Have you flown an aircraft or had flight lessons? Do your senses tell you 1 thing and instruments another?

Question

Good morning, I took flying lessons in a small Cessna and I am perplexed...the pilot told me to only look at my instruments because each time I looked away from the instruments I would be banking right when I should not or loosing altitude when I should be gaining...I can't tell my UP from my DOWN. When I went to land a horn sounded. I asked what is that now. the pilot laughed and said that is the stall warning. I froze and could not move and he made me land the plane...I feel that he was a good teacher and everyone has these experiences...What have been your experiences? Or should I just leave the flying to the professionals who are not scared s**tless.

Answer 1

If you were on your first flight, or trying to get your private pilot license, your instructor telling you to look only at your instruments is wrong...you should always look outside and use the horizon for a reference of straight and level flight IF you're going for your private....if you've got your private (or are well into your rating) THEN you should be learning how to use only instruments as reference...you have to master the looking outside first to get a feel for the aircraft before you can go solely on instruments...your disorientation is common - WHEN you're far enough in your flying experience to begin relying on instruments you WILL learn to disregard your body and trust your instruments - this doesn't happen overnight - it takes practice, practice, practice...and don't EVER practice instruments and/or obstruct your view of the outside by yourself!!! ALWAYS use a safety pilot when under the hood!!
If the stall warning horn went off as you were flaring/just about to touch the ground on landing, congratulations - that's the "perfect" landing...if you were more than 50 ft off the ground you flared too soon - all the stall warning horn means is the airplane is going to quit flying soon - you have put the wings at such an angle to the wind/air that they will no longer produce lift....that can happen at full power - so stalling has nothing to do with power - it has everything to do with the angle of attack (the angle of the wings to the airflow/air) I don't know how good your teacher was if he/she laughed at you when you were obviously scared....the instructors job is to teach, not scare you or make fun of your fears/lack of experience/knowledge...
Read up - the best thing to do is to have knowledge so you can anticipate/have a better idea what to expect so as not to scare yourself over "normal" things - aviation is scary at times - ask any pilot the lesson(s) they never forgot - the times they scared themselves "s**tless and flew their way out of it...lesson NEVER forgotten...don't worry - you'll have A LOT of "wow, never going to do that agains...." Sounds like you need a new instructor if you're working on your private....Good luck...

A&P Mechanic, Commerical Pilot

Answer 2

If I were you, I would find a new flight instructor. Your initial training should be entirely VFR (visual flight rules) meaning "looking out the window to see where you are going". The horizon of the Earth is the primary "instrument" you should be using during initial training. It gives you pitch and roll information and everything you need to safely fly the aircraft. You will learn climb attitude and descent attitude (that will keep your airspeed up). You will use the RPM gauge to control power. You will then begin to reference the airspeed indicator, altimiter, compass/directional gyro, and vertical speed indicator for additional information. You will not need the attitude indicator for any part of VFR training (just the 3 hour IFR requirement) although a good instructor will teach you how to use the attitude indicator to get yourself out of trouble. If you can not physically see the horizon, you should not be flying.

It is true that your body will be telling you lies about your motion, attitude, and orientation. You will learn to rely on visual cues including the instruments. If you begin feeling the onset of spatial disorientation, one look out the window at the horizon should cure that. If you can't see out the window (you shouldn't be flying) that's where the instruments will come into play and cure your disorientation.

The reason I say "find a new flight instructor" is that he laughed when you were startled by the stall indicator. An instructor should make you feel safe, comfortable, and capable when flying an airplane. The fact that he laughed at you shows how little he respects his students and only enhances their fear. (You will feel fear when learning to fly.) Any question you have should be eagerly answered by the flight instructor and you should not be made to feel bad about asking.

Keep on with your training and find an instructor that gives you the respect you deserve. You can do it. It won't always be easy but it will become so as you progress.

Answer 3

No! Keep it up! That's one of the trickiest things I had to get used to when I started flying. Sometimes the inertial forces and your sense of balance and all tell you one thing, but in reality something different is happening. That's why you need to learn to have confidence in your instrument readings.

If you aren't getting your instrument rating right now, also learn to pay attention to visual cues. You should focus on where the horizon is on the windshield, and keep it level. If you look around and down to the ground a lot that can also affect your senses, especially when you are banking. But most of all, be careful about what your senses tell you. They can be wrong. Use your eyes rather than your sense of balance.

Has your instructor had you fly with the hood so that you can only see the instruments? That helped me too.

But keep it up! Flying is a lot of fun. And if your instructor is just now having you land, you are still just beginning. You have probably, what, about 10-15 hours or so? Be patient, you'll get the feel for it. It is very rewarding.

UPDATE: I just remembered. My flight instructor did not want me to focus on the instruments until he was ready to instruct that part of the lesson, and he would get terribly annoyed when he saw me relying on them too much. He even put these little rubber covers over them so I couldn't see them! Go with your insturctor's lead. They will know if you need to work on using visual cues. But that's the important point. Try not to be fooled by your other senses like balance and inertia.

Answer 4

Two very important things to remember when flying an airplane... Blue is up! Green or brown is down!

In your first series of flying lessons, you should be learning VFR flight, which is flying and navigating by looking outside the airplane. While use of the instruments is important, and there is a part of your training that will require you to use them, you need to be comfortable with using visual references outside the aircraft first. It sounds like your instructor is trying to rush you into learning instrument flight before you're ready for it.

Maybe it's time to find a different instructor.

Answer 5

Linda G has it. You should learn to fly by looking outside first. Learning to fly by instruments comes later. When I first started I was always climbing because i had mountains all around and I was trying to make the horizon look correct. You will get it eventually...just keep going up. The minimum hours for a private license are 40...but the national average is something like 80. Its takes everyone time.

Answer 6

Very often!

You MUST learn to absolutely trust your instruments. Just as importantly, you need to learn the cross-checks that will tell you when something has failed.

For example: Airspeed shows dropping towards zero. Stall warning horn may or may not be sounding. Turn & bank shows wings level flight. Attitude indicator (artificial horizon) shows straight and level. Altimeter steady to very slight climb or dive. What has most likely happened? What action do you need to take? How quickly do you need to act on this problem to save your life?

Learning to fly will teach you the answers to these questions and how to stay alive when doing so!

Answer 7

i have never actually flown a plane however for my sisters 16th she had a flying lesson.

i went up in the plane with her and she flew a Cessna just like you.

i think you should learn to look up and out to see everything because your senses should guide you through it.

definately carry on with your lessons. you'll gain so much from it and initial lessons are bound to be hard work.

keep on doing co-ordination practise in your spare time becasue, if i remember rightly, flying a plane is alot about what your hands and feet are doing. just stay focused but enjoy yourself aswell.

stick at it - you'll be great. good luck...

Answer 8

hey I am a network professional, but let me tell u one thing, these things have happenned, that the pilot's is perciving something else while the instrument are reflecting different results, these thing happen because of computers malfunctioning, these thing have also happenned with Boeing aircrafts, for more detail u can check National Geographic Archives, they have very good details on such incidents, I really mean it because I have seen the series which they had broadcast in Asia Pacific Region related to the aircarft mishaps.

Answer 9

Your instruments won't lie to you nearly as often as those eyes of yours. Trust the instruments when flying, as they'll be right.

And if you're scared spitless when flying, leave it to someone else who has a better handle on it!

Answer 10

Never got that deeply into it, but know others who have. Your instructor was giving good advice unless you want to become another John Kennedy Jr.