Take The Worry Out Of Flight Training

Most dictionaries define worry as a feeling of unease, annoyance, anxiety, and/or distraction. Worry creates stress, and you don't need either of these emotions riding in the cockpit with you when you are learning to fly - especially when they are avoidable.

Some people believe it's just human nature to worry. Perhaps. But rather than taking the bull by the horns, getting to the source of irritation, and resolving it, too many of us tend to procrastinate, avoid sorting out our nagging problems, and otherwise fail to take care of business. Worry is the result, because we allow uncertainty to remain in control.

Well, that's all great philosophy, but what can you do about the kind of worry that might interfere with your learning to fly?

A good start is to be aware of it - and understand that you can do lots of easy things to reduce or eliminate most of it.

Consider this example. You think you are about to lose your job, you've been up all night, you haven't had time to study your maneuvers, you're behind because you got caught in a traffic jam on the way to the airport, and you arrive late for your flight lesson.

On top of all that, you walk in the door of the FBO and find out that your airplane has been "broken" since yesterday, but nobody called to tell you, including your certificated flight instructor (CFI). When you're having that kind of a day, don't even think about going anywhere near an airplane.

Separate The Wheat From The Chaff

There are at least two kinds of worry. The "outside" kinds of things we've just highlighted represent one kind. The natural concern that results from trying to learn a new skill like flying is another.

Everyone naturally wants to do well, to learn, to perform, and to conquer new challenges - like learning to fly. Performance anxiety, therefore, is natural, as long as it doesn't get out of hand. Even the pros get a little on edge once in a while.

Besides, if we already knew how to do all this stuff, we wouldn't be spending our time and money paying someone to teach us, would we? So don't let it bother you! Everything is new. Seemingly unrelated information at first will seem overwhelming until the pieces start fitting together. There's a lot to learn, but you'll learn it. So, don't worry about it. Keep studying and work hard. But work smart, too.

The trick is to separate these natural worries from the unnatural ones, replace anxiety-producing ignorance with knowledge, and eliminate as much nonflying uncertainty as you can from your flight training. Nonflying stressors shouldn't be allowed to create the kind of worry that distracts you from learning to fly, but they will if you don't find some way to take care of them.

Devise a systematic plan to take care of those other irritants ahead of time so that you can concentrate on flying. Focus on learning to fly - not on broken airplanes, mixed-up scheduling, poor communication with your instructor, or other problems that might occasionally arise.

A Checklist To Minimize Worry

You'll soon learn, if you haven't already, that we use a lot of checklists in aviation. The one that follows can help you take care of worry-generating details before they become distractions. It recommends what to do, and when.

Take these steps when initially setting up your "learn to fly" program - and periodically, as needed, throughout your flying career:

• Choose a reliable, established FBO or flight school with a professional appearance and a record of good maintenance and customer service. Tour the maintenance areas; look at airplanes and maintenance records. The federal aviation regulations (FARs) will tell you which records are required; so can your CFI. Review and understand them. Ask FBO and flight school managers about their insurance and, specifically, what protections extend to you. Read the insurance policy and make sure it is in effect. Increased insurance premiums have caused many FBOs to drastically reduce - or in some cases eliminate - coverage. Ask questions about the FBO's or school's general policies and practices - and keep asking, if the answers you get don't seem to wash. Go somewhere else if you don't feel comfortable. Remember: You are the customer. You deserve answers to your questions. Obtain your FBO's agreement to notify you ahead of time (preferably the day before you are scheduled to fly) when your airplane is grounded or experiences other maintenance problems that might affect your flight. Talk to the dispatcher and maintenance management about this point.
• Ask around and pick an experienced instructor recommended by someone you trust. Ensure that the CFI understands your interests and goals, has a track record of successful students, keeps accurate training records, and will enter into a partnership with you to schedule flights that will accommodate both learning to fly and your other responsibilities. If you are assigned an instructor, check him or her out with both current and former students. Find and ask a local designated pilot examiner, as well - this is the person who will administer your FAA practical test when your training is completed, and would be in an excellent position to tell you how well prepared that instructor's students are for the checkride. You can also request information from your CFI or flight school about his or her qualifications, students, record, and background - before you sign up. A Gold Seal on your CFI's certificate testifies to documented instructional success. Ask about it.
• Check with knowledgeable friends, and current and former FBO customers and flight students familiar with your "picks" after you've tentatively made them. Ask specific questions about the things that are important to you in terms of quality, reliability, and reputation. Be satisfied you have the flight program partners that are right for you.
• Talk with your CFI to make sure that both of you understand the full costs (time and money) of the program you have agreed upon. Cross-check it with your flight school, too. Don't be surprised if the time and ultimate cost are at least double what you originally thought they would be. Often, cost estimates are based on the FAA-required minimum of 40 hours' flight time, but the truth is that even good, competent students on average can require 60 hours or more to complete their training.
• If you are in the middle of a program that isn't working out for reasons that you believe are beyond your control (in spite of your personal efforts, commitment to the program, and discussions with school management), reevaluate alternatives and get a new school, instructor, or program! In short, take charge of your training program from the outset.

