I soloed, but there is a problem

Find a new instructor. Why the heck did he tell your father that you were below average? I recommend that you soak in the good feeling of that first solo, and look forward to the next solo you will do. Learn to have fun in the small single. I've heard that when you get to the point of flying airliners, you often feel jealous when watching the cessna landing nearby. (not sure if it's true, but I've heard that from experienced airline pilots)
 
First, as was said, ditch the sim! Second get a second opinion (from another CFI)! 29 hours is NOT below average! To make that comment is kinda out of line for the time listed. unless you really do stink, but if that was the case I don't believe you would have soloed in 29 hours. I have a below average student right now, he is at about 35 hours, and just cannot fly consistently enough to fly solo. #1, I'm not going to tell him he is below average, #2 as a CFI my next step is have another CFI whom I respect, or my chief Pilot fly with him to evaluate, and help him, or ME for that matter. because it could be something i'm doing too! We (cfi's) are not perfect, and sometimes we miss things.
Good luck, and just keep working on it! It will come around, don't worry...have FUN with the training, and don't stress over it!:D
 
DITTO, stop the flight sim....!

If your instructor isn't being constructive in his criticism, get another instructor. If flying stops being challenging and fun, step away for a while.

Also, there's a pretty famous case wherein a pilot had over 300hours just to get his PPL. Don't worry about the solo hours, it won't come up unless you bring it up.
 
Please tell me...tell all of us... that this isn't the same instructor as the thread that was linked up above?
 
If this instructor is the same described in the link above then you need to drop him now. Your money would be best spent somewhere else. And just FYI, I didn't solo until almost 20 hours so I wouldn't sweat it.
 
I echo pretty much all the comments...study hard (school and aviation), since your grades will make far more of a difference than if it took you a few more hours to solo than average.

Next, stop trying to use Flight Simulator for VFR training. I've heard the argument that VATSIM helps your flying, and I really don't believe it at all. I've had folks who are borderline addicted to VATSIM in my classes, and not only do they not know VFR procedures, they end up getting complacent and cocky and doing far below average in their flying. I used to be a flightsim nerd, and I don't deny that it's fun. But, even if you have virtual ATC, you're still playing a game.

Also, remember that your CFI is someone you trust to provide a good education, and is a professional providing a service. If you were getting poor results from your doctor or dentist, you'd find another one. I've had quite a few CFIs through the course of my training, and I've fired a couple of them because they did not meet my expectations. You should expect your CFI to provide you with relevant feedback, not just say that you're below average. Remember, it's your money (or your parent's money, in which case I'd be even more particular about who it goes to). Flying is fun, and you shouldn't allow a bad CFI to make it seem like a chore.

Finally, look in the mirror. What are your goals? When I coached swimming, I had my swimmers identify their long-term goal and then establish intermediate goals that were challenging, yet attainable. Work with your CFI to set goals that help you on the road to your pilot certificate. For instance, one week's goal could be memorizing your V-speeds and emergencies, another week's goal could be knowing airspace, so on and so forth. If you have 25 hours a week that you're dedicating to flight simulator with the goal of improving your flying, that's more than enough time to study and meet your goals.

Don't stress about your logbook. I doubt an employer would look back as far as your presolo training in your logbook and ask you questions. If that happened to me, I'd be somewhat hosed...it's been almost four years since I've flown a Cessna 152, there's no way I could answer questions about its systems, let alone particular training flights. Relax, you have lots of flying ahead of you. Study hard, have fun, and don't be afraid to ask for help!
 
You really need a new instructor. A good instructor will push you, not put you down, encourage you, not discourage you. Seriously, you are paying him. But more importantly do not let your grades slide. You can do both, just keep working hard and don't let people (especially your instructor) keep you down.

And I'd like to add;
You sound depressed after your first solo! What the heck is wrong with your instructor that makes you feel like that on the most memorable day of your aviation career? Believe me, your instructor has had problems flying too. And apparently instructing.
 
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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Weren't you the guy with the instructor that was yelling at him?

Did you get a new instructor?
 
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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+1...I fly sims constantly before starting my private training. I remember once I finally got in a real airplane I had a hard time taxiing. This was simply because I was so accustomed to being able to control the sim rudder pedals with a touch of a toe. Come back to sim way later..
 
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.

.
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Agreed.

I used to play with my Flight Sim back when I was working on my PPL. It totally made me go nuts because I was flaring at 50 feet in an Alarus (small 2 seater).


Just take your time, relax and enjoy your training. I would suggest flying with another CFI as well. Maybe you're not grasping what you need to grasp because of your instructor's teaching method.
 
I took 42 hours to solo. Man, imagine if I did it in 15, I wouldve been a NASA pilot! Now all im stuck doing is flying these little jet things around...

Haha, it doesnt matter.

