Calming down the nerves?

[Timebuilder]

FlyChicago-

I have a trip today, so when I get to my hotel (hopefully one with a business ceter) I'll try and find a link to help you find a dojo in your state.

While Karate can be found on storefronts in strip amlls, Judo is a little more difficult to come by. Not impossible, though.

Good luck.

 

[aviatrix]

Adam,

You will not be perfect, and you will make your mistakes, but those are the things you will learn the most from! Strive for perfection and understand the inherent risks and you will do well. Ironically, it's right around 15 hours and pre-solo that many, many students drop out of flight training for the very reasons you express. It's a big hurdle.....you are taking on more responsibilty and knowledge at this point, and soon you will have PIC authority. Just know that your instructor will not "cut you loose" unless they have full confidence in your abilities.
I wouldn't want to fly with any student who wasn't apprehensive about making me, as a CFI, happy!! It shows your dedication and willingness to learn.
Remember......small steps. In reading your posts I think you have a tendency to focus a little too much on "the career." That may not be in your best interest right now! How about turning your focus toward mastering the cross-wind landing! Believe me....sometimes that can be more challenging than any career thoughts!
You'll do great!


And by the way, I'm cracking up reading your post and watching that spaztic avatar you selected!

 

[chawbein]

I get nervous before I fly too. Even when I fly commercially. That only lasts until I sit down, then it's all business. After that, the only time I get nervous is when, say for example trying to land with a 13kt crosswind and you haven't flown in a crosswind for like 6 months (I kept asking myself why I decided to fly that day while flying in the pattern). Pucker Factor. The old grim reaper missed me that day, but I became proficient with crosswinds.

Not sure what my little story had to do with anything, but whatever.

 

[adam_jorgensen]

Thanks everybody for your kind replies! One thing I noticed is that pilots are the most caring people you can find! I go to other pilot messages boards, one called student pilot.com which some of you might be aware of. There too, allot of people show how much they want to help me and give me all the help I need. It shows how pilots are very nice people.

Its interesting to see when in the plane people get nervous. For most people, I have noticed that it mostly happens around the airport. This may sound crazy, but I just made a break though last night pin pointing the (hopefully) exact reason I get nervous. Hopefully, this will alleviate my nerves. I have thought of things in the past that might be the reason I get nervous but usually were false. Like I said, I'm not scared of crashing. If I was afraid of crashing, I would be afraid of flying. Of course, you have a good reason to be afraid of it but I know that my instructor is not that incompetent and will make sure we don't crash. When I solo, that fear might be more so on top of my real fear but even my self, I know I'm not going to let the plane crash unless it blew up for no reason or something. So at least I have somewhat confidence in that.

But back to the real reason I get afraid of flying and it really has nothing to do with flying. Its radio intimation, and instructor intimation. I find that I'm the most nervous around the airport, taking off, landing, circuits and it eases once were out of the airport area. I fly out of a class D airport so there's a tower with people you have to talk to. I can say certain things no problem like asking for taxi clearance or takeoff clearance and a position report but this is mostly when your either stopped on the ground, or when your in the air just flying normally. Its when were in the circuit or just entering the control zone is when I get nervous. Tower is nattering at you while you have to fly the airplane and you have to listening and reply to them while flying the plane. Right now, I find this very hard to do. Many times I hear the radio talk and all of the sudden my instructor will reply back to them. I say to myself, what? They were talking to us? Its like I didn't even hear them because I was too busy concentrating on flying the plane. This can't happen on my first solo. I just get nervous thinking if tower says something to you that you don't know how to reply to and you don't want to say the wrong thing. What goes on in my head is like, what do I say? what do I do? What happens if they say something that I'm unfamiliar with. Your too nervous to ask them repeat it again or ask for clarification because they might get mad. So that's the big thing is knowing when tower is talking to you and how to reply. Something I hope I can learn soon but that is probably 40% of the reason why I get nervous.

Second is the instructor. She is very nice, has never yelled at me, says I'm doing great yet I get nervous around her. In the end, I think I'm just intimated by the authority. It all revolves around pleasing them and not screwing up for someone's sake. Its not flying, its people! The radio guys, the instructor, when I imagine it in my head it all makes sense. I would probably not get nervous if I had no instructor or radio guys to talk to. So those are the real reasons I get nervous. It all fits together. It all happens around the airport because not only do you have your instructor, but also the tower to be nervous about. When where out of the control zone well, its just the instructor. I hope this is the real reason I get nervous and its not like the real reason is I just don't like flying. But add those 2 things, and it cancels out the real joy, or hides it. Your to busy trying to please people rather than to enjoy the ride. Now that's self psychiatry! I hope.

And maybe other little things that pile on a little pressure like what if there's a plane just a little bit ahead of you on the circuit and how do you space? What I hope when I solo is that the airport won't be busy. The busier, the harder because when its busier, you have to not only talk to tower more, but also be weary of the other traffic. And I worry about things like what happens if I miss the taxiway I was suppose to turn on to and a guy is right behind me? Or what if I'm to high, or low on final? Its all that airport junk that makes me nervous. Does anybody know how this feels?

