Originally Posted by
PC4CAB
Folks,
My apologies if this is in the wrong forum.
I had my first flying lesson today. My entire life I have wanted to be a pilot, and at 49, decided to try. I pretty much have read everything I can about airplanes, flying, etc. I joined AOPA, read the magazines, watch videos, pretty much anything an armchair pilot can do, I have done...
So with all of that, nothing prepared me for the real thing.
I was scared, not to the point of hysteria, but the motion, the bumps, the thought the plane would simply crash were very much present while flying. While I did enjoy getting some time on the controls, I was nervous, and not at all comfortable being in the air.
Is this normal? After I landed, I was happy to be on the ground, and felt sad, that maybe all I'm meant to be is an armchair pilot? While I hate that thought, I keep thinking I should have been over the moon excited, not scared. Is it normal for a student to feel this way? My head is still spinning, trying to remember all the things that one has to do and think about.
Did anyone you feel this way as a student? Did the bumps/turbulence eventually not bother you? Were you eventually able to relax and learn/enjoy yourself?
Appreciate any advice.
-B
Sounds normal to me.
Imagine learning to ride a bicycle for the first time. Not as a five year old, but as a fifty year old who has never been on a bicycle. It seemed insurmountable as a kid, yet we knew that everyone else did it, and we could too.
Flying's not that much different than riding a bike (
just harder to put baseball cards in the spokes--Rex Kramer, Airplane).
I do this for a living, like nearly everyone here. I'm still afraid of heights, always have been (like many here).
As a pilot, one spends a great deal of time focused on what might go wrong, in order to prepare. Once the basics are out of the way, it's about all we train for. Things seldom do go wrong, but when they do we handle them like they were routine, because that's what we spend our time and energy preparing to do. This seems like a big step for you right now, but soon it won't.
Give it some time. Flying is an unnatural act. It may take a bit before it becomes natural. It will.