What advice would you give to a new student?

[Admin]

If a person came up to you and said he wanted to learn to fly, what "positive" advice would you give them?

[old man emu]

It's not rocket science.

[pmccarthy]

Once you have learned, it is as easy as driving a car well.

[RFguy]

i dunno, i would have a more cautious tone. Neefs to be be the right balance as not to dissuade. Some people wont make good pilots. Some people just wont be able to put the skills collection alltogether. Certainly, the younger the better I think as the learning cognitive and motor skill load is sky high. Instructor teaching proficiency very important due to the law of primacy. 

[Kununurra]

Take your time, enjoy the journey.

 

[IBob]

As a late arrival myself, I would say that flying is very accessible, thanks to the evolution of microlights and recreational licenses.
I would say find a good club/instructor and go for it.

And I would say to be patient with yourself.

[old man emu]

Instructors who are good at understanding how their student learn are the most important asset to a person wanting to fly. 

[facthunter]

ALL instructors should know that or they shouldn't be doing it. Unfortunately there is what should be and the reality.  

  I would point out there is considerable effort and money involved , no short cuts and how genuinely desirous they are of seeing it through. Depending on the reaction I would proceed from there with more detailed advice on schools and types and where to get info.  Nev

[APenNameAndThatA]

Grit is more important than talent. Failure is an inevitable byproduct of success. Flying instructors vary in quality. 

[Bosi72]

1. Don't give up!

 

2. Do your best, prepare, study and pass the theory first. Question everything. Instructors are humans too! Nothing wrong to learn from others!

 

3. Most importantly, e n j o y!

[Downunder]

Best to do your training in bulk lots....

Anything less than a few hours a week, your simply wasting your money relearning......

Buying bulk hours can get you a discount.

 

FTF's can have varstly different rates.

It can be more viable and cheaper to travel to a regional centre and stay several nights in a motel than pay city rates.

 

Avoid at all costs training at a controlled (class c/d) airport.

You're paying by the hour. It's not much value sitting around waiting 20 minutes out of the hour waiting for atc...

The school will like it as it will take you longer to learn so more $$ for them and if you're on the ground, you're not burning fuel, so making them more money again.

Go to a ctaf.....You will get mix of dealing with other aircraft but be able to make your own decisions.

Edited November 27, 2020 by Downunder

[RFguy]

Agree on doing training in bulk lots. I did 2 or 3 days per 10 days  to get to RPC. 

Agree on a CTAF. I went to Cowra with a private instructor  1 on 1 (not a school). 

Early on, suitable good weather drives when you fly.  The weather dependence will drive you nuts  until 20 hours ish.

Later on, less than favourable weather is important experience and provides for useful exercises.

 

Like today hotnav. then, when we got back to Cowra, 38C, after 3.4 hours,  had a cup of tea and the weather was perfect for  full hot hot  and gusty crosswinds on the grass strip ! (0.6h, then I'd had enough)

IE - took advantage of poor conditions to learn about flying in  them.

I reckon people that do their training April to say August  do not have the toolkit to deal with the mid summer hazards  over dry land...

 

 

 

Edited November 27, 2020 by RFguy

[Jabiru7252]

It's all fun until you divide by zero!

[Jase T]

No one learned to fly alone, No one passed a test by themselves.. Make friends, accept advice, ASK QUESTIONS, shut up and listen, Be a knowledge sponge, its not below you to clean or push around aircraft and sweep hanger floors..  filter out the BS... Ask your instructor, enjoy the experience its expensive and its adictive. 

 

Edited November 27, 2020 by Jase T

[Yenn]

Enjoy it, you will find that there are times when you feel that you are not getting anywhere, but it will suddenly dawn like a bright light. Make sure you get on well with your instructor and can trust him, or her. Any doubt about your instructor, then find someone else.

Embrace all the theory you have to learn, most of it comes from the school of hard knocks and is important, even what you think is irrelevant could be well worth following up.

Fly one plane as often as you can afford and if you get a chance to try others, go for it.

Remember that to be a pilot is not beyond the abillity of most people, but you have to keep at it and that means it has to be enjoyable. Don't let anyone else spoil your appreciation of flying.

Finally Enjoy it.

[APenNameAndThatA]

20 hours ago, Downunder said:

Best to do your training in bulk lots....

Anything less than a few hours a week, your simply wasting your money relearning......

Buying bulk hours can get you a discount.

 

FTF's can have varstly different rates.

It can be more viable and cheaper to travel to a regional centre and stay several nights in a motel than pay city rates.

 

Avoid at all costs training at a controlled (class c/d) airport.

You're paying by the hour. It's not much value sitting around waiting 20 minutes out of the hour waiting for atc...

The school will like it as it will take you longer to learn so more $$ for them and if you're on the ground, you're not burning fuel, so making them more money again.

Go to a ctaf.....You will get mix of dealing with other aircraft but be able to make your own decisions.

