So Tuesday and yesterday I flew 1.5 per day. All confined area work.
Apparently I'm good at recon, and now my instructor had decided that it was time for me to make decisions in the bush.
So he was not going to tell me where to put down. At all. Let me figure it out for myself. Oh boy!
Day one wasn't so hot. I wasn't using my brain effectively and because of that I was just not able to see where I should be going. Well, I mean I know. Look for a flat type spot, try to hang your tail over water to avoid obstacles, have something in front of you to reference so the tall blowing swamp grass doesn't fuck with your head. Which it is want to do. Funny, you can tell the instant your eye wanders. From a stable low hover to landing to some sort of wobbling beast. So yeah, I do know how extremely important it is to have a tree or rock or anything there to focus on.
Day two was much better. I picked all my spots, and actually picked good ones. And I even showed some decision making when I was eying a spot for a little while, and then decided it was above my comfort level. And I'm glad I thought that, because he did too! So I meandered over to another spot next to the swamp and put down there. Much better. And seriously, these areas were small! My turn about the tail practice helped...cause that was all I could do in there. (mind you, not aggressive for his liking...but damn, I honestly do get a bit nervous in there) Find a safe place to put my tail, and keep it there until I found a place that looked like it would be sufficient to put down.
But holy shit, he had me in some tight places. The ones I have shown pictures of were probably 3 times the size. I'm not kidding. Barely enough room to turn around in there. Jebus. (or so it seemed...heh)
Mr. Dagny was trying to tell me that if I sucked then instructor man sure as shit would not have me going into those postage stamp sized areas. And yes, I suppose that is probably true. He also asked if I was getting control taken away from me...which he knows is not true. His logic is that if that was happening, that would mean I suck...and yes, that's true.
So after that, I decided I needed to shoot some ILS approaches on the sim for relaxation.
And yes, it did relax me. :D
My scan lives!! It really does. No problems at all. What a relief. Now if I can just get that MIFR ride out of the damn way.
Oh, and my hand, while not perfect is much better. Also, I noticed that even in tiny confined areas my death grip has disappeared. I now hold the cyclic with a light touch. Kick ass. Now the hand still hurts from a light grip, but nothing a day off after 3.0hrs of confined practice won't fix. Bring on the ice. ;)
Also, I hope I'm not giving anyone the impression I dont' like my instructor, because nothing could be further from the truth. I think he's awesome, and he's teaching me amazing things. So yeah. He rocks.
4 comments:
You are paying this guy to teach you. Don't be shy about asking for a complete evaluation of your performance.
Oh and very cool. You can drop me on a tiny island if you want ;)
So how does the blowing grass fuck with your head? is it some kind of illusion of movement because the grass is moving?
Ack, I remember all too well wondering if my instructor was just humouring the complete moron in the left seat or if I was actually doing alright. It sounds easy to say, " just ask ", but its kind of awkward, to say the least.
I guess it goes with the territory of learning something new, the confidence in what you've learned always comes later... Which is a good sign I think.
I know a few people who seemed to have the confidence even before they learned something and they scare me.
LOL. and yeah, I'm just shy when it comes to asking stuff. i know it's silly, something to work on.
as for the blowing grass, yeah. it just starts creating these visual illusions, nothing is straight, everything blowing around, and your eye loses it's ability to judge what is right. so if you have something sturdy to keep your eyes on, you can keep your bearings. the difference is night and day.
glad I'm not alone in feeling like a dork asking 'how am I doing' questions.
and true. very true. i have flown with people like that, and I have not enjoyed the experience at all. they also scare me.
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