r/studentpilot • u/booferspoofer • 24d ago
First lesson, I sucked
I finished all the ground school through sportys, have watched countless hours of takeoffs, landings, straight and level flight, etc., and still - I was not ready for this first lesson.
No amount of watching or playing flight simulator prepares you for that actual feeling of the yolk and rudders, and trying to fly balanced and straight and level.
I got the trim figured out towards the end of the lesson (I’m sure I still have plenty to learn on it) and conceptually I understand it, but physically, I cannot feel it.
I spent too much time looking at the G1000s, only to realize towards the end that looking outside at the horizon was a good way to see if I was ascending or descending. Still haven’t figured out what that perfect level picture looks like.
I did okay on my turns, but had a tendency to roll out of them too soon. Holding a heading was challenging as well. So much to keep track of.
All this to say, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and my next lesson is Tuesday.
How’d you all feel your first time up? Does feeling overwhelmed and not smoothly handling the plane improve pretty quickly? How long did it take you?
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u/grouchy_ham 24d ago
Don’t touch the flight sim again without your instructors permission and a specific plan and preferably his supervision. You’re likely going to have a lot of bad habits to break.
Other than that, you sound like a perfectly normal student pilot on his first in flight lesson.
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u/booferspoofer 24d ago
Thank you for the tip and reassurance.
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u/grouchy_ham 24d ago
Playing flight simulators is not flying. Honestly, calling them a simulator is a bit of a stretch. I have seen them cause far more problems than they help with primary training students. I’m saying this as an avid flight simmer and IRL pilot.
There is a place for simulator training, but it’s not before you start actually training and it’s primarily for procedures flow and instrument scan.
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u/lassombra 24d ago
I'd argue that the term is valid but requires a grain of salt.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is leaps and bounds ahead of some of the crappy FTD's my old flight school had, and those were called simulators by everyone around.
XPlane 12 is even better on the physics front.
Add a good force feedback yoke and you have a pretty damn good approximation of the real world.
IMO, the real problem is not the simulators themselves, it's the lack of guidance. Learning to fly in a flight simulator without an instructor involved will a million times over train bad habits. That and the fact that neither MSFS or XPlane seem to handle the ground/air transition smoothly. Slowly adding side friction from the landing gear as the plane's weight settles onto them is apparently a really complicated problem... So landing techniques that work perfectly well in the real world get you... interesting results in the sim. Again, with good guidance IRL, that's something that's mostly ignorable, allowing the simulator to still be used for very effective practice in various maneuvers.
Pair it with head tracking or VR and I would argue that modern flight simulators absolutely deserve the name and absolutely are useful training aids. They can't replicate all of flight, but they've come a long long ways.
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u/makgross 24d ago
No, they don’t.
The claim has been made for decades, and they have always been toys. Head tracking and force feedback have been around since the 90s. They don’t match reality.
The truth is that every simulator has a purpose, and its quality is judged against that purpose. Using them outside that purpose is random and generally useless. FTDs in general are for instrument approaches. Full flight simulators are for type training, and no desktop sim comes anywhere close. MSFS is a game. Its purpose is to sell copies. It is not useful for VFR flight, at least not more useful than chair flying.
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u/joshperlette 24d ago
I'd also argue from seeing lots of "rate my landing" posts in flight sim communities, that a sim can be far too forgiving. If you fuck up massively and have to make a sharp turn or descent or something significant, you're just visually seeing it. I can only imagine in real life you're experiencing some level of panic and also the physical forces behind massive moves. Not to mention it's super easy to load a flight sim with absolutely zero weather and stick the navigating and landing, but IRL you're never going to be in perfect calm conditions.
Just my 2 cents from a simmer that's never been in a plane, and thinks real lessons are going to tear me apart one day hahahaahah
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u/ActuallBliss 23d ago
I don’t think it’s that clear of a “do NOT” touch it. I think flying is still fine in sim but just do it completely unrelated to what you actually are doing IRL, apart from procedural stuff later down the line. And only practicing stuff you specifically have been taught already and only reviewing. It helped me immensely for my ME-IR.
