I soloed, but there is a problem

futurepilot1995

futurepilot1995

New Member
Hey guys,

You may remember my post a while back about having problems soloing. It took me 29 hours to solo and my instructor told my dad that my performance is way below average. I studied really hard for this. I even took time away from my homework to study and read about aviation. I usually do 5-10 hours a week on flight sim, but I increased it to 25 hours a week for a month and my grades went down!

What is going on? I feel like I am having a bad nightmare. Aviation has always been my dream and I thought I would be really good since I fly for a virtual airline and know all the procedures already. Will this hurt me in job interviews? I have read that during interviews they like to look at logbooks and ask questions. Will they look at my solo time and hire someone else who soloed in less time?

Should I give up and do something else?
 
futurepilot1995 said:
Hey guys,

You may remember my post a while back about having problems soloing. It took me 29 hours to solo and my instructor told my dad that my performance is way below average. I studied really hard for this. I even took time away from my homework to study and read about aviation. I usually do 5-10 hours a week on flight sim, but I increased it to 25 hours a week for a month and my grades went down!

What is going on? I feel like I am having a bad nightmare. Aviation has always been my dream and I thought I would be really good since I fly for a virtual airline and know all the procedures already. Will this hurt me in job interviews? I have read that during interviews they like to look at logbooks and ask questions. Will they look at my solo time and hire someone else who soloed in less time?

Should I give up and do something else?
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It's all over for you! Quit now and just continue to fly for your virtual airline because you're done in the real world! ;)

Relax boss, they look at your logbook but that's the last thing they're looking at, at least the places I've interviewed. Some people just take longer than others and I've had students who took 60+ hours to solo. If you have the drive (money), motiviation (money), and will (money), you will be successful.

In the end, if you're part 61, time makes no difference until you reach 250 anyway. Take your time, learn as much as you can while you're with your instructor, and keep working hard. I wouldn't let my school grades slip though, because in the long run, that will be more valuable than how long it takes you to complete your training.
 
futurepilot1995 said:
Will this hurt me in job interviews? I have read that during interviews they like to look at logbooks and ask questions. Will they look at my solo time and hire someone else who soloed in less time?
Click to expand...

No one is ever going to care how long it took you to solo. 20 - 30 hours is fairly average anyway.

Flying a light aircraft is nothing like a PC flight simulator.

I wouldn't worry about flying, but I would worry about ignoring your schoolwork.
 
25 hours a week on flight sim! Is this a joke? PM me your dad's email address so I can speak to him about this.
 
Stay away from the flight sim until you are working on instrument... I've had so many students get very bad habits from starring at the six pack on the computer that their VFR maneuvers suffer in performance.

While it may seem like you are getting ahead, you're actually creating more work for yourself, and your instructor.
 
futurepilot1995 said:
I usually do 5-10 hours a week on flight sim, but I increased it to 25 hours a week for a month
Click to expand...

Try taking that down to zero.

Have your CFI cover ALL the instruments with post it notes. Look at your Primary Flight Display (it's called the windshield).



Don't even think about flying airliners for now, you must master crawling before you can run.
 
kiloalpha said:
Stay away from the flight sim until you are working on instrument... I've had so many students get very bad habits from starring at the six pack on the computer that their VFR maneuvers suffer in performance.

While it may seem like you are getting ahead, you're actually creating more work for yourself, and your instructor.
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Yup!
USMCmech said:
Try taking that down to zero.

Have your CFI cover ALL the instruments with post it notes. Look at your Primary Flight Display (it's called the windshield).



Don't even think about flying airliners for now, you must master crawling before you can run.
Click to expand...
Exactly! Use that time learning theory and chair flying your procedures and checklists.

The amount of time to solo is really not unusual. Also, your CFI's comment about being way below average may or may not be worth beans, because none of us know your CFI or know if he's really a good CFI. So don't worry about it.
 
