Ugh im hitting the information overload wall

L

Legiox

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RatherBflying
Been at my PPL since oct 2011. Have everything completed with FAR. 61 and all that is left is my stage 3 checkride and FAA final checkride. However, right now im just hitting a wall. I want to get everything completed before summer kicks into gear, but i have been just overloaded with PPL training and work. Seems im going through information overload lately with oral exam and knowledge in general. Any encouragement? LOL

My instructor is telling me to push through it, its all most over. Maybe i just need a beer and relax for a week or something..Haha
 
Legiox, wait until you do a type rating (mil OR civ.). That's three weeks of information boot camp peppered with HARD sim work.

You can do this. RISE to the challenge.
 
I'd take a step back. Go on a fun flight. Maybe do a few ground refrence maneuvers, but make them fun. Do the ones your good at and like. Go somewhere cool and get the crew car and go ride roller coasters or a water park or whatever. On the return flight make it even more fun and just go from A to B (actually B to A) and just talk with your instructor. Have him just ask you through conversation about various stuff. Keep it light.

Take a day off after that and then jump back into it. End with a mock check ride and then take the real deal.

Theres my advice.
 
Do what Captain said. Go out on a fun flight to remind you why you are learning in the first place.
 
Captain said:
I'd take a step back. Go on a fun flight. Maybe do a few ground refrence maneuvers, but make them fun. Do the ones your good at and like. Go somewhere cool and get the crew car and go ride roller coasters or a water park or whatever. On the return flight make it even more fun and just go from A to B (actually B to A) and just talk with your instructor. Have him just ask you through conversation about various stuff. Keep it light.

Take a day off after that and then jump back into it. End with a mock check ride and then take the real deal.

Theres my advice.
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Sounds like good advice. Only thing I'd suggest differently is to do it solo.
 
Legiox said:
Been at my PPL since oct 2011. Have everything completed with FAR. 61 and all that is left is my stage 3 checkride and FAA final checkride. However, right now im just hitting a wall. I want to get everything completed before summer kicks into gear, but i have been just overloaded with PPL training and work. Seems im going through information overload lately with oral exam and knowledge in general. Any encouragement? LOL

My instructor is telling me to push through it, its all most over. Maybe i just need a beer and relax for a week or something..Haha
Click to expand...

That is usually a sign you are almost ready for the checkride.
Keep it up, you are almost done.

Brian
CFIIG/ASEL
 
I went for a short dual XC pre-solo when I was getting sick of stalls, maneuvers, and pattern work. It was a great way to remind me why I was doing all of this and to gain some varied experience. Most people reach a plateau somewhere in their learning and doing something fun and different is a great way to break through it.
 
Why not get signed off for a fun cross country? No rules against an extra; go somewhere totally new that has a destination that interests you at the end. Since you'll be solo, what happens xc stays xc...;)

Cross country trips are major learning experiences and confidence builders for a solid 100 hrs of them before the load reduces to something sustainable.
 
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Oh, don't sweat the oral. DEs basically ask several related questions in a topical series getting more complex as it goes, if you get the first three, you're fine, you're free to say, "I'm not sure, I'd start looking for that in ___."

Use that phrase early on and your oral will be short and sweet; knowing all the answers will assure you of a long and grueling oral because I promise you it will not end until some facsimile of that answer comes from you.;)

That is the reason he's asking a bunch of questions, to get to THAT answer. Admit you don't know something in a situation where that admission has the potential to cost you, and know where to find an answer you need as well as the willingness to look it up.

Even if you know the answers, don't proceed much past 5 if at all. Now you're playing a reverse game of 'Stump the Chump', and that's not good.
 
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I have in my life been through a few trials by fire for professional licensing..
Skip the fun, skip the beer (you don't get them in boot camp!) and get to work...
What is more important at this time; getting your Airman's Certificate or getting hammered at some picnic this summer - what are YOUR priorities..

Go through the ground school material again - really go through it and take the test questions over again... Highlight any question that the answer does not pop into your mind halfway through reading the question - and go over the correct answer until you understand why it is the correct answer...

