Frustrated Student Pilot About to Quit

The best of luck to the rest of you who have better circumstances and
the opportunity to find it rewarding.

Another one bites the dust.

Too depressing.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Wow. What a depressing thread :-(
I never would have thought (with GA businesses scrambling to earn and save
every nickel) that they'd let such a promising student slip away . . . or more
accurately DRIVE a student away.
THAT SAID,
If you *really* want to fly as much as it appears you do, you cannot let
setbacks like yours do more than DELAY your progress. It's on YOU to change
your circumstances.






www.Rosspilot.com

If you *really* want to fly as much as it appears you do, you cannot let
setbacks like yours do more than DELAY your progress. It's on YOU to
change
your circumstances.

I smell something not quite right in this whole story. In my experience,
people who quit when they are this far along have run up against something
deeper.

Either this guy discovered that flying isn't what he really wants to do with
his money, or he has run up against a quiet inner fear of soloing. I think
we all experienced the latter, to one degree or another, and fought our way
through it to success.

I'd be willing to bet that a lot of flight students quit before soloing due
to a fear of being alone at the controls for the first time.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

If you *really* want to fly as much as it appears you do, you cannot let
setbacks like yours do more than DELAY your progress. It's on YOU to
change
your circumstances.

I smell something not quite right in this whole story. In my experience,
people who quit when they are this far along have run up against something
deeper.

Either this guy discovered that flying isn't what he really wants to do with
his money, or he has run up against a quiet inner fear of soloing. I think
we all experienced the latter, to one degree or another, and fought our way
through it to success.

I'd be willing to bet that a lot of flight students quit before soloing due
to a fear of being alone at the controls for the first time.

Having a hard time relating on this one, Jay . . . maybe because I was trained
in the military, I was frothing at the bit to solo in that little TH-55a . . .
those in my flight class were kinda betting on who would be first . . . I was
among the last :-(

I agree that there may be a little more to the story, but the CFI being
perpetually THAT tardy is inexcusable in my judgement. He needs a swift kick
in the ass. G


www.Rosspilot.com

ospam (Rosspilot) wrote:

I agree that there may be a little more to the story, but the CFI being
perpetually THAT tardy is inexcusable in my judgement. He needs a swift kick
in the ass. G

I've flown with CFI's who taught for free in a club setting,
and CFI's who were paid peanuts and spent three times what
they earned flying their twin in to the airport before the
lesson, and CFI's who were grandmothers, and CFI's who were
just friends of mine and flew with me when we were both on
the airport and we both had time to spare. The one thing
that the CFI's I've flown with shared was a love of flying
and a desire to share that love. When they were late, it
wasn't because they didn't care or couldn't be bothered to
arrive on time. If that's what was going on, I'd have
ditched the instructor too, but not my desire to fly.

Todd Pattist
(Remove DONTSPAMME from address to email reply.)
___
Make a commitment to learn something from every flight.
Share what you learn.

In a previous article, said:
and a desire to share that love. When they were late, it
wasn't because they didn't care or couldn't be bothered to
arrive on time. If that's what was going on, I'd have
ditched the instructor too, but not my desire to fly.

My first CFI always arrived *just* late enough that I had finished
taking the wing and cabin covers off, and preheating the engine, and
shovelling the snow in front of the plane. And he usually had a very hot
cup of coffee in his hand (but not one for me). Funny how that worked
out.

The second greatest thrill in flying is taking off without that big load
in the copilot seat. The first biggest thrill is when you fly when he
isn't even at the airport.

--
Paul Tomblin http://xcski.com/blogs/pt/
"But you've got to hand it to IBM, they know how to design hardware. The
servers all had handles to pick them up and throw them out of the
window...." --Juergen Nieveler in the Monastery

Oops. Replied to wrong post. Let us try it again:

It is neither normal nor acceptable for a CFI to be 1 or 2 hours late. He
may be trying to dump you as a student.