Recommendation
School grades first...flying second

As for flight sim, avoid it unless it is serving a specific purpose. If you are working on radio calls say vatsim or procedures, chair flying is better. Some things in a flight sim do not always transfer over to the real world. I also recommend back seating other people's flights as well. Dont work about what the instructor says about how much total time you have without soloing as you are just trying to build on the fundamentals and confidence.
 
As a former flight sim junkie, I would say the best thing for you to do is stay away from it (atleast during your private training), it may become useful when you're learning how to fly IFR though (In the real world I'm VFR only, but I can actually shoot a somewhat passable ILS approach in FS 2004). Some learn faster than others. I was pretty fast in learning to fly, but I was incredibly slow in college algebra. In the words of one of my Aviation buddies, "Everyone can learn to fly with the exception of .001% of the population." Chances are if you soloed, you probably have what it takes to be a private pilot.

P.S. 25 hours!!!!! I thought I was bad when I did it one hour per day...
 
I didn't solo until I had 30 hours. I did all my other requirements first. Now I'm working on doing all my solos.
 
futurepilot1995 said:
Hey guys,

You may remember my post a while back about having problems soloing. It took me 29 hours to solo and my instructor told my dad that my performance is way below average. I studied really hard for this. I even took time away from my homework to study and read about aviation. I usually do 5-10 hours a week on flight sim, but I increased it to 25 hours a week for a month and my grades went down!

What is going on? I feel like I am having a bad nightmare. Aviation has always been my dream and I thought I would be really good since I fly for a virtual airline and know all the procedures already. Will this hurt me in job interviews? I have read that during interviews they like to look at logbooks and ask questions. Will they look at my solo time and hire someone else who soloed in less time?

Should I give up and do something else?
Click to expand...

First off, you haven't even gotten a private pilot license yet. It's a bit early to worry about "interviews." Focus on the task at hand, which is to acquire a private pilot certificate.

Secondly, don't assume that the "problem" is your fault. It could also be that you have a poor instructor. Explore all possibilities

ANd FWIW, I had 24.9 hours when I soloed.
 
Where are you doing your flight training out of/who is your instructor? If you don't want to share then PM me.

I'm from the area and might be able to help you out.
 
29 hours isn't that bad. If your instructor is saying you are below average then that is a problem. I could understand saying maybe that you aren't studying enough or something like that, but your instructor needs to have some kind of faith in you if you are to succeed. If you are still with the same instructor as you were before, then you need to switch instructors.
 
futurepilot1995 said:
I thought I would be really good since I fly for a virtual airline and know all the procedures already.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry but this made me laugh a little. Not to make light of your situation as I can see you're worried, but I think you're overthinking it way too much. Just get in and fly the plane, get out of your head and remember it's supposed to be fun. You're already thinking way too far down the road to the airlines and how this is going to affect your future and you need to be taking this all one step at a time. Enjoy it a little man, your first solo should be a good memory.
 
I would find a new instructor - 20-30 hours is not below average and what a muppet for saying that. Focus on your school work first -
 
Congrats on your solo! I'd have to agree with everyone else here; stop worrying about your instructor's discouraging comments, and have fun learning how to fly! If your instructor is not keeping it fun for you, it might be time to find a new one. Also, this will never come up in an interview. They may ask you if you've failed a checkride, but even that is usually not a deal-breaker.
 
FlightSim and flying for a "virtual airline" have absolutely no bearing what-so-ever when it comes to the knowledge and experience you need to pass your PPL checkride. That would be like me playing my Mario Kart Wii game and then wondering why I can't just hop in an Indy car and be ready to race in the Indy 500 instantly!

Like the others have said, flightsim does have some advantages when learning procedures for an instrument rating, so while it does have some value in "real world" flying, it's not what you need right now.

Also, why was your instructor telling your dad that your performance was below average? He should be telling you what you need to hear to make yourself a better pilot, not your dad. Has your instructor told you things to study? Have you followed his advice on things to study & prep for? I agree with the others that a change of instructor may be beneficial.
 
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