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Date: Sun, 21 Feb 1999 15:25:20 -0500
From: m w grossmann <dere_it@hotmail.killspammers.com>
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Subject: Re: How SCARED is safe, SOLO ?
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Wilson5908 wrote:

> Student pilot, 50+ hours. Instructor tryed to solo me at 18 hrs. Says I land
> the airplane better than HE can (his words). I went through the routine. He
> signed me off, got out, I fully expected to do 3 then pick him up. On the
> take-off run I dont know know what happened. Maybe I came face to face with
> "Reality" or something but I felt panic rearing it's ugly head. I knew, if I
> rotated, I was committed to go if I WANTED to or NOT!. I aborted (safely of
> course).
> I dont know what happened. I was soaked in a cold sweat. Hands cold, clammy,
> knee's knocking (literely, even setting down), heart racing AND pounding. I
> thought I was gonna be sick.

<snip>

I can't tell you what to do, nor can I say that what worked for me will
work for you. I experienced a milder, but similar, feeling when I
soloed. Luckily, I had got into the habit of calling off what I was
doing at every point from T/O to landing so that I could hear myself in
the phones (and the instructor could, too). Full T/O checklist, then
progressive verbal notation as I checked each item; "Brakes, flaps up,
carb heat off (in), mixture rich, throttle full, right rudder, stay on
the centreline, speed 40kt., instruments alive, speed 60 kt., Rotate, Vx
speed 73kt, hold steady, more right rudder, airspeed 73, altitude 300
climbing, no traffic in sight..." and so on.

When I soloed, I was nervous (especially given some of my "experiences"
during dual training!) but continually called off everything just the
same. I caught myself holding the yoke in the white-knuckle death grip a
couple times with sweating hands. I forced myself to ease the grip to
get better control.

Because of the familiarity of calling off eveerything and knowing that
with everything passing my continuing oral checks, the plane wasn't
going to fall out of the sky, I managed the first loop. The second loop
went a lot easier, although I did hesitate in calling tower for my
second landing and ended up on a VERY extended downwind. The third
landing was sweet and when I stopped to let the CFI back in, I got out
for a minute and lit up a smoke and called the wife on the cell phone to
let her know I'd soloed. I almost fell down because my knees were so
rubbery.

Fear will keep you attentive which will keep you alive as a pilot.
Excessive fear will cause you problems, howevwer. That you are suddenly
alone in the plane with little familiarity to ease the situation seems
to be the basis of your fear, and getting into the habit I built *might*
help you. Then again, it might not. I'm not a psychologist, just another
low-time pilot.

A few people have suggested Inderol, but you'd need to talk to an AME
about that. Perhaps you can get your CFI to fly in the back seat, which
would not only give you the crutch of having the CFI in the plane and
available in DIRE emergency, but also get you used to a different weight
distribution. When you're alone, the plane handles differently. It
climbs better, flies faster, and you'll probably turn, roll and yaw a
bit differently as well. With the CFI in the back seat, though, you have
full control and it would take a few seconds for the CFI to come up
front. It would also prevent you taking cues (intended or not) from your
instructor. We all get used to CFIs and notice the little signals which
remind us of things we might have forgot. Unless you have a rear-view
(and maybe fuzzy dice hanging from it), you'll be effectively on your
own.

If your misery loves company, check out DejaNews for a few of my choice
"experiences". I scared myself (and others) ____less every step of the
way. Keep the blue side up, the brown down, the airspeed above the white
arc and you should be fine. Good luck, and I hope to read about your
checkride in this group soon.

Cheers-

m w grossmann
PP-blah blah blah
