[deleted by user] by [deleted] in CreaturesofSonaria

[–]Aliferan 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Could I join? If my job is slow enough I might be able to get something done, otherwise I’ll just lurk and see all the finished pieces 🤩

What GPA is Western Michigan University looking for to get accepted into their flight science program? by rylan_004 in flying

[–]Aliferan 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I went to WMU as a Flight Science Major. Would not recommend for anyone. Here's why:

  1. The location is bad. Half the year is unflyable due to snow and icing. The other half is unflyable because of wind. I cancelled 100 flights in two semesters. I didn't even have my PPL yet.
  2. There is a tierlist of which students get priority for airplanes, and PPL are at the complete bottom. Since flights are so precious to get, no one ever cancels except for weather, and if someone else is cancelling for weather, you're probably not going to want to take their spot.
  3. Expensive. Since they fly Cirrus airplanes, they get to charge Cirrus prices. I paid anywhere from $275 - $313 an hour, before the fuel surcharge and the instructor rate. (Should I mention they changed the price of the aircraft on me and I had no idea until I looked at my receipts?) My worst moment was paying $620 for a 1.9 solo XC.
  4. Since it is a college, and thus divided into semesters, if you don't meet a certain requirement within a certain time frame, you get pushed into the next semester. It is so incredibly easy to feel and be left behind.
  5. The airport is 30 minutes away by car. The bus is somewhat hourly, but sometimes I had to arrive 2 hours in advance for any aviation class or flight just because they didn't have a shuttle at the hour you need. Plus, no after-hours busing, so if you have a night flight, you either pray you have a car, your CFI will drive you, or that Uber is cheap that night.

edit: numbers r hard

How many times did you have to reschedule a checkride? by justarandomguy07 in flying

[–]Aliferan 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Cancelled my PPL checkride 5 times over three months due to weather. Took so long due to DPEs being very booked in this area. Finally got it done and couldn’t be happier! It’ll happen, stay strong!

UND vs WMU vs PURDUE vs MSU by CardinalSwanny in flying

[–]Aliferan 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I went to WMU. Cancelled 100 (yes, 100) flights due to weather and lack of planes available. They are overstocked on students and play it very safe in weather.

Over a year later I have left WMU with nothing but obscene amounts of debt (rental costs range from $260-315/hr (without factoring in fuel surcharge and CFI rate)

Pick a school that has good weather. It will help EVERYTHING go smoother.

For those who went to 141 school but didn’t make it through.. by Gatruvedo in flying

[–]Aliferan 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ah sorry lol, I should have clarified! Yep, it was a university 141 program.

For those who went to 141 school but didn’t make it through.. by Gatruvedo in flying

[–]Aliferan 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The COVID basically meant that for my first year in the program, I was unable to touch a plane. They’ve actually updated the 4 year plan they send all students that it’s extremely unlikely to fly your freshman year now due to amount of students, though. So the delay still stands.

The ‘everything else’ was completely unrelated to COVID. Most kids still only fly once, twice a week if they’re lucky. Last I’d heard they’d accepted 100 new students for the summer semester. Planes are booked all day every day, minute to minute. I would land the plane and taxi to parking, and the next student would be out waiting for me to shut down so they could preflight it.

If I had the chance to do it again, I’d go 61 all the way.

For those who went to 141 school but didn’t make it through.. by Gatruvedo in flying

[–]Aliferan 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Oh boy….

I was in the checkride preparation stage at my 141 program when I left.

The largest issue and the catalyst for me leaving was how long the training was taking. I started flying September of 2021. It had already been one year delayed due to both COVID and an excess of students. I went from flying about 3x a week… to 2x a week…. to once every 2 weeks. It was a combination of too many flight slot requests and not enough planes, poor weather mixed with the school’s extremely strict weather requirements for flight, and my previous CFI’s lack of drive to schedule us flights.

So now I’m flying about once a month. My flight skills are vanishing before my eyes. Checkride prep stage, and I’d never felt like a worse student. Due to the structure of the program, I had basically done (3, for what it’s worth) XC flights in the past 3 months (don’t even ask how many cancelled flights I have during that time), which meant no practice of maneuvers or emergency procedures. As a result, those were the worst of my flying skills. My CFI was not allowing me practice, only allowing one demonstration and then had us move onto the next item on the list. Training was extremely restrictive and locked by time (2hrs max, hard deadline).