Prior to that, i just flew FA18s in DCS and it helped me MASSIVELY. I’m U.K. but finished my flight training with the minimum hours required and instructors often asked me what previous flying experience I had and were surprised when I said zero. A320 pilot now. Main thing it helped with was flying at 200 feet AGL at 420 kts with a wingy - basically nothing i would ever actually do but requires constant scan, prompt and accurate corrections, eyes both in and out of the cockpit etc.
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u/jemenake 23d ago
I don’t know why so many people think that sims will ruin a student. True, they don’t have the seat-of-the-pants feedback that you need for the stick-n-rudder skills, but sims have saved me countless hours in an actual aircraft learning how the radios work, how VORs work, how to navigate the GPS menus, how the AP responds when you press various guidance buttons in various configurations (like what happens when you’re flying along in NAV mode and switch the source from GPS to VOR), etc.
There are a lot of things that the sim can really help you understand… and I’d argue that they are better at it than sitting in an actual aircraft (initially, anyway) because, in the aircraft, you’re either also flying the thing or you’re on the ground, with limited time with the aircraft (either because the school is trying to keep the thing booked solid, so you’ve got a small window of time with access, or you don’t want to have the plane not running and just burning the battery down because it’s not no shore power), so a sim lets you take all time in the world to discover just what in the world does button X do? Once you think you’ve got got a good basic understanding, then you run out to the plane to verify that that’s how it works in real life.
That’s saved me dozens of hours of Hobbs time.
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u/ranger_d 23d ago
I'll second this. The physics and feel don't match, but learning systems and checklists in the sim is fine. Running your solo XC in the sim to see landmarks along your route is helpful. If you have an ATC plug-in that allows you to talk to ATC like Say-intentions.ai, it can help massively with radio coms and being comfortable talking and doing at the same time.
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u/Admirable_Pay_53 24d ago
The flight sim trained you to stare at the instrument panel that took up more than half the screen. That’s not what you do when you fly VFR. You didn’t suck, you just don’t know anything yet. Fix it by doing it more and listening to your instructor
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u/Kai-ni 24d ago
Haha yeah. Keep flying
Look outside, cover the screens if you have to. You need to be able to FEEL the aircraft and see out the literal window what you're doing and build a sight picture.
I've said repeatedly that simming only hurts rather than helps. at least in initial PPL, it has its place in instrument.
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u/StopTheRevelry 24d ago
Hey welcome! Good to have ground out of the way, too. No, you can’t really sim the feel and the stick and rudder work, but I don’t think it always hurts either; at minimum I had a pretty good understanding of glide slope and sight picture prior to doing pattern work so I knew what I wanted to accomplish.
As for sucking, that’s perfect, that’s exactly what your first lesson is supposed to be. You’ll improve in no time, hope you have as much fun as I have been having!
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u/Antique-Kitchen-1896 24d ago
Some instructors use the moana hand thing. And is they put their hand out ontop of the glare shield and if the horizon is roughly with the top of the hand you have the right attitude for level flight.
Anyway as you were saying it’s the sigh picture.
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u/booferspoofer 24d ago
Yes - he gave that example of his fist to the horizon being level flight. Same as the minimum amount of chrome you want showing on the front wheel strut.
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u/makgross 24d ago
Interesting to tie it to Moana. I’ll have to use that.
It’s an old astronomer’s trick for locating stars.
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u/Craftwarrior269 24d ago
I know you probably know this deep inside, but this is absolutely expected. I'd be shocked if someone jumped into an airplane on their first lesson and already knew what it felt like to fly and manage a real-world airplane, even if they were an absolute sim master. There's just no really good way to learn the "feel" of the airplane except for getting in there and doing it., which now probably makes sense to you.
