Sport Pilot Talk

I had my 5th hour of instruction today. Steep turns and Stall recovery. Yikes! The nerves kicked in when the CFI said "Do you feel like taking her up?" A first. I was all over the runway, but the 162 didn't seem to mind too much. I was still recovering from a very shakey take-off and climb out, but we got to 2500 feet somehow without incident.Then came steep turns (360s at 45 degrees). More nerves. Next we did power off and power on stalls. Really scary. Finally, he calls the CT for return clearance. Straight in. Good. wind 3-5 kt, no cross. Then he says, "You land this time; I'll talk you through it." Panic. Flared too high, bounced twice, but all was OK. My legs were still shaking as I walked to my car. Please tell me all this sounds normal, and someday I'll look back at this and laugh. I need a drink.

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HAPPYDAN wrote:I had my 5th hour of instruction today. Steep turns and Stall recovery. Yikes! The nerves kicked in when the CFI said "Do you feel like taking her up?" A first. I was all over the runway, but the 162 didn't seem to mind too much. I was still recovering from a very shakey take-off and climb out, but we got to 2500 feet somehow without incident.Then came steep turns (360s at 45 degrees). More nerves. Next we did power off and power on stalls. Really scary. Finally, he calls the CT for return clearance. Straight in. Good. wind 3-5 kt, no cross. Then he says, "You land this time; I'll talk you through it." Panic. Flared too high, bounced twice, but all was OK. My legs were still shaking as I walked to my car. Please tell me all this sounds normal, and someday I'll look back at this and laugh. I need a drink.

Sounds normal to me. In primary training it always seems like the instructor is asking you to do things you don't feel ready to do. Because you have never done them, your comfort level and confidence with them is low. Your instructor probably knows when you are ready to try something, well before you'd feel "comfortable" doing it. Your instructor is there as your "safety net"...he should be able to see any problems developing and save you from yourself if it comes to that.

It's hard to do sometimes, but try to relax, focus on what skills you are trying to learn. AND HAVE FUN!

As an instructor I have students do as much of the take off and landing as they can from the first lesson. For steep turns I start out with standard rate and steepen up from there until we get to 45°. This way it kind of sneaks up on them. I do the first stall the same way. I will be talking them through slow flight. I have them reduce power and hold altitude, and the stall happens before they know what is going on. Afterword I say that was it, no big deal. Sometimes I think students get worked up knowing what is coming until the get a little time under their belt.

Sounds completely normal. Learning to fly is comstantly stretching your comfort zone. The key is knowing that you have an instructor that can:

1) progressively help you through it (there will be highs and lows in your training no matter what)
2) save your a** reliably as needed.

HAPPYDAN wrote:My legs were still shaking as I walked to my car. Please tell me all this sounds normal, and someday I'll look back at this and laugh. I need a drink.

Totally normal. Fear of the unknown & not knowing the airplane's capabilities. Once you've pushed her to every edge of the envelope that will subside.

Thanks to all, for your support. Now that I have fully decompressed (i.e., stopped shaking) I find the experience was wholly invigorating, and a little hilarious. I'm sure the CT operator got a good laugh, anyway. Can't wait till Monday when we do it all again!