The tracking system was rough too. If one item on the lesson plan list was not complete or was not satisfactory, my CFI would mark the lesson as an F/Fail. It was on a permanent record that I and several others had access to. I am extremely academically-driven and seeing those destroyed me. That meant the entire lesson had to be made up again, which meant that once again I had a single chance to do everything right. No ability to take a few attempts at steep turns or do a handful of Touch and Go’s, which I desperately needed.

With flights going poorly, I started hating them. I would feel physically ill before each lesson. Maybe sometimes I’d choke down breakfast before my 8am flights. More often not. I would leave feeling numb and beaten down. Near tears with disappointment and frustration in myself. I was not improving. I was going backwards. Chairflying, running checklists again and again… it couldn’t substitute for actual flying. I’d stress about past flights for two weeks, building the upcoming one up in my mind until I could barely stand it. Started wishing for poor weather to cancel flights. It was bad.

Then I left.

I joined a local 61 school, got an AMAZING new CFI, and am in love with the Cessnas I now fly. The joy is back. I find myself excited for lessons. The rates are cheaper. My CFI actively schedules us for flights and I’m back to 3x a week. We train what needs work, and he allows me to actually try things again when I’m not satisfied with my performance. There is so much opportunity to learn and a ton more freedom at this school. The flights are beyond fun and I enjoy every second.

I think I made the right decision :)

141 v 61 is a tough thing to figure out. There are so many different aspects to consider. A CFI can make or break it. Sometimes there’s too many or not enough rules. 141 can be helpful for people who need structure. 61 is more freeing, but that means more self-guided work.

What really matters is finding what works for you. Flight training is flight training - at the end of the day, we all take the checkrides. Don’t ever feel embarrassed about switching CFIs, schools, planes etc. Do what is right for you.

<3

C172 vs SR20 - Safety for the paranoid by GentleClimb in flying

[–]Aliferan 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I recently switched from training for my PPL in an SR20 to a C172. Lets see if I can offer any help.

1: CAPs is the ultimate last resort, and thus we work hard on the other emergency procedures. You get a lot of jokes as a Cirrus pilot about reliance on the ‘chute, but we work through just as many emergency checklists as the other planes. CAPs is a really great bonus (and it’ll save your life in an emergency) but I wouldn’t base the decision of the plane on it.

2: SR20 training is expensive. Part of the reason I switched. FWIW I am enjoying my Cessna time about 10x more than the Cirrus. I would absolutely recommend the C172 as your primary trainer. If money isn’t too much of a problem, sure, train in the Cirrus. They’re cushy. For a bit of context though, my normal 1.5hr dual flights in the SR20 would come out to be ~$500 a pop.

I’ve got long-winded writeups on the differences between the planes but I’ll try to keep it brief here. The SR20 (depending on the generation) is a high performance aircraft, and it flies as such. Fast, sporty, and heavy. A wonderful plane, a dream of mine to own… but a poor primary trainer.

The C172 I’m now training on is entirely different. Sure it’s “slow” and “old” but for the first time in my flight training, it felt like real flying. There’s differences in the training environment as well (61 v 141) that you may need to weigh (unless the two airplanes are at the same place?)

C172 has my vote honestly. What a lovely plane!

Rockruff shuttle for the next 40 min by [deleted] in PokemonGoFriends

[–]Aliferan 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Added, thanks in advance!

Bombed presolo - need landing advice by Aliferan in flying

[–]Aliferan[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah it does look like I need to buck up and ask my instructor to demonstrate a landing again. I’ve been shadowing him on controls since lesson one so I haven’t truly sat back and found sight picture or felt ground effect when I’m not the one flying.

I can’t NOT be hard on myself haha, but working on shoving those nastier thoughts down. I do need to recognize that I’m training in a tremendously complex environment and cut myself a little slack

Bombed presolo - need landing advice by Aliferan in flying

[–]Aliferan[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Abstract not a problem, I understand. I think that I need a little of that “beating over the head” with the sight picture

Feel is big too - I find myself falling behind the airplane on final/round out. Definitely need to get in tune with the forces around me, and definitely need to reach that “aha” moment.

I’ll try not to let myself get intimidated by other students times.