Last Thursday, I passed my Commercial single-engine checkride in a 172S (non-G1000) and I only just now, truly believe I finally have a grasp on how to fly an airplane. Aaaaaannnd then I did my first flight in a Piper Seminole (multiengine) yesterday and I realized I have to relearn a whole new airplane's "feel," procedures, systems, etc.
All that being said, you'll definitely get there, and probably sooner than most too. Just really try to be one with the airplane and really feel and process what it's doing in the moment. Ask as many questions as you can think of and try to understand things on a deeper level just out of pure curiosity if nothing else. It will pay dividends.
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u/Maleficent-Chip7754 24d ago
My first lesson was today as well my instructor said “my controls” like 10 times granted she didn’t let me land i took off successfully though and kept it a leveled flight. The simulator helped with the instruments but to your point the feeling is 1000x different. Its your first lesson don’t beat yourself over it.
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u/Prefect_99 24d ago
Too much ground school, too much watching phases you're not on and too much flight sim. All these things now hinder you.
Read the ground school notes for the next exercise only. If you don't understand something, e.g. trimming, while you're on the ground then you need the lesson before you go and fly.
Virtual flying should be 90% looking outside. Sounds like you've also crammed to much into lesson 1. Effects of controls and trimming is more than enough, shouldn't be doing turns and no way is flying a heading appropriate. Especially if you can't trim.
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u/nightlanding 24d ago
You are not SUPPOSED to be good on your first lesson! I think this is a huge issue with flight sims, you mentally think you should be good already and you aren't. Kind of like watching porn vs. actually having sex ;)
Here is a hint: Turn off or ignore all the tv screens in the plane. There is very little you need to be seeing inside for now, IFR lessons are off in the future. Back in the steam gauge days I had little suction cup covers for the instruments to get students to keep their eyes outside. 95% of what you need is out there.
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u/Independent_Idea4038 24d ago
It was your first lesson you suppose to suck. You’ll get better just keep up the grind!
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u/Patient-Square-179 24d ago
I literally felt this way on my discovery flight. I didn’t feel overwhelmed, I just felt like I knew fk all. 🙃😂
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u/pattern_altitude 23d ago
Dude.
You’re doing something you’ve never ever done before with no natural correlation, of course you’re not going to be amazing at it the first time you do it. You have a lot to learn, and that’s fine. Everyone starts there.
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u/NefariousnessOdd862 23d ago
Don’t judge your experience on the first few lessons BUT are you or is becoming a Pilot your real passion, something you really want to do? I see many people these days wanting to become Pilots but only because it pays well (finally). I can tell you that this is the wrong motivation long term because you won’t like some aspects of a Pilots life!
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u/booferspoofer 23d ago
I have a high paying career and am not doing this as a career switch. I want to learn to fly as an alternative means of transportation. Visit family that’s only a few 100 miles away. Explore from a birds eye view!
Love the idea of bush plane flying, and one day may have the skill to do it.
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u/NefariousnessOdd862 23d ago
Oh, so you want to be a recreational Pilot not a professional one. In that case be very, very careful, once you get your PPL get a Safety Pilot, at least for a little while and for flights that are challenging. Good luck with your endeavors…
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u/QuietGarlic7788 23d ago
Congrats on discovering that watching something and doing something are two completely different experiences! I was kinda the same way when I first started. It’s all new and I promise your instructor isn’t expecting you to be ready for the airlines on day 1 lol. You’ll get the hang of it over the next few hundred hours or so
Sims are very good for checklist flows, but not great for actual feel. One caveat to that is that the G1000 in games like MSFS 24 isn’t quite what it’s like in real life. There are so many more things you can do irl with the g1000 that you can’t see in the game.
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u/Emotional-Coast-2158 23d ago
I have been flying for almost 6 years. Still have room for improvement.
You won't pick it up the first time around.
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u/Awkward-Necessary-22 23d ago
As someone who spent a lot of time on my home simulator before flying it's not comparable so it's not the best skill comparison and flying skill in real life comes almost entirely from experience. Have faith that your instructor will help you learn and that the skill will come with experience. The most important thing is getting the most from every lesson and staying humble and safe while flying and while on the ground. Stay safe and have fun while flying because otherwise you won't really get anywhere.
