Need Help with Instrument Rating

A

AA777

New Member
Hello everyone,

I have been working on my instrument rating for about 8 months now. I am in a part 141 flight school. I wouldn't say I have lost interest in flying but it is becoming very difficult to continue. My dream is to become an airline pilot. During this school year, flying and studying for instrument have become somewhat of 2nd to my general education classes and I have fallen behind. A few months ago I got my sign off to take the written. I got an 85% on the practice test and when I went to take the real written I got a 67%. I was dumbfounded and really depressed that I had failed. My instructor told me it was okay and we would get back to it. I started to fall behind and become a "macho." Saying, "I'll pass the practice and then pass the real one." This wasn't the case, I started to not study and then work also started becoming a factor. I would sit-down to study but something else would grab my attention, I would tell myself I would study later and then not do it. And just this past week I was signed off again. Same thing happened I failed and don't know what to do. I haven't told my instructor because I feel like a failure. I hear everyone say instrument is the hardest rating. I guess what i am trying to get at is how did you get through instrument? If you hit a roadblock how did you get your mindset on flying again and pushing thorough it?

Thank you for reading
 
Sounds like you just aren't interested. I would perhaps look at a different career. Or take time off, grow some, and then revisit it later. I started in engineering and then switched to aviation in college. I wasn't ineterested in the instrument ground school and bombed it. I took a year off of college after my girlfriend and I broke up. Then I worked 60 hours a week cutting grass, which of course cleared my mind and was full of suck. Then I reenrolled and kicked ass. All A's and 95+ on all writtens, no checride failures in 25 years, no student check ride failures as an instructor.
 
Welcome to JetCareers. Beautiful airplane that AA777.

I did my instrument rating at a part 141 school as well and I had some similar issues. I had a brand new instrument instructor and our flight school had some "recommended techniques" for teaching BAI and tracking/intercepting. Long story short, this "recommended technique" included some verbiage that my instructor wasn't altogether familiar with which fostered some confusion. Instructor says "intercept the 250 in-bound bearing" but what they said and what they meant didn't always add up and thereby we had some "failure to communicate."

I was frustrated because I thought I wasn't "getting it" and my instructor was frustrated because they thought they were failing me. I ended up taking a month off from flying because I was so fed up with the process and I didn't know what else to do. When I came back, I got a new instructor and we hammered out the "communications" issues and we were back in business.

Failing the written is not even worthy of speed bump status. You're incredibly busy and you're working pretty hard it sounds like to juggle a lot of things at once. You've got to bring yourself back to planet Earth and ground yourself with a few short term goals. Start with studying for the written, make it a goal to spend a few hours a day/week/whatever you can studying for the written. Set a goal to get a 70% on practice exams and work it up to 90% over a few weeks/months/whatever you're comfortable with. Get together with your instructor and identify your weak areas on the test, find out what you're misunderstanding and focus on them. Make your weaknesses your strengths. Understand that a lot of these concepts will be with you your entire career, and learning them now the right way will pay dividends later.

I did my instrument training in an aircraft that had an RMI and I did my CFII in an aircraft that had a fixed card ADF. If I had glossed over that part of my training or didn't spend the time to learn it the right way, my CFII probably wouldn't have gone as smoothly. Not to mention the subsequent three years I spent as an instructor teaching primarily instrument students.

If you end up getting your CFI you'll learn about learning plateaus and the sometimes negative effect they can have on students. You might not be seeing improvement in your knowledge and skills but progress is still being made but you can't quite see it yet. Set yourself some short and long term goals towards passing the written. Stay focused on the dream and why you're doing all this work.
 
AA777 said:
I guess what i am trying to get at is how did you get through instrument? If you hit a roadblock how did you get your mindset on flying again and pushing thorough it?
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Dogged determination and the fact that a solid foundation in instrument flying would save my life someday. (It did. And it probably will again.)
 
KKochan said:
Sheppard Air.

Or buy an ASA book and read it 4-5 times, do the practice questions.

Really not that hard dude. Surely not the hardest thing you'll have to do if you continue your career.
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Motivational speaker of the year award. Just what someone who's struggling needs to hear, "dude, not that hard!"
 
CoughSheppardAirCough

I wouldn't say that it's time to start looking at a new career. You know why you're finding it hard to study for the written? Because it sucks, lol. I just finished my last CFI checkride and I can tell you that the absolute worst part of my training was studying for the writtens. I don't know anyone who enjoyed it. It's one of those things in life where you just have to tell yourself, "hey, this is going to suck for a few days/weeks until I get it knocked out, but I have to do it." Then just go sit down someplace quiet and free of any distractions (The library for me) for a couple hours a day, and just get it done. It will feel like a weight of your shoulders once you're finished and on the the actual instrument flying. It was easily my favorite rating to get.

Now, if you're in the AIRPLANE and you're just not feeling it (besides the occasional bad/off day), then maybe it's time to start looking at another career.
 
bLizZuE said:
Motivational speaker of the year award. Just what someone who's struggling needs to hear, "dude, not that hard!"
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It really isn't. It's the basics of the IR. Study, pass the test, move on with life. If he is failing the tests, he is obviously not ready. Seems simple. Just keep studying. There is a huge question bank, and he isn't getting the same questions he had memorized on the actual test.

