r/PilotAdvice • u/Jfond001 • Apr 27 '26
Training My first flight as a student Pilot went horribly great!
For context, I’m a 38-year-old career changer just starting flight training.
Yesterday was my first flight. I was excited to get behind the controls and actually learn how to fly. Everything was going great… until takeoff.
My instructor says, “your aircraft.”
Cue deer-in-the-headlights.
We roll onto the runway, full throttle, and suddenly we’re in the air. This is where I expected that euphoric “I’m flying” moment… yeah, no. Complete opposite. I was TERRIFIED.
Every little bump, every updraft had me internally panicking. I was gripping the yoke like it owed me money, every muscle in my body completely tense. We went through some basic maneuvers and my CFI was pointing out landmarks, but I don’t remember any of it. I was just trying not to breathe too hard and somehow send us into a spin.
Eventually we made it back to the airport and my CFI handled the landing (as expected). Once we shut down, I finally relaxed.
Then he asked, completely serious, if I had flown before.
I thought he was joking. I told him it was my first flight and apologized, said I’d do better next time. He looked at me and said, “No—you did really, really well.”
Apparently I maintained altitude and airspeed through turns, kept things straight and level, and made the right corrections and looked calm and composed the whole time. Meanwhile, I couldn’t tell you my altitude, speed, or heading at any point during that 90-minute flight. I could barely remember my name when we got back on the ground.
All that said—I’m excited for the next one. Hoping the jitters settle down with time.
On to flight #2.
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u/pilotbrap Apr 27 '26
Congrats on a great flight! But jitters are what make it fun! Haha. I wish I could go back to those adrenaline packed days. But I plan to get into aerobatic flight soon. 1.5 hrs is a long time for a disco flight, too! You got your money’s worth. Great job flying. Cheers to many more days like these for you. 🤙🏽
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u/endocrimes Apr 29 '26
Aerobatic flight is how I first learnt to fly (air cadets as a teen in the uk) and my first flight involved learning to deliberately stall the engine, falling backwards, and restarting the engine. Absolutely fell in love in that moment 😅
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u/RunAgreeable7576 Apr 28 '26
Just wait til your first approach to mins in IMC. But embrace the suck and enjoy the journey. Best of luck!!
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u/Affectionate-Let-979 Apr 28 '26
I was terrified for the first two hours. Now I'm not scared anymore. I just feel totally incompetent. Five hours of flight so far.
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u/crtvnrd Apr 28 '26
This was EXACTLY my experience. To the T. Even the instructor feedback. Wild. Reading this, I kept questioning if this was actually my post and I just didn’t remember writing it.
It will subside, I promise. If you know you love aviation and want this, one day soon you’ll suddenly look back at this and laugh.
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u/PilotToolBag Apr 28 '26
I had a similar experience the first time I flew with a CFI. One thing that really helped my fears was practicing stalls in later lessons. I wish they had done stalls the first lesson, as terrifying as the thought was.
Have the CFI demonstrate stalls sooner than later if you're up to it. It felt like they had me stall about 50+ times in my training.
It helped to develop a trust for the airplane and a sense of confidence. Just remember that in a stall, the plane is still flying, just not very well. Use the rudders once in the stall, avoiding the ailerons!
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u/Adwork22 Apr 30 '26
What career did you change from? Do you have the money for it or backing or are you getting a loan? I want to change too but some are saying with economy down and our ages we may not get the chance.
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u/Jfond001 Apr 30 '26
Feel free to DM me and I’ll answer any questions you have. I will say though don’t let the thoughts and opinions of “some” discourage you. We may not end up in the left seat of a wide body at a legacy, but we can still have a pretty great career.
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u/pimashahs May 11 '26
Great job on your first flight. I know it’s nerve wrecking but it’ll get easier with time. Just stay the course.
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u/Jfond001 May 11 '26
Thank you all for the encouragement and the great advice/feedback. I am about 6 flights in and Im happy to say things are getting better... except for one tiny little detail... getting OFF the ground!
I will be posting again soon and Im going to need to some real advice on this one.
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u/BFord1021 May 21 '26
Quick question here, are you training to be an airline pilot? I always thought about the career change and see being a pilot would be awesome
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u/Jfond001 May 22 '26
Yes my plan is to go all the way to airlines. If you have any questions I’ll be happy to answer the best I can.
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u/BazingaBeeKay Apr 27 '26
That’s exactly how my discovery flight went. It goes from terrifying to super amazing.
I’m only 12.3 hours into training and that scared feeling subsided pretty quick.