Since winning the 2017 Mommy Pilot’s Scholarship I have had to take an unfortunate break in training. It involved changing jobs, three instructors, a random (British? Australian?) guy with good advice, two airports and five different airplanes. It was very discouraging, and I really didn’t feel like giving all of you a disappointing update. But, now, I am back on track!
I was taking lessons at a grass strip that only had one rental plane, which was down for maintenance for a few MONTHS. So, I kept thinking, surely next week, or the next…..until finally I gave up on that and went to the “bigger” airport nearby that has more than one plane. (By bigger, I simply mean it has concrete instead of grass. I also realize how ridiculous the word “bigger” is in this context, but my hometown only has 4,000 people in it, so my scale is off.)
I began to feel like Goldilocks. I tried first one plane, then another, and none of them quite fit. I also had lessons with two instructors. I had been flying a Cessna 172 at the grass strip and it had a more adjustable seat than the other 172s I have sat in and tested out. The 172 at “big” airport’s seat did not adjust as much, so I had trouble seeing like I needed to. The first instructor I scheduled a lesson with was fantastic, he asked me great questions and really put me on the spot to make sure I thoroughly knew the information. We met for a lesson on a very windy day, so we just had ground school. Then, through some miscommunication, he missed our scheduled lesson. So I flew with another instructor, who I initially liked, but then realized was not a good fit for me after a few more lessons.
I tried the Piper Warrior which this instructor thought might be a better fit than the 172 with my numerous cushions. I felt like it was actually a worse fit for me. I felt as if things in the plane were positioned oddly for me. Then we tried the Skycatcher which I didn’t particularly like, and I told him this. I really wanted to stick with a 172, and didn’t like how light and insubstantial the 162 felt, not to mention, needing to get used to a stick instead of a yoke and glass instead of steam. I felt like this would be a lot to get used to for a plane I didn’t even like. He kept explaining to me why I didn’t like it, etc. rather than listening to me. When I was scheduling my next lesson, he was telling them that I needed the 162 rather than the 172 I wanted to schedule, and basically talking over me. A random stranger with an awesome accent heard our conversations, and came over to, as he put it, “interfere.” He suggested that I go sit in everything, taking my cushion with me, and decide what I wanted to do, as I was a paying customer. So, I went out to planes with random guy (who doesn’t even work at the airport) and sat in everything. We decided how much cushion I needed in the 172 and he gave me information about a shop I could order a great custom cushion from. End result, I booked the 172 like I wanted to in the first place. I really appreciate random British (?) guy’s advice for making me see that I was just going with the flow and getting mansplained rather than listened to. Those weren’t his words, but that was the realization he helped me come to, although it took one more lesson for me to decide the instructor wasn’t for me.
I realized in this lesson that it is as important for the instructor to listen to me, as it is for me to listen to him. Remember, this is the instructor telling me I should stick with a plane I didn’t like at the lesson before. He was telling me why my landing was not great and I totally agreed with him, adding that I think the problem was made worse by my inability to see and that I needed to get myself maybe an inch higher. This was completely ignored, and then when I asked him to go over with me again the exact speeds and altitude he wanted and where, he wouldn’t. I just wanted to write it down to chair fly and review, so I could refer to it and think it through. That is what I did to improve my landings in the first place, and I felt like not flying for over two months just got me off track. I also felt a bit of task overload since everything was in a slightly different place in this plane and I wasn’t used to it yet. I’m quite sure this instructor thinks that him telling me to study put me off flying forever, but that could not be further from the truth!
That was last August, and I didn’t have another lesson until this June for many reasons, but mostly because I was back to full time teaching and this was the first time since I’ve been a mom. I felt like I didn’t have enough time to study and for family while getting used to a new job. I was nervous before the lesson thinking I probably would have forgotten everything, so I studied my drawing of the airfield with altitudes and airspeeds written on it ahead of the lesson. I decided to go back to the grass strip where it was cheaper, and my instructor, Mr. King, sounds like the Bob Ross of aviation. He also listens and answers questions when I have them. They have a 152, which feels very familiar and comfortable. I only needed cushions to sit on, and not any behind my back. I also bought Sporty’s PPL course, which is great for me so far. I am really visual and having videos to illustrate everything instead of relying on dry FAA explanations only has been a great way for me to remember information more efficiently. I feel like I’ve forgotten some things, and other things I’ve remembered well and am just reviewing, so that is encouraging.
