Frustrated!

Can you learn to fly without actually taking a lesson? Because I have to say, lessons can definitely take the fun out of it. I'm fully aware how important it is to fly with an instructor, I mean, I really still feel like I have no idea what it is I'm doing and the only way to learn is through an instructor. The problem is, when I'm out by myself (or with a passenger) I don't feel all that bad as a pilot, but when I'm up with an instructor who is constantly correcting every little thing, I get completely discouraged.

Now, I'm making it seem much worse than it is. I think it's not the corrections from the instructor, because they have every right to keep you on track, in fact, it's their job to do so. The problem is the entire dynamics of flying. When you're driving, or really, doing most vehicular tasks, you have to worry about two things at a time, your speed and your direction. Speed and direction is basically managed with your throttle (gas pedal in a vehicle) and RPMs, and your direction is managed with your method of steering. Two things. That's basically it. If you can master that, then you're pretty much good to go. Even if you can't, as long as you can keep yourself on the road, you're not going to have too much trouble.

Airplanes aren't so simple. You do have to worry about speed and direction, but then the whole thing called altitude is thrown into the mix. So now, you must keep your speed, heading (direction, of course) and altitude steady, and even though adding one extra element into the mix doesn't seem like such a big deal, it is. It's not like throwing in an extra vegetable into your salad just for fun. It upsets the entire dish; your salad has become a quiche (if we're still on the cooking metaphor). Now, increasing or decreasing your throttle doesn't only affect your speed, it now affets your altitude. And not only that, but your steering also affects your speed and altitude because now you have to direct yourself side to side and up and down. Not only that, but then you have to be able to keep everything steady without looking outside (if doing your instrument rating), which you've been doing for almost the entire duration of your private licence. And then, to make matters worse, it seems like the moment you focus on one thing, the others fall apart, and that's when the instructor starts yelling.

So, I'm not complaining so to speak, I'm just frustrated with the whole nature of flying, or flight training. You take one thing, an airplane shall we say, that really isn't exact. It tips. It dips. It goes one way then the next. It can go up and down and side to side and it takes a great deal of effort to keep it steady. But then you take aviation and aviation training and everything about it is exact, or the aim to be exact. Maintain your heading within 10 degrees, maintain your altitude within 50, maintain your airspeed within 5 knots (that may not be correct, the Fargo is in mph so I'm not quite sure what it is in knots) but then you go and hit some turbulence and lose everything. It's just rather irritating, especially when you're a "good enough" kind of a girl.

So, in lieu of whining and complaining, if I plan on adding a commercial licence to my list of accomplishments my disorganized, mediocre self is going to have to find an organized, mutitasking perfectionist. I just hope she's in there somewhere. Then again, how often do any of us simply drive along the road. And if I can stay on the road while putting on the song my daughter wants and handing my son his sippy cup while getting to skating practice on time, I must be able to maintain my altitude, heading, and speed.