 

13 hours ago, Jase T said:

No one learned to fly alone, No one passed a test by themselves.. Make friends, accept advice, ASK QUESTIONS, shut up and listen, Be a knowledge sponge, its not below you to clean or push around aircraft and sweep hanger floors..  filter out the BS... Ask your instructor, enjoy the experience its expensive and its adictive. 

 

I train at Archerfield and don't find that I get held up for more than a few moments. There are other reasons to train at a non-controlled field, and I suppose some controlled fields do waste your time. I passed the RA-Aus theory exams by myself, but I did physics (gasses, momentum, acceleration) and maths (vectors) in Grade 11 and 12, which helped a lot. The other thing, which I hinted at before, is that it does not matter if you attempt an exam and fail. In fact, the more you fail the more you learn.

 

I found stalling too frightening to do. So I went on the thrill rides at Dreamworld and Movie World (the giant drop, the claw, the tailspin, rollercoasters) about 90 times. I went from keeping my eyes and barely being able to go on the ride to not hanging on and being a bit scared (the giant drop) to enjoying them (the rest). As I bragged on this forum earlier, I performed and recovered from an inverted spin. That was great fun. I was on the rides with little kids and the occasional intellectually disabled adults, so it is a phobia that some people have and some don't.

 

The risk of dying is about 1 in 1000 per year for the general population. RA-Aus has a fatal accident every 100 000 hours. That means a risk of death of about 1 in 2000 if you fly 50 hours per year. As best I can determine, it is more dangerous than driving and less dangerous than riding a motorbike. My own view is that it is not dangerous but it is not safe either. Other people who post to this forum have a completely different way of viewing risk.

 

I suggest that you wear a helmet. The inside of Most LSA's have steel bars at head height that would be completely illegal in a car. Helicopter pilots wear helmets and fixed wing pilots tend not to. The difference is therefore more based on culture and cost than risk. Wearing a helmet also slows things down and they are a nuisance to fit. MSA is said to be better than Alpha. I suspect that Evolution/Evo helmets are merely helmet-shaped objects, but I might be wrong. There are other, cheaper brands that are much cheaper and vastly better than nothing. My family and I are the only people I know of who wear helmets in enclosed  RA-Aus aircraft, so this is a minority opinion. Also about the fatality statistics, for every fatality, there are probably an order of magnitude more nasty accidents. One of my jobs is assessing the psychiatric permanent impairment from physical injuries. I see lots of people whose lives are badly affected by soft tissue injuries that just never stop hurting.

[RFguy]

As discussed elsewhere in this forum , A good road cycling helmet $150- $200 would protect your noggen from banging it on the aircraft body. They are cool (thermal) to wear and comfortable. 

[skippydiesel]

Persistence pays - almost anyone who has the passion can & will learn to fly - do not be put off.

[Butch]

Try using a good Sim of the aircraft you will train on.

 

It orientates you with the aircraft instruments, it gives you a basic feel of how to fly and once you start your training you can practice circuit radio calls, flight checks and be familiar with the aircraft.

All this saves money ! You don't want to be paying  3/4 dollars a minute  with an instructor because you can't remember where your instruments are or you messed up your radio calls.

 

Sims won't teach you how to fly but they will show you how to become familiar with your aircraft . It's easier to sit in front of your computer and make mistakes and practice till you get it right rather than stress out in a lesson.    

[waraton]

Lots of great advice here. I'd add a photo of the cockpit of your aircraft and put it up on your big wide screen TV. Lounge chair fly (imagine/pretend) you are flying and practice radio calls with physical movements operating your imaginary controls. Really useful after a lesson for revision. You will look like an idiot to someone who doesn't know what you are doing but helps build familiarity and muscle memory. Go outside and draw a big runway on the ground and walk it. Pretend you are taxying entering backtracking rolling departing and the rejoining for a circuit. Talk it out loud including your calls. I think a lot of circuit training value is lost with the pressure of radio calls. This is what I am doing with my 14yo who is currently learning, he is assisted by his two younger brothers who are also learning simply by association. Effort equals reward in everything. 

P.S. this is an old pic!

[facthunter]

Sims have saved a lot of lives, especially with engine out exercises in multi engined aircraft, called ASSY  (assymetrical training). FULL motion sims  with advanced visibility gets even better. Even sitting in an actual aircraft of the type you are learning in and doing checks etc helps. Get permission to do that and don't  move anything you haven't been trained on. Knowing where all the controls are is helpful and you don't need to be actually flying it..  Nev

[RFguy]

ABSOLUTELY agree with Waraton- 

fly the circuits in your mind , do radio calls, do every single thing !!!

and then

fly circuits in your head  while driving your car. every single thing including radio calls out loud. 

I think doing circuits in your head while driving or riding a bikle  is good for learning to cope with distractions.

 

Edited November 28, 2020 by RFguy

[APenNameAndThatA]

About flying in your mind, you can do the same thing when you are learning to navigate long trips. You can sit in a lounge chair, look at your watch, plot on the map and fill out your flight log. 

Edited November 28, 2020 by APenNameAndThatA