Keep studying. Our give up.
 
It is important to study the info and know it. Once you know it, then use Sheppard Air. You can pass a test in anything after a couple days studying with them.
 
I actually liked studying for, and taking writtens. Lots of it isn't relavant, but you learn lots too. Don't be the guy that just memorized the answers and never reads the questions.
 
Hey,don't give up.It's a difficult subject and just needs a little more work and it'll finally all click together.
Do what KKochan said, if you want to pass the test.Software is better because it lets you study a chapter an then test on it. I think you are making the same mistake over and over.You take the test even though you're really not prepared .
  • Study the whole chapter, answer all of the questions and only then take practice test.
  • 85% on practice = study more.
  • Isolate which topics are making you fail (Navigation? FAR's? etc) and study to improve them.
Above all, try to understand as much as you can, because passing the test is one thing but you will have to use this knowledge in real life too.
If you have problems understanding anything just ask. People will help.
 
I, too, am in the process of the IR. And I just took my written this past weekend. I passed it, and I studied my ass off to do so.

Prior to that, I was sort of in the same boat - and like the others said, studying for the writtens just isn't much fun. But there are two things that helped me stay focused:

1) I realized that there is only one instrument rating. Sounds silly, right? But it's the truth - the stuff that you learn in the IR applies to any aircraft you might fly - be it a six-pack C172, or a 707 or a King Air - instrument flying rules and regs are applicable to all kinds of flying. So even though you're a PPL and learning this stuff, you're learning the same stuff the "big boys" have to learn. For me, that was a little bit humbling...and it made everything seem more....important, I guess.

2) Semi-related to #1 - but the IR has tremendous utility. It will allow you to do things with an airplane that you otherwise couldn't. It opens doors. It's the key to the clouds.

Also - an interesting by-product....because I was messing up the flight planning questions, I spent a lot of time with a simple analog E6B and the questions and working through the problems (sometimes backwards) to figure out what I was messing up. (The Gleim book helped here.) I ended up getting MUCH better at the flight planning stuff and, as a bonus, got much better with the E6B.

You really do learn some good stuff from studying the problem areas. HSIs were something else I struggled with, and feel a lot better about them. Feeling how important the material was drove me to study, and the study time did improve my skillset for the written, and I think some of it will help in the cockpit, too. @xargos speaks much truth - learning the reasons WHY certain answers are correct is definitely worth the extra effort, in my opinion. Getting the answer right is nice; knowing why it's right is deeply satisfying.

And for what it's worth, I read this weekend that the FAA has dropped the ADF/NDB questions from the written test. :-)
 
To the OP, there are some really good videos on YouTube if you learn better that way. I will also encourage you pay for some ground lessons. Everyone learns differently and at different paces.
 
Give yourself some isntrument scenarios in flight sim and simulate them on the computer - particularly those where you had a deficiency in the test (if they're applicable).

I can't really relate since I did mine in my own plane at my own pace when I was out of school and didn't have kids. Was more of a hobby for me. Downside of the college aviation training side of things, I guess.
 
mshunter said:
It really isn't. It's the basics of the IR. Study, pass the test, move on with life. If he is failing the tests, he is obviously not ready. Seems simple. Just keep studying. There is a huge question bank, and he isn't getting the same questions he had memorized on the actual test.

Keep studying. Our give up.
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Im fairly new to this forum and would not like to start any "bad blood" with any body but man I hope I never have to share a cockpit with you mshunter.

AA777, Any one makes mistakes but dont beat your self up too much man. I went trough the same thing. Just take a mini vacation. No work, nothing. Just go out and do something fun. I hope this works and keep us updated on how things are going. Sometimes you just need a little push to get you started. ;)
 
I'll add my vote for stepping back and relaxing for a week. Sometimes we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to succeed and when we don't, we apply the wrong kind of energy to make it happen. The resulting frustration and lack of motivation is exactly what you're going through. I'd say step back from the aviation studying for a few days. Spend that time doing something you like to do. Our bodies are wired to rebuild when there's no stress coming from anywhere. Take a vacation, go hiking, or just go on a 3 day bender if that's your thing. After you're done having fun, you'll find the focus return.
 
crticalaoa said:
Im fairly new to this forum and would not like to start any "bad blood" with any body but man I hope I never have to share a cockpit with you mshunter.

AA777, Any one makes mistakes but dont beat your self up too much man. I went trough the same thing. Just take a mini vacation. No work, nothing. Just go out and do something fun. I hope this works and keep us updated on how things are going. Sometimes you just need a little push to get you started. ;)
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You'll get used to it. I come off as harsh a lot. The problem with the internet is that there is no emotion. It wasn't meant to be harsh, but after reading it, it does come off that way. My point was, he just needs to keep studying until he gets it. One day, it'll just click.
 
Don't separate the stuff you like, flying, with the stuff you hate, test taking.

Slow down and give those questions context. Aim to be a better pilot instead of passing a test.

Beyond that, find a study routine that works for you. Avoid distractions, that too is part of good piloting.
 
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