Several days or even a week before you fly:

• Start mental preparation for your next training flight.
• Coordinate with your CFI and understand what you're going to do on your next lesson; what you need to study, know, and/or think about; and what standards you're expected to reach. Confirm the date, time, airplane, and other details.
• Study your training materials generally and your text assignment specifically. Don't just read them. Strive for a working grasp of the material to the extent that you intellectually understand how to do what you will be expected to learn, do, and practice.
• Jot down questions for your CFI on everything that is unclear as a result of either your study or flight planning.
• Start watching weather trends on TV. Use the computer to get weather forecasts.
• Phone the FBO to reconfirm your airplane number and schedule. Ask specifically about recent airplane problems and make sure that upcoming inspections (annual, 100-hour, etc.) or maintenance will not interfere with your appointment.
• Recheck your business and family schedules to resolve conflicts.

The afternoon before you fly:

• Get an outlook weather briefing from flight service. Check notams and temporary flight restrictions (TFRs) that could affect your flight. Don't forget winds and turbulence, which could alter what you plan to do even though there might not be a cloud in the sky.
• Recheck with your CFI to confirm the details of the upcoming lesson, schedule, etc. Make any flight profile planning changes required by the probable weather (if required). Don't wait until the day of the flight.
• Recheck with the FBO on aircraft status, maintenance, and schedule. Do this late enough to get "end of the day" airplane status. Remind them to call you if there's a problem.
• Reschedule or replan the flight to avoid last-minute hazards, and/or review your lesson to accommodate any changes you've made. A ground lesson may replace flying if ground training would be more productive.

The morning you are scheduled to fly:

• Plan for delays getting to the airport.
• Get a thorough weather briefing; ask questions; recheck notams.
• Check aircraft maintenance records for servicing, discrepancies, and required inspection completion. Don't accept illegal, unsafe, marginal-for-training, or broken airplanes. Get them fixed before you fly, change airplanes, or cancel the flight.
• Do a thorough preflight. Document and report any problems that the FARs or common sense dictate need to be fixed. FAR 91.205 lists what equipment is required for various kinds of flight. It is sufficient for most GA aircraft. An airplane that's legally OK to fly could be worthless for the specific flight lesson you have planned - it depends on the systems you need.
• Get a good preflight briefing from your instructor. Review the flight profile and ask questions to clarify anything that is unclear to you. Don't try to do anything in the air at $100 an hour that you don't understand ahead of time, especially when you could have cleared it all up on the ground for $25 an hour.
• Make sure your flight planning is complete: performance, profile, requirements, etc.
• Recheck when the next pilot is scheduled to take the airplane and plan to be on the ground by that time.
• File a flight plan, even if you're just flying locally.

During the flight:

• Keep track of the weather. If necessary, abort earlier rather than later.
• Don't waste time transitioning among maneuvers or phases of the flight; you should have planned those with your CFI on the ground before takeoff.
• Focus on precise performance and learning. Strive to achieve specific standards of performance agreed on by you and your instructor before takeoff. Have an objective in mind for every maneuver you do.

After you land:

• If there's a problem with the aircraft, tell the FBO's dispatcher or maintenance people as soon as you secure the airplane. Document specific problems for the mechanics.
• Get a good critique from your instructor. Compare your performance with established standards.
• Before you leave, agree with your CFI on what you're going to do next time, what you need to review from the flight you just finished, what you need to study for the upcoming lesson, and the standards you will be expected to meet.
• Then go home, think about your flight, and start the process all over again.

The Bottom Line

Don't expect to eliminate worry overnight. A little bit is healthy and will always be there. But a lot of the apprehension caused by background issues can and will disappear if you have a plan for handling it - and you relentlessly and systematically work that plan.

If you don't do that effectively, seemingly minor irritants resulting from poor planning could grow into major irritants that will continually cause both problems and stress.

Even though most of this "little stuff" has little to do with thinking, planning, making good decisions, learning the rules, and actually flying the airplane, all of it can adversely influence your performance and damage learning.

Fly safe, plan thoroughly, and work your plan hard - don't just let it happen.

Wally Miller is president of an aviation training, consulting, and marketing firm in Monument, Colorado. He is a Gold Seal CFI who has been instructing for more than 20 years and flying for more than 40.