As far as flying maneuvers ask your CFI if there is a soft spot in your handling of the airplane - and have him correct that weakness (I can guarantee the examiner will find it)...
Try to get a ride or two with a CFI teaching a student - you will be amazed at what you learn from the back seat and how quickly you will notice the side drift on landing, or the failure to turn into the wind during a power out drill, etc. while the sweating student is oblivious...
Then go out and pass that check ride- because you are ready...

As far as the comment about gaming the examiner by nailing a few questions then saying you would look 'that' up - yeah, that sometimes works, human nature being what it is - but knowing the material in the first place is your best option... The examiner will break off the oral just as quickly if he is impressed with your smooth, accurate answers, as he is with your willingness to 'look it up'...
 
Jim Logajan said:
Is there a regulation against it?
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Yeah, I thought there was, but it turns out I was just thinking of this part of 61.92:

(1) Solo flights may be made to another airport that is within 25 nautical miles from the airport where the student pilot normally receives training, provided—

...(i-iv)...

(v) The purpose of the flight is to practice takeoffs and landings at that other airport.
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Which wouldn't apply if your instructor signs you off for a flight. So never mind I guess...but I still remember reading something cautioning against doing anything other than flying on your solo flights.
 
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Dr. O said:
I have in my life been through a few trials by fire for professional licensing..
Skip the fun, skip the beer (you don't get them in boot camp!) and get to work...
What is more important at this time; getting your Airman's Certificate or getting hammered at some picnic this summer - what are YOUR priorities..

Go through the ground school material again - really go through it and take the test questions over again... Highlight any question that the answer does not pop into your mind halfway through reading the question - and go over the correct answer until you understand why it is the correct answer...

As far as flying maneuvers ask your CFI if there is a soft spot in your handling of the airplane - and have him correct that weakness (I can guarantee the examiner will find it)...
Try to get a ride or two with a CFI teaching a student - you will be amazed at what you learn from the back seat and how quickly you will notice the side drift on landing, or the failure to turn into the wind during a power out drill, etc. while the sweating student is oblivious...
Then go out and pass that check ride- because you are ready...

As far as the comment about gaming the examiner by nailing a few questions then saying you would look 'that' up - yeah, that sometimes works, human nature being what it is - but knowing the material in the first place is your best option... The examiner will break off the oral just as quickly if he is impressed with your smooth, accurate answers, as he is with your willingness to 'look it up'...
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:confused: Who said anything about gaming anyone? It's not a game, it's part of what the DE is looking for on every oral. They are judging your personality type and examining your decision making process for how you deal with things you don't know.

Gaming is when people try to BS the DE and try to pull answers out of their azz in an authorative voice. That is the behavior one should avoid exhibiting. You come off with poor personality traits, poor decision making skills, along with a lack of knowledge of the reference. You come off as unfit for command, and that is the big question the exam is there for, not your skills with the airplane.
 
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Henning said:
:confused: Who said anything about gaming anyone? It's not a game, it's part of what the DE is looking for on every oral.
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Right. The DPE will ask you questions they don't expect you to know. They do expect you to know how to find the answer. Usually its in the AIM or FAR's. Bring your copy of the FAR's/AIM
 
You eat an elephant one bite at a time. Relax. Don't look at all the hurdles in front of you, just the next one. The advice about identifying weaknesses and eliminating them with your CFI is on point. Be methodical and you will make progress you think impossible. It is a bit like drinking from a firehose, but you're thirsty, right??
 
I was stressed out and tired of lessons toward the end. And I felt like how you feel. I thought to myself I could have been satisfied with just soloing and doing a couple of cross-countries. I wasn't planning on making a career out of it anyway.