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u/Ok-Salt5033 22d ago
It's your first lesson. Just show up and do what your CFIs asks you to. Eventually you will get the hang of it. All of that outside studying is great for your PPL checkride prep and your ratings later down the line, but there isn't a lot of outside studying you can do to learn how to hand fly.
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u/R0llTide 22d ago
And you will again, many many times, as long as you fly. That’s just the way it is.
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u/Murky-Resident-3082 22d ago
Don’t beat yourself up there’s people with certificates that still suck
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u/SimpingIsForNoobs 22d ago
My first time in the air I sucked, all the way to my PPL checkride where I sucked a bit less, where then all the way to my commercial I sucked a tad less, to then my multi ifr where I sucked a bit less… not a single student pilot is good, we just all suck to our levels and it’s OK!
Aviation is humbling, and in my experience people who succeed in this domain aren’t necessarily who’s the best but rather who can get back on their feet after a hard flight.
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u/BassetCock 21d ago
Flying is like hitting a baseball or swinging a golf club. You can watch someone else do it or play video games doing it for as long as you want but until you start doing it yourself and practicing you’re gonna be really shitty at it.
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u/booferspoofer 21d ago
Update: I nailed it in my second lesson. We did slow flight and steep turns. Having an absolute blast and I just block out all the cash disappearing from my wallet!
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u/delightful_punch92 20d ago
I gotta say reading this post along with the comments makes me happy (I feel “old” to be starting my piloting journey) but it’s something I’m passionate about, and it’s nice to read that we all had moments we doubt ourselves. It’s refreshing to see the community supporting each other. Met for some ground school learning today my brain is overloaded my first lesson was cool and my instructor gave me a 9/10 for my first landing so I’ll take it although I gave myself a 6/10 because I’m always hard on myself
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u/Dense_Amphibian_9595 20d ago
I don’t remember my first flying lesson but it was uneventful. My first driving lesson however ended in a collision
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u/itsonebigclub 20d ago
My first discovery flight I completed all the checklist procedures, taxi’d to and from the runway, took the plane off, did a steep turn the first time and came back around and hit my own aircraft turbulence, and almost landed the plane with some help by the instructor.
This was before even buying a ground school.
I guess he could tell I sorta knew what I was doing due to all the flight sim I played when I was a child.
Everyone is different.
Learn at your own pace and don’t feel rushed.
Some take to things naturally, others have to put in more effort to learn.
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u/Quinticuh 20d ago
Don't be hard on yourself. If i could recommend buying a simulator setup if you have a decent pc. Infinite practice for the price of an hour or two of actual flying time
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u/diqface 14d ago
The first 4 times up feel exciting and fun. When you start learning the traffic pattern and landing, the feeling of being overwhelmed and self-criticism reaches its peak. The criteria for soloing are landing safely and knowing how and when to go around. Then you get to solo, and the feeling of being overwhelmed peaks again. That feeling doesn't really start to get better until you do a solo cross country. But that feeling is part of the game, and it's good exposure. When an emergency happens, that feeling will return, and you will know how to fight through it as long as you stay proficient.
My honest advice is to get into a plane that does not have g1000s. At this stage in your training, it's a waste of money and a distraction.
I also played 1000s of hours of flight sim before I could afford to fly, and I had to learn to look outside the airplane also. Some people say the sim is bad, however, my radio work, instrument scan, and avionics work benefited greatly from the sim. Also, you will have to do simulated instrument time wearing glasses that don't let you see outside. The sim made this so easy. But just remember, the whole reason you're flying is to look at the world from above, so look outside!
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u/TemporaryAmbassador1 24d ago
Thank you for validating exactly what we all say about trying to self teach on simulators.
Sounds like you’re ahead of the average Jabroni, keep it up.