everything is on the panel. Gauges, switches, etc in different spots messed up my flow and scan as we went around the pattern. Will just take a little time getting used to. This plane has a vernier throttle, which at first I didn't like as much, but by the end of the flight I was loving the ability to make fine adjustments with it. As far as the actual flying, I thought it was great. Heavier on the controls versus the 152, but much more stable. Takeoff felt so much smoother, I felt as though the engine ran smoother and the plane rolled down the runway much smoother. Lift off took no effort. On landings, once I figured out you really need some nose up trim, I got it down pretty well. The amount of back pressure it took when the airplane was not trimmed properly was much more than I expected. We only had time for 3 of them before my CFI had to leave. He wants to do one more flight and a few more emergency procedures before he signs me off for it.

I had an owner of a 182B at our field reach out to me and my CFI saying we could take his plane up, so I will be getting my high performance endorsement in that. Also had a parent of a student I taught who owns a Cirrus invite me to fly. Looking forward to that after I get the HP endorsement.
 
Took my test a month ago (97%, kinda ****ed about that!:mad:) soloed this past Friday morning. after five flights with the instructor. Was actually easier and less stressful without the instructor!


then totaled the car I was borrowing that evening! (100% not my fault).......that was enough for one day!
 
AlpineAce said:
Took my test a month ago (97%, kinda ****ed about that!:mad:) soloed this past Friday morning. after five flights with the instructor. Was actually easier and less stressful without the instructor!


then totaled the car I was borrowing that evening! (100% not my fault).......that was enough for one day!
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Better to miss a few on the written so the DPE doesn't grill you for getting 100%. Congrats on the solo!

Been enojying my PPL, got checked out in our clubs IFR 172. I'm enjoying flying this a lot more than the 152. Much more room and seems a tad more stable. Yesterday I flew into KPDK for the first time, only my 5th time flying into a controlled field. Had a ton of traffic but handled it well. Had to plan around the weather and thunderstorms but turned out to be a good VFR day, ceilings broken around 4,000. Navigating on the ground at PDK was not as difficult as I thought it was (at least during the day time, night time was a little tricky). The controllers were awesome and very patient. Maybe they could tell I was a newbie. Service at Epps was awesome, waived the landing fee with fuel purchase. Met my girlfriend for dinner, then flew back to KCEU at 9:00. Ground controller was helpful with taxiing at an unfamiliar airport at night. I really enjoy night flying. Flying out of Atlanta with all the city lights was really a cool experience. However, the circuit breaker for my landing light kept popping so I tookoff and landed without it. Made for a fun challenge. Can't wait to keep taking more trips like this.
 
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Just found this thread so I thought I'd join in.

Took first lesson 8/16
Purchased my own plane 9/5, not flying it yet and still using the DA40 rental as my CFI is reading up on my plane before we go out on it.
Practiced 4 Fundamentals, steep turns, power off/on stalls, turn around a point and s turns till 9/7.
9/7 started takeoff and landings, got 4 full stop landings in
9/10 did 1.3 hours of touch and goes, was a rough day with the heat and wind I was struggling
9/12 did 1.5 hours of touch and goes. Called 2 go arounds and landed rough, no bounce just flat. Last landing was high five worthy

Trying to fly Monday, Wednesday and Fridays and just passed 10 hours.
 
Jamie Kirk said:
Just found this thread so I thought I'd join in.

Took first lesson 8/16
Purchased my own plane 9/5, not flying it yet and still using the DA40 rental as my CFI is reading up on my plane before we go out on it.
Practiced 4 Fundamentals, steep turns, power off/on stalls, turn around a point and s turns till 9/7.
9/7 started takeoff and landings, got 4 full stop landings in
9/10 did 1.3 hours of touch and goes, was a rough day with the heat and wind I was struggling
9/12 did 1.5 hours of touch and goes. Called 2 go arounds and landed rough, no bounce just flat. Last landing was high five worthy

Trying to fly Monday, Wednesday and Fridays and just passed 10 hours.
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What kind of aircraft did you purchase?
 
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