My first solo - and the worst flight of my life

On Tue, 21 Nov 2006 19:34:35 -0600, Monarch Student
wrote:

So should I get a new instructor?

In my personal experience, there is are advantages to having several
different instructors. You get to see other points of view, varying
instructing styles, and a wider range of experience when you have more
CFI names in your logbook. As time goes by and you accumulate ratings,
flight reviews, etc., you'll end up having flown with lots of
different people. You'll learn more from several different people than
you would from just one person, unless that person is really
exceptional.

How much of a hit would I take changing instructors this far in?

Well, since no one else seemed to have mentioned it, congrats. You've
reached a significant milestone. This would be an excellent time to
switch.

Is it too much to ask, to be allowed a few feet into the runway if I'm
more comfortable with it?

Well he's right there. We aim for perfection, but we usually have to
accept something less. If we aim for merely good enough, we'll end up
with something even worse. Follow that path far enough and you can
imagine the result. There's nothing wrong with holding a high
standard, though there must surely be a more gracious way of doing it.
Ultimately, the objective is to get you to hold yourself to a high
standard.

At times it'll feel like you can't do anything right and you may feel
like quitting, but eventually it all comes together. After that, the
challenge is to keep yourself at that edge. If it were easy, everyone
would be doing it.

Any advice would be appreciated. I'm beginning to hate flying, which
is sad because I began learning thinking it would be fun.

Then you've answered your own question and you're just looking for
validation.

There's already a problem getting students to start, it's unfortunate
that an instructor is seeming to be trying to drive students away. My
guess is that he's building hours until he can move on to the airlines
or something similar. I've had a several instructors doing that over
the years, though none ever acted this way. In this case, it appears
that he hates the job because it isn't what he really wants to be
doing, but he needs the hours. That dissatisfaction makes a bad
teacher and maybe a bad pilot. Move on. You don't have to put up with
this. There are better instructors. Maybe one of those old guys who
have already been to the airlines and are now instructing for the love
of it. But don't expect them to give you an easy time. They'll have
high standards too.

RK Henry