 

[dmspilot00]

Just wondering, what airport do you fly out of?

Getting nervous because of having to talk to ATC is so common that there is a name for it. "Mic fright."

Most of everything you say to ATC is always going to be the same. You can practice on the ground by writing down the phrases that you usually use and just practicing saying them. Then after awhile try saying the phrases without the piece of paper, and see how well you can remember. If you have to, bring the paper with you in the airplane and read off of it as necessary. I learned to fly at a nontowered airport, but when I learned to go into a towered field, my CFI had a "script" typed up for me to read with everything that they were supposed to say and what I was supposed to say.

Secondly, during and even before the flight, try to ancicipate what ATC will tell you. For example, as you approach the airport, if the wind is favoring runway 36, and you are coming from the east, you'll expect for them to probably tell you to enter downwind 36, or base 36, report midfield or whatever (depending on if they have radar or not). Also, rehearse what you're going to say right before you say it.

"Your too nervous to ask them repeat it again or ask for clarification because they might get mad. "

You seem to have a preoccupation with worrying about making people mad--it's a recurring theme in your posts. Just don't. If you don't hear something, ask them to repeat it. Don't even debate or think about whether you should ask or not, just do it, as if on instinct. If you don't ask and you bust an altittude or something because of a misunderstood transmission, then that's when they will get mad. They would much rather repeat something than have someone do something unexpected. If they ask you something and you don't know what it means, tell them so (if you're solo--if not ask your CFI). If you mess up, ATC knows you're a student, and your CFI knows your a student. They know you're going to make mistakes.

 

[Timebuilder]

Live from Memphis......do you know that this FBO has a greeter on the ramp in an Elvis outfit???

Anyway, to get you started with some Judo info:

http://www.judoinfo.com/menu.shtml

and this one has school listings. There is a school listed for Chicago, too:

http://www.worldjudo.org/usaclubs.htm

 

[bobbysamd]

Comm

Here are a couple of ideas that worked for me.

It's like learning a new language. It really is, actually, because you must master new jargon. However, after you listen to the comm for a period, it tends to sound familiar. Therefore, you might consider buying a small aircraft radio, going to the airport, and just listening. After a while, the words will make sense.

Also, communication tends to boil down to the four "Ws." Who they are, Who you are, Where you are, and What you want. Example:

"Wiley Post Ground" (Who they are),"

"Cessna 12345 (Who you are),"

"at Jetaway (Where you are),"

"Taxi with Whiskey (What you want, indicating you have the ATIS)."

Don't worry about how you sound. Just speak in a normal tone of voice. In fact, if you speak too loudly, you'll distort your mike and blast into the controller's headset. You don't want to do that. If you don't understand what they want or are trying to tell you, a simple "say again for Cessna 12345" will do the trick.

Do think first about what you want to say. You say more with less.

Hope this helps. Your instructor will provide more help. Once more, good luck with your training.

 

[adam_jorgensen]

Air band radio

Just picked up one today. An air band radio that lets me tune into frequencies that tower and the aircraft use. I can hear tower, the pilots, ATIS and many more. I can hear them from my very own home although its a little garbled. Out at the airport, its clear. I have a flying lesson tomorrow so I'm going to try it out there. Hope it helps me familiarize with the radio talk. Has anybody here ever used one of these radios?

 

[de727ups]

I was just going to suggest you get one of those air band radios. Sit around the airport and listen to the tower for a while...then listen to ground control. You'll soon start to see patterns in the clearances and that will help you to anticipate....something someone else mentioned is important. Try to pay special attention to the beginning of a transmission when you are flying. If the call is for you....the controller will say your aircraft number. If the call is for someone else, you can mentally tune it out until the next transmission. Eventually, you'll want to hear all transmissions, as they will help you develop the "big picture" of the situation around you....but don't worry about that now if it takes all your brain cells to just fly. Don't worry about making ATC mad. They are there to serve you. They will be a lot madder if you didn't understand something and screwed up because you were afraid to ask about it. "Say again" is a great way to get the controller to slow down and clarify a clearance....they can say it a different way if you don't understand it the first time.

Not sure what to say about the CFI thing. Would you be more relaxed if you flew with a guy?

 

[Dot_AK]

listening to the chatter is a great way to make it go from assorted squawks and garbles, and words at 15knots gusting to 25, become clear. It's like the chair-flying; practice helps, and not just practice inside the airplane.

Another thing you can do if you're feeling stressed or intimidated is utter the magic phrase to tower, "student pilot."

for example, inbound from the practice area via sleeper strip, reporting point noname to Approach, crossing the Knik arm and switching to Merill tower, telling them where I am and requesting full stop or touch n' go's while dealing with traffic from Anchorage International, Elmendorf AFB, Lake Hood Seaplane Base, and Merrill traffic.... yeah. when calling up Anchorage approach "Approach, this is cessna 12345, student pilot, inbound for merrill at Point NoName with Charlie." Gets the controller to talk more clearly and slowly to me every time. I don't always use it, but it sure helps now and then!