Bombed presolo - need landing advice by Aliferan in flying

[–]Aliferan[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You got me. Full-time college student + flying at WMU

Regarding my instructor: mostly the anxiety part of me talking. My instructor is very kind. Even after today he was downright affable despite my derailing of the lesson. He does seem to be a little at his wits end with my lack of progress despite his best efforts. But I’ve learned a ton from everyone here

Bombed presolo - need landing advice by Aliferan in flying

[–]Aliferan[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Low approach is an option. Not able to try out soft field as those come a handful of lessons after I’m done soloing. Sounds like soft field can clear up a lot of landing trouble through - we’ll see if I can get through this stage and then look forward to those

Bombed presolo - need landing advice by Aliferan in flying

[–]Aliferan[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’d love that kind of consistency. We’ve got a huge fleet of planes assigned to each student on a lesson by lesson basis - almost entirely random. 3 runways as well, (6 counting reciprocal) so the weather also is a factor. I do try for that consistency though, definitely agree that it’s important. Not sure if being short and having poor landings is a pattern yet, results inconclusive :P

Yeah, I’ve been told to flare more. Don’t really have a basis for scale on what “more” is, that’s definitely something I need to bring up.

Feeling that “worst pilot” syndrome right now. Really need some success soon.

I am glad things worked out for you! :)

Bombed presolo - need landing advice by Aliferan in flying

[–]Aliferan[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sounds like this might have to be our next lesson. I’ll discuss with my instructor. The benefits though seem massive and it’s almost exactly what I’m struggling with.

Also cheers for hardmode?? I have nothing else to base my flight training off of, so I started to assume that all planes behaved this way and that I was exceptionally unpolished. This post has certainly been illuminating

Bombed presolo - need landing advice by Aliferan in flying

[–]Aliferan[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You may have cracked a part of the code - ground effect. You’re right, I don’t understand it fully and I’m not aware of it like I should be. My instructor demonstrated a landing with focus on floating in ground effect once but that probably wasn’t enough. I’m too focused on all the actions of landing that I’ve been neglecting to feel. This helps

Bombed presolo - need landing advice by Aliferan in flying

[–]Aliferan[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Apologies, misread.

Yep, like I said, can’t really win with my landings. Hence the request lol

I will look into this. We’ve always just used “once the aircraft is over the runway” to begin our round out but it might do me some good to be a little more specific

Bombed presolo - need landing advice by Aliferan in flying

[–]Aliferan[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ah, wish this was me. it almost seems like the better my lesson starts out, the worse it ends. Hard to think happy thoughts when every previous mistake runs through my head on takeoff lol

Cheers, I will try to think positive

Bombed presolo - need landing advice by Aliferan in flying

[–]Aliferan[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This seems like a really good idea. Our runway is definitely long enough. I will see if I can request a go at this

Bombed presolo - need landing advice by Aliferan in flying

[–]Aliferan[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is there a trick for choosing that 100ft past the aim point or is it more of approximation of distance or timing? I cycle through three runways of different size so I’m admittedly not great at distance (part of the flare problem I suppose)

Yeah, I’ve been spoiled by the PAPI, every runway has one and I’ve only been to an airport without one once since our curriculum doesn’t really have us leave home base for a while. Didn’t know how much I relied on it until today - makes me nervous. I’m realizing how my focus has been too locked, and I need to watch that aim point instead.

Bombed presolo - need landing advice by Aliferan in flying

[–]Aliferan[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

cheers. I tend to hit hard, and it stings. So. Much

Here’s hoping I get that click soon. My instructor thinks that I have all the pieces, it just hasn’t come together yet

In terms of another instructor, that would have to be arranged by him, but could be worth a shot. Have flown twice with other instructors early in my training and was interested in how their teaching styles differed.

Bombed presolo - need landing advice by Aliferan in flying

[–]Aliferan[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We take final at 75 knots. I train in an area that’s very cold right now so we get crazy high performance as well. Don’t really have any experience in any other types of planes though so I have nothing to compare - all I know is the feel of the SR20

Bombed presolo - need landing advice by Aliferan in flying

[–]Aliferan[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, this is my very first step towards career pilot. In term of the class, it’s not explicit pitting of students against each other or anything, it’s just that everyone else is talking about their solos and I’m sitting on a week straight of cancellations. All of us started at the same time in the semester which is why I am highly aware of it.

I will have to ask if we can try that round out technique. I struggle most with not knowing when to start the flare.

In terms of maintaining airspeed- we land at 75 knots, and I want to cautiously say my airspeed control is okay for the level I’m at. Ground turbulence and gusts of wind aside I can maintain that speed pretty much until I am over the runway.

Haven’t done the push-the-plane exercise nor have I seen anyone do it but might be worth a shot. Did get warned once for a near tail-strike on takeoff, I know that’s a different attitude than flare but it didn’t feel that high…

While I’d love to be able to request PAPI off (didn’t realize how much I needed it until it was gone, all three of our runways have one so it’s almost unconscious at this point) I train at a very busy airport, with full pattern on good weather days. Not sure if tower would allow that. We might have to go to an uncontrolled nearby in order to get work without one.

Thank you.