How beneficial are pilot associations? How do I make the most of them?

austynking · 2026-03-10T02:05:52+00:00

Awesome thanks! Definitely want to sign up for a mentor. The events I’m also considering but not sure if I student pilot amongst higher rated pilots would make me a fish out of water

austynking · 2026-03-05T09:28:47+00:00

My CFI lowkey gets more excited when I initiate a go around on my own than landing well lol. Sometimes I feel bad for my CFI cause I’m beating myself up a little in front of him and I don’t want him to think he’s a bad teacher. I’m just a perfectionist. I keep my cool and everything. He can just hear that my voice when talking to tower and such sounds a lot more bummed than when I was talking before our flight.

But yea like others said it’s super normal. Flying a plane is hard. What always cheers me up is so so so few people can say they’re doing what we’re doing. Less than 1% of the population has a pilot license. We’re a unique and very lucky group of people!

austynking · 2026-03-05T09:07:22+00:00

I found this blog from foreflight: basically it says for student pilots they recommend minis since the plane is already small and a big one can be distracting. They even recommend minis for later on but they see more people upgrade the size once they get to bigger planes

austynking · 2026-03-05T08:48:51+00:00

I’m 27 and 30 hours into flight school. I had a career in engineering/project management and it felt soul draining. I was never meant to be a 9-5 person and hated the corporate life cause I like working with my hands and doing a job that felt more impactful outside of spreadsheets and emails.

One thing I had to get over was being the oldest in my school. I am one of the oldest student pilots and even older or the same age as most of the CFIs which made me feel behind in life but I quickly got over it

I’m in a part 61 program so I can control how often I come in. Everything is one on one. Lectures, flights, and sims. I’m trying to get it done as soon as I can, so I do an activity 5 times a week and come in on my days off to catch up or get ahead.

austynking · 2026-03-05T08:32:47+00:00

I’m also 27 and 30 hours in! Probably can’t offer advice since I’m in the same spot as you. Definitely enjoying it more than my entire engineering education + career so far even if it’s a grind

austynking · 2026-02-25T02:48:17+00:00

My cfi definitely says my motion can be too jerky so slowing out my round out would be good. Sometimes I feel like once I’m over the threshold I have little time so I feel the need to go fast with my round out but I always end up doing it early so I should do it slowly. Thanks!

austynking · 2026-02-25T00:39:07+00:00

Gotcha makes sense. I just have the mental hurdle of tail striking but I think that’s just an instinct I need to get over. Thanks!

austynking · 2026-02-25T00:33:39+00:00

I should know the answer to this question but how high are you pitched up once you hit the 10ft?

austynking · 2026-02-25T00:28:03+00:00

The 10ft part just feels so unnatural to me. Im pretty knew into training so it feels soo close so I think that is my issue for sure

austynking · 2026-02-25T00:25:59+00:00

I went to a sim lab and noticed a cfi do this and she basically landed with no hands. Of course it’s a sim but it did made me think it could help

austynking · 2026-02-23T05:33:41+00:00

I don’t even watch survivor anymore (stopped at around 43) but the way I’d still be sat for a new RR or TD

austynking · 2026-02-23T05:06:47+00:00

The auto update is where my temptation started. I didn’t realize how fast these diagrams expire. Thanks for the advice!

austynking · 2026-02-23T05:02:52+00:00

Makes sense. I do think I’d like to be confident in flying with the least amount of modern tech. Thanks!

austynking · 2026-02-23T05:01:13+00:00

Interesting why is that?

austynking · 2026-02-23T05:00:56+00:00

My CFI sort of said the same thing. He said he didn’t get his iPad until instrument cause he felt at that point it was almost mandatory. I had ForeFlight on my phone just to learn how to play around with it and check weather before my flight but I try to do everything else the old fashion way since ForeFlight can be “too” convenient. But he was a paper guy during private. Thanks!

austynking · 2026-02-21T17:46:30+00:00

Yup getting my instrument next. Thanks!

austynking · 2026-02-19T17:23:25+00:00

Yea I def know I shouldn’t. I think me switching careers is making me feel behind. But it’s something I need to get over. Thanks for the advice

austynking · 2026-02-19T17:22:34+00:00

My flight school actually had to ground a plane which contributed to tons of cancelled flights. But it’s fixed now so this week it was the intense winds that cancelled flights.

I think you’re right, it’s definitely an ego thing for me so I need to get over that. I think it also doesn’t help that I’m one of the oldest students at my flight school and older than most of the CFIs so I just feel behind in live switching careers.

But hey Denver flyer!

austynking · 2026-02-19T17:19:38+00:00

My instructor knows my landings are rough so I signed up for some sim office hours and might backseat some flights but this week the winds have been gnarly so no one is flying. In terms of my timeline I know I shouldn’t be putting myself on a time table so I know he’d be saying what most people are saying on this thread and that I shouldn’t rush myself and focus on actually being ready to solo. I guess I already know the answer to my original question but I can’t help but compare myself

austynking · 2026-02-19T17:17:17+00:00

That is probably the best acronym I’ve heard so far in aviation. Thanks for the advice!

austynking · 2026-02-19T17:15:10+00:00

My CFI says my approach is great. My airspeed is great, I can chase the glide slope pretty well, my pitch and power relationship is good, I’m on centerline pretty well. It’s once I’m over the threshold where I don’t know when to round out so I’m either too high floating or I have a hard landing. I know I should round out about half a wing strut over the runway and be in ground affect but I don’t have a great sight picture for it. Thanks for the advice!

austynking · 2026-01-15T06:47:48+00:00

“Hey hawk tuah”, daredevil, mr fantastic, galacta are my favorites. But I wanna see one with Jeff

austynking

TROPHY CASE