You show exceptional perseverence for someone thinking about quitting.
Hanging around for an extra hour or two for your CFI, continuing to fly in
ratty aircraft, continuing your lessons even though progress has slowed,
etc. Eighteen hours to solo is not unusual, but I would expect you to be
closer now. I would also expect you to have your medical certificate by now.
This shows a either a definite lack of guidance from your instructor, or a
failure on your part to follow that guidance. There is more to being an
instructor than being patient and knowledgeable. The instructor has to be
able to teach, too, and I don't see much teaching going on here.

Learning to fly in winter is a pain. Many of my students also complain about
the frequent cancellations for fog and icing, but there is little we can do
about it short of moving to San Diego. (I might just do that myself.) Still,
look at it this way. When spring rolls around and the weather clears up you
will be all ready to finish off those last cross country flights and enjoy
your certificat all summer.

GA is financially distressed, but that does not mean that we cannot afford
to maintain aircraft. Having your engine fail to start does not indicate to
me that you have a maintenance problem. That is largely a winter thing, a
function of low batteries and improper preflight. It can get cold enough
that the starter will not engage even though there is enough battery power
to turn the starter. A maintenance problem would be if the airplane sits
broken for weeks on end, or if the airplane has something major wrong with
it that never seems to get fixed.

My advice would be to make the sacrifice in time and effort to learn to fly
somewhere else. At least take a vacation and get some instruction someplace
else that has new airplanes and professional staff. Have them evaluate where
you are and find out whether it is worth trying to finish up there.

I have been getting letters from several places that have no flight
instructors asking me if I would be interested in relocating there. I am
happy at PAVCO, but I am beginning to get a real sense that there is a
genuine shortage of qualified and experienced instructors.

The next closest ga instruction is 90
miles. College and post grad were closer, and yes I want to fly, but
what preposterous conditions, its just not a reasonable sacrifice for
me. I guess it is different in the big city.

? I drive 60 miles to my flight training and like the school so much I
would easily drive another 30 miles to get there.

Sounds like you already bought in to the 'oh I give up', mindset already, so
I might be more than a little too late... but here it goes.

At my first flight school (which I fondly refer to as the Nightmare On
Skyway) I went through four or five instructors (they kept leaving for
better FBOs) while trying to work for my PPL and don't even get me started
on the 'interesting' flight time & flight accounting methods that were used
there. Anyway, at some point I said enough was enough and found a
flightschool that was a little over an hour away from my home. Finished my
PPL there, rent from the FBO, and am now finishing up my Instrument rating
there (to be followed by more ratings immediately thereafter).

I did this and persevered because I wanted to fly,,,, nothing was going to
prevent me from becoming a private pilot. NOTHING.

Geez, man,,,,, ya got to WANT to fly! Just conjecture here, but are you
sure that there wasn't something that spooked you along the way and that
blaming that sad excuse for an FBO for your wanting to quit isn't a cover
for something else? Did you REALLY REALLY LOVE IT (flying)? Or was it just
a bit better than renting a good video, for ya?

I'll bet you're young, so I'll share a 'life secret' you probably haven't
really took to heart, yet - Life will throw obstacles in your path, which
you either succumb to (playing the victim) or actively choose to rise above.
You will learn, eventually that the real measure of a man (or woman) is not
what happens to them but how they handle those things that stand in their
life-path. Experience is not what happens to us, but what we THINK about
what happens to us.

[Cecil,,, hops off the tree stump]

Good luck!

--
--
=-----
Good Flights!

Cecil
PP-ASEL

Check out my personal flying adventures complete with pictures and text at:
www.bayareapilot.com

"I fly because it releases my mind from the tyranny of petty things."
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery -

"We who fly, do so for the love of flying. We are alive in the air with
this miracle that lies in our hands and beneath our feet"
- Cecil Day Lewis -
I am giving my flight bag with the books, videos, kneeboard and
headset to my nephew down south, if he wants them, perhaps he will
have more enjoyable circumstances than i encountered when he is old
enough to fly.

I learned a lot and progressed better than I imagined, and enjoyed the
very few good days. I never thought I could learn to control and land
an airplane unassisted, but I did. The fact that i could at least do
that is pretty cool.