You;ll do fine, who cares about hours.
 
I honestly dont remember how many hours it took me to solo, and i dont know where my training log book is at. Kinda puts things in perspective.
 
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...

:eek: I dont think so. There is no comparison between the two. If I were you I would listen to the others and lose that flight sim. An accident will cost you interviews among other things.
 
Who cares how much time it takes to solo, or complete any rating for that matter? It might be cheaper to get it done quickly, sure, but you don't get extra points for doing this fast. If you want to look at it another way, you still have to build flight time before you can get a job, it might as well be in a training environment where you can really build a solid foundation of skills.

Like everyone said, ditch the flight sim for now. Plenty of time to use it to help you with your IFR ticket. When I instructed, the guys that were flight sim nuts often had the hardest time because they thought they already knew what they needed, and I'd have to spend a fair amount of time correcting some misconceptions they already had burned into their mind. You can only learn so much from a game.

Also, I'd fire that CFI. If he's not being supportive and is talking down to you, he doesn't deserve the privilege of your time, much less your money. You're doing him a favor by giving him money AND flight time + experience. He works for you, not the other way around. Its one thing to push for better performance, it's another thing to be a jerk about it and use the excuse of trying to make you better as a way to rationalize poor behavior. Seriously, ditch him.

I'm sure you'll be fine, you're putting forth the effort and taking things seriously it seems. I was once told by a guy that did interviews that they don't care what a pilot went through to get their skills, just that they have good ones. And not everyone learns at the same rate, and most people have different areas that are hard for them to understand.

With all that said, you should kick back and try to enjoy what you've accomplished. This should be a day you look back at fondly.:beer:
 
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...

Man, when it comes to flight sim, I know exactly how you feel. Way before I began flight training, I used to fly around the Level-D 767 for Delta Air Lines in flight sim. I used the actual Delta 757/767 checklist and even read one of the aircraft procedures manuals (the first one is something like 500 pages, I don't remember). I had the flows down, too. I even created formulas that would calculate the amount of fuel that I needed (based on the estimated time en route on the flight plan) and the cruise Mach (based on the true airspeed on the flight plan). I would make real-world flights ("shadowing") with the actual routes that were used on the flight plan. That means that, when a trans-Atlantic flight departed Europe for the US at 9 a.m. their time, I was up at 3 a.m. Eastern time and flying that flight back. This is about as hardcore as you can get when it comes to flying virtual airlines on flight sim. Then, one day, while I was cruising over Germany, flying DAL99 to JFK from BUD, flight sim encountered a "fatal" error, and I said screw it. Didn't make a flight on flight sim since. That was a long time ago.

Anyway, what I learned from all that is that I was good at remembering flows and, also, flying with and understanding the instruments. Getting good at using the instruments is about all you're gonna get out of flight sim (this has helped me a lot since I am working on my Instrument Rating, right now). The rest was all a waste of time.

Like others have said, work on putting an end to playing flight sim while you're in school and working on your Private Pilot Certificate. Once you begin working on your Instrument Rating, reference flight sim to help you better understand how the instruments function together (tracking and flying the VOR/NDB courses and radials, figuring out your bearing and stuff like that).

Focus on your schoolwork and flight training. Take it step by step and keep these things in the present or the immediate future (keep your goal of becoming a professional pilot in the back of your head, and use this to help you evaluate your progress). Don't worry about airline procedures (unless you're doing your training at UND :laff:). The way things look, right now, it seems as though flight sim is one of the things that is distracting you. Get that stuff out of your head and focus on the current tasks at hand. I don't know what the deal is with your flight instructor, but if you've identified this as one of the things that's impeding your progress toward your certificate, then get that taken care of and don't be afraid to seek assistance.
 
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.
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That. X10
 
You're putting too much pressure on yourself. Enjoy flying, try to understand what you're not getting and think about what you've learned. Try and take what you have learned and visualize real applications of that stuff. And most importantly, have fun! That's what I did (and I had no expectation of WHEN I would solo) but I soloed at 11 hrs and finished my PPL in 37. Good luck!
 
Former flight sim junkie here as well. definitely ditch the sim! I was having problems too and I let slip to my instructor that I was playing with flight sim. He had me stop doing that and immediately my performance improved. I haven't had the desire to play the sim since, and that was about 5 years ago! real flying beats the heck out of it!

I agree with all the previous advise, and most of all relax and have fun! If you're not having fun something is wrong with the situation that needs fixing. Good luck!
 
Keep this in mind, an artist or author is not judged by how long one takes to complete a project. They are judged by the outcome and finished product. Don't rush anything. You will get there. Its honestly not a race, I don't know where the "i did it fast, therefore I must be the best" mindset came from.

Good Luck bud, keep your head up and we'll see you with a private license soon!
 
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