You'll regain your momentum. You should see the light there somewhere at the end of the tunnel. The oral and practical are actually less stressful once you're doing it. It's just the stress you put on yourself beforehand. Take a little break from it, a couple of days or even a week or two. That allowed me to get a few things done outside of flying that I wasn't doing and a strange desire to plow through the rest of it came over me.
 
pilotod said:
I was stressed out and tired of lessons toward the end. And I felt like how you feel. I thought to myself I could have been satisfied with just soloing and doing a couple of cross-countries. I wasn't planning on making a career out of it anyway.

You'll regain your momentum. You should see the light there somewhere at the end of the tunnel. The oral and practical are actually less stressful once you're doing it. It's just the stress you put on yourself beforehand. Take a little break from it, a couple of days or even a week or two. That allowed me to get a few things done outside of flying that I wasn't doing and a strange desire to plow through the rest of it came over me.
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I was beyond crazy at the end. I'd run out of money and had to borrow more. The last few months, creeping towards 90 hours, were really tough for me since I'd met all the requirements. I was so frustrated with my CFI (he wouldn't even let me contact the DPE). The strict, over controlling, rule making instructor was the WORST and though he is a great teacher his people skills aren't wonderful. Until the very end I couldn't even solo without consulting with him and often meeting / flying with him first (and of course paying him).

I am enjoying my freedom now but funny thing is, without a plan, I miss instruction and have lost some skills. The past two weeks, I've hired two new CFI's and finally found a good one. Those simple lessons have put me back on track and I feel confident in my skill set once more, I just needed a tune up.
 
I had some "help" before my checkride. I had my girlfriend ask me random questions from Oral Test Guide. For one hour. Every day. At times, I felt like I know the answer after she read 2-3 words from the question. Still, there were areas that I still cannot remember. One of those are light gun signals. No matter how much I drill that into my head, I cannot remember it. Just wouldn't freakin' work. And guess what was one of the first questions on the oral... I did confess to him that I do not know them by heart. Answered what I could and said I can find the answer in a second (have a lap pad with that info). He chewed me out for it, but accepted the answer. My oral lasted 30 minutes. I was asked about my cross country, was shown flash cards with airport markings, asked on FSS communication and military training routes on a map. Plus a hypothetical scenario that I lost ammeter and it's fuse popped in flight.

Anyway, you won't remember everything. And also it could be a feeling that "I don't know anything, I will fail!!". I had same feeling during my written. Went in thinking that yes, it's a guaranteed fail. But passed it with 92%, and questions I missed were just a simple fact of me not paying enough attention to question asked.

I too felt that there's way too much information. Way too many things to remember. Way too many regulations, standards, rules, and so on. But more I was exposed to it, more it felt like it's all falling in it's place.
 
Meanee said:
I had some "help" before my checkride. I had my girlfriend ask me random questions from Oral Test Guide. For one hour. Every day. At times, I felt like I know the answer after she read 2-3 words from the question. Still, there were areas that I still cannot remember. One of those are light gun signals. No matter how much I drill that into my head, I cannot remember it. Just wouldn't freakin' work. And guess what was one of the first questions on the oral... I did confess to him that I do not know them by heart. Answered what I could and said I can find the answer in a second (have a lap pad with that info). He chewed me out for it, but accepted the answer. My oral lasted 30 minutes. I was asked about my cross country, was shown flash cards with airport markings, asked on FSS communication and military training routes on a map. Plus a hypothetical scenario that I lost ammeter and it's fuse popped in flight.
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Green is good and proceed -- red isn't good. As to all the precise meanings? No idea I can't remember them and I don't think I've met a pilot that has. I have the reference on my kneeboard.
 
jesse said:
Green is good and proceed -- red isn't good. As to all the precise meanings? No idea I can't remember them and I don't think I've met a pilot that has. I have the reference on my kneeboard.
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Yup, that's what I went with. It's just flashing and alternating lights that get me.
 
jesse said:
Green is good and proceed -- red isn't good. As to all the precise meanings? No idea I can't remember them and I don't think I've met a pilot that has. I have the reference on my kneeboard.
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AOPA gave me a kneeboard with a bunch of reference cards, I carry them in the plane, that way if I forget they are handy.
 
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