I drove out after my "resignation" in a developing whiteout, knowing
that the coming 3 or 4 days of low IFR left me confident that learning
to fly is not practical in these parts, as the headlights of my former
CFI were turning into the airport, 45 minutes late

Hear, hear Cecil. Great post.

I had a good instructor who was pretty much on time. My problems we with the
crappy aircraft and no communication as to when an aircraft was down for
maintenance. So I bought my own plane...

Marco

"Cecil E. Chapman" wrote in message
. com...
The next closest ga instruction is 90
miles. College and post grad were closer, and yes I want to fly, but
what preposterous conditions, its just not a reasonable sacrifice for
me. I guess it is different in the big city.

? I drive 60 miles to my flight training and like the school so much I
would easily drive another 30 miles to get there.

Sounds like you already bought in to the 'oh I give up', mindset already,
so
I might be more than a little too late... but here it goes.

At my first flight school (which I fondly refer to as the Nightmare On
Skyway) I went through four or five instructors (they kept leaving for
better FBOs) while trying to work for my PPL and don't even get me started
on the 'interesting' flight time & flight accounting methods that were
used
there. Anyway, at some point I said enough was enough and found a
flightschool that was a little over an hour away from my home. Finished
my
PPL there, rent from the FBO, and am now finishing up my Instrument rating
there (to be followed by more ratings immediately thereafter).

I did this and persevered because I wanted to fly,,,, nothing was going to
prevent me from becoming a private pilot. NOTHING.

Geez, man,,,,, ya got to WANT to fly! Just conjecture here, but are you
sure that there wasn't something that spooked you along the way and that
blaming that sad excuse for an FBO for your wanting to quit isn't a cover
for something else? Did you REALLY REALLY LOVE IT (flying)? Or was it
just
a bit better than renting a good video, for ya?

I'll bet you're young, so I'll share a 'life secret' you probably haven't
really took to heart, yet - Life will throw obstacles in your path, which
you either succumb to (playing the victim) or actively choose to rise
above.
You will learn, eventually that the real measure of a man (or woman) is
not
what happens to them but how they handle those things that stand in their
life-path. Experience is not what happens to us, but what we THINK about
what happens to us.

[Cecil,,, hops off the tree stump]

Good luck!

--
--
=-----
Good Flights!

Cecil
PP-ASEL

Check out my personal flying adventures complete with pictures and text
at:
www.bayareapilot.com

"I fly because it releases my mind from the tyranny of petty things."
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery -

"We who fly, do so for the love of flying. We are alive in the air with
this miracle that lies in our hands and beneath our feet"
- Cecil Day Lewis -
I am giving my flight bag with the books, videos, kneeboard and
headset to my nephew down south, if he wants them, perhaps he will
have more enjoyable circumstances than i encountered when he is old
enough to fly.

I learned a lot and progressed better than I imagined, and enjoyed the
very few good days. I never thought I could learn to control and land
an airplane unassisted, but I did. The fact that i could at least do
that is pretty cool.

I drove out after my "resignation" in a developing whiteout, knowing
that the coming 3 or 4 days of low IFR left me confident that learning
to fly is not practical in these parts, as the headlights of my former
CFI were turning into the airport, 45 minutes late





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No, sorry, you are wrong, have had much less fear and axiety about
flying than I thought I would.. It is more of a feeling of being
driven away, as the other gentleman pointed out in his post, and of
investing so much more time and money in such a screwed up business in
something that when it works is an enjoyable challenege, but lacks so
much practicality in this part of the world for much of the year. I
truly wish it were different, and i have now put my frustration to an
end, but believe what you want.

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message news:pKRPb.123597$xy6.429769@attbi_s02...
If you *really* want to fly as much as it appears you do, you cannot let
setbacks like yours do more than DELAY your progress. It's on YOU to
change
your circumstances.

I smell something not quite right in this whole story. In my experience,
people who quit when they are this far along have run up against something
deeper.

Either this guy discovered that flying isn't what he really wants to do with
his money, or he has run up against a quiet inner fear of soloing. I think
we all experienced the latter, to one degree or another, and fought our way
through it to success.

I'd be willing to bet that a lot of flight students quit before soloing due
to a fear of being alone at the controls for the first time.