Dear Rod:
I am a student pilot holding about 26 flight hours and I have conducted a solo flight. Right now in my training, my instructor is preparing me for the private pilot tests (written, oral, checkride). I have bought numerous resources on test prep such as books, videos, computer-based software, et cetera, and I have been utilizing each and every one many times a day. However, I’ve found that the more I use them, the more I start to forget things. I feel that because I study so hard, I may be shorting out some circuits in my brain. I am getting very stressed about taking the tests, and my biggest nightmare is failing one of them. What do I do?
Kyle
Greetings Mr. Kyle:
Yours is a problem for both the psychologist and the philosopher. The psychologist is likely to tell you that you’ve acquired a near-immobilizing case of performance anxiety. You are so worried about learning what you need to know that you have inhibited your ability to learn. So I’m going to save you $150 for a single office visit to your friendly psychologist by telling you to take at least a week off of studying (or however many days you think you can safely manage) and don’t think about aviation. Just relax. Take the money you just saved and see some movies, read a few fun books, or go to the carnival and try to spot the spelling errors in the tattoos you see. But stop studying for a while.
The philosopher, on the other hand, will tell you that yours is an issue with values. If failing the test is truly your biggest nightmare, then financial ruin, death, or immolation by a reentering meteorite must seem like just a nuisance to you. The solution to your problem here is to look at the checkride in an entirely different way.
In your situation, you’ve got to let go of what you want to get what you want. So, think of the checkride as an evaluation of your ability to be safe. You wouldn’t, after all, want to fly if you weren’t safe, would you? Of course not, because you’d subject your family and friends to potential harm. That’s why you should see successfully passing the checkride as a confirmation of your ability to fly safely. If you fail the ride, then a part of you should feel grateful in knowing that a wise designated examiner spotted a deficiency in your flying skill. Correct that flaw and you can then have confidence that a representative of the FAA believes you have the skill to fly safely.
Dear Rod:
I’m a 50-year-old private pilot who has just retired from a 25-year career as a police officer. One of my early ambitions was to be an airline pilot, but I got married, had children and, well, I had to lay that dream aside. With retirement I want to pursue my dream of flying for a living. I have a private pilot certificate, no instrument rating, 510 hours, and am in good health. What is your honest assessment of my actually being hired to fly with an air carrier?
P.H.
Greetings P.H.:
As I see it, the chances of your acquiring the necessary experience to fly for a living and then being hired to fly a large commercial airliner are just a bit less than you and Justin Bieber singing a duet at Carnegie Hall. The major airlines typically look for younger, more experienced pilots, who will offer the company many years of return on the training investment they make in a pilot.
But don’t fret. I did say, “major airlines.” Your chances of being hired with a regional airline are much greater. Why? Because regional airlines expect their pilots to have less time, which is why this is the usual route for gaining experience as a steppingstone to employment with a major air carrier. In fact, your interest in staying with a regional carrier might prove to be a major selling point.
Finally, I wouldn’t discount your potential to fly for a corporation or charter company. These are worthy and satisfying occupations, and you’re more likely to be employed in one of them.
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