How to handle doubt

[jrh]

A friend and I were talking the other day and an interesting topic came up. We started discussing fairly low time (say, anything less than 200 hours), fairly inexperienced pilots, and how some pilots don't have much confidence. They don't feel comfortable flying alone, flying IFR, flying in busy airspace, taking long trips, dealing with weather, or whatever. Ultimately, in the more advanced phases of flight training, like commercial, multi-engine, or CFI training, they really struggle because they don't have a solid experience base to stand on. It can all be traced back to not having enough confidence to go out and really use the privileges they have as they progress through their training. Because they don't feel comfortable "pushing their limits" so to speak, their skills get rusty, making them even less confident, and it's a vicious cycle.

My friend and I both agree that just going out on their own, getting experience, is the best way to build confidence and judgement. It teaches one to step up and act as PIC, rather than defer decisions to a CFI in the seat next to them all the time.

But here's the problem, and the source of my question in this post: How do you get people to take those first few steps of going out alone and expanding their horizons? My first instinct is to tell them, "Put the doubt out of your mind, the risks aren't nearly as high as you think they are, just go out and do it, for goodness sakes!"

Then I stopped and thought about that advice for a minute. Those words could make for a really dangerous pilot. Doubt is what has kept all of us alive at one time or another. My friend summed it up by saying, "Doubt is what keeps you or me from flying into a thunderstorm...but doubt is also what keeps those other pilots from flying into a big airport because the taxiway layout is too scary."

So how do you teach someone to manage doubt? How do you differentiate between "expanding your horizons" and "doing something stupid" that could kill you? For me, it always came naturally, but I'm not sure how to express that judgement to pilots early in their training. Surely those pilots who lack confidence aren't doomed to failure in their training...but how do you help them improve, without becoming reckless?

Thoughts?

[meritflyer]

One of the best ways to fly IFR is to go out on a nice day and fly the IFR system. You'll be able to concentrate on flying your route and approach without the worries of weather. This is how I started out flying instruments. It was a great confidence builder.

[FlyOrDie]

The way I overcame doubt earlier in my flying was by talking to myself like this.

Me: "I want to fly to this airport."

Voice of doubt: "But that airport is too big, bad, or tough for you to handle."

Me: "I can do it because I'm trained. I believe that my training provided with judgment and decision making to handle any situation that might arise."

Doubt is a natural part of the learning process, just think about how many times you check the answers in the back of the book. At some point though you have to change how you think and decide that you're a good pilot and the decisions you make are sound. Eventually though the mother bird has to kick the baby out of the nest and force it to fly on its own.

[jrh]

Originally Posted by FlyOrDie

Me: "I want to fly to this airport."

Voice of doubt: "But that airport is too big, bad, or tough for you to handle."

Me: "I can do it because I'm trained. I believe that my training provided with judgment and decision making to handle any situation that might arise."

I like that line of reasoning. It gives the student a logical reason why they can handle the flight. Using that method, it provides for a safe structure in which to push the limits.

You can think to yourself..."My instructor never taught me how to do aerobatics, or how to fly into a thunderstorm, or how to buzz my friend's house...so I probably shouldn't do those things. But my instructor did teach me how to fly at night into a busy airport, so I think I'm going to try that."

Any other thoughts?

[PanJet]

Originally Posted by FlyOrDie

The way I overcame doubt earlier in my flying was by talking to myself like this.

Me: "I want to fly to this airport."

Voice of doubt: "But that airport is too big, bad, or tough for you to handle."

Me: "I can do it because I'm trained. I believe that my training provided with judgment and decision making to handle any situation that might arise."

This is the line of reasoning that is most useful, but it's also the one that is the hardest for the said type of people to accept, and that's the gist of the problem. They are trained for it, but they still don't believe they can do it.

Then, they say, "Well, I just need a little more experience with some help and I'll be okay." I've seen this attitude lead to one flight after another until the student has become dependent on instructors or more advanced pilots. Do this long enough and they start to wonder if they can still fly safely by themselves.

It's a very tough problem to deal with, because you want to tell them to just make decisions and be comfortable with them, but it's so hard for them to accept that they can do it. I've seen it to the point where the student doesn't truly believe they've earned the privaleges (spelled right?) of a license or rating they've recieved.

[jrh]

Originally Posted by PanJet

...they say, "Well, I just need a little more experience with some help and I'll be okay." I've seen this attitude lead to one flight after another until the student has become dependent on instructors or more advanced pilots. Do this long enough and they start to wonder if they can still fly safely by themselves.

I was talking to a CFI friend of mine about almost that exact problem.

One solution that we talked about is that the CFI needs to have a talk with the student and tell them, the best way to progress in their training is to fly on their own for a while. In fact, it might not be just the best way, but also the necessary way. The CFI could go so far as to say...ok, we can do X number of dual flights together, but from then on, I want you to get X hours of solo cross country (or night, or complex, or whatever is necessary) time before we continue flying together.

It sounds a bit harsh at first, but it reminds me of FlyOrDie's statement about a mother bird booting the chicks out of the nest. The student has to reach a point where they're either comfortable on their own, or decide flying might not be for them, at least not professionally. As long as the CFI makes it clear that they believe the student is capable of handling the load alone, and reminds the student that they've been trained on how to handle everything, I think that's the best way possible to force a student out on their own without pushing them to do something stupid.

Of course, I want to hear other ideas, because that's the whole reason why I started this thread...I'm not sure if my idea works. I've never seen it applied to a student in real life.

Originally Posted by PanJet

...privaleges (spelled right?) of a license or rating they've recieved.

Privileges....and received

[MikeD]

Originally Posted by jrh

It sounds a bit harsh at first, but it reminds me of FlyOrDie's statement about a mother bird booting the chicks out of the nest. The student has to reach a point where they're either comfortable on their own, or decide flying might not be for them, at least not professionally. As long as the CFI makes it clear that they believe the student is capable of handling the load alone, and reminds the student that they've been trained on how to handle everything, I think that's the best way possible to force a student out on their own without pushing them to do something stupid.

Trained until I think they're good enough to get the job done, then they get the proverbial boot to pave their own path for a bit, within reason.

Best example is springing the first solo on the stud. The "I'm getting out now, you've got it for 3 patterns. Don't foul up, or I won't have a ride home tonight."

The look of terror as they get the unexpected pales in comparison to the look of confidence in what they've just accomplished when they taxi back in to pick me up.

Then again, my training methods are different.......every stud is a Lead-In Fighter Training candidate to me.

[FlyOrDie]

In my humble 1000 hour opinion, the law of primacy plays a huge part in doubt. I've rode along with other pilots and felt like the entire time they were giving up their authority because they were intimidated by my experience. For example, I flew with this person who is relatively low time in a complex aircraft. After the run-up, during the departure briefing the other pilot said this in reference to an emergency after takeoff, "If anything happens you take it." I couldn't believe it, they were PIC and not I. That sort of mindset of giving the responsiblility of the flight up, has to reflect on a CFI not knowing how to properly teach decision making, and how to build confidence within the student to follow through with those decisions.

In my own training I always felt like my CFI was carefully guiding me to the right decision and never making it for me. The problem is I don't see that in other CFIs. Another example: on a poor day a student will walk into the FBO and their instructor will say, "We're doing ground cause of weather." How does that help the student? The go/no go decision making process was made without any learning on the student's part. Sure the student might not have the judgement at hour 6 to understand weather theory and application but at least they should be forced to apply some common sense to decide if it's a good idea to fly when a giant cell is forming over the airport.

[BrettInLJ]

Originally Posted by FlyOrDie

In my humble 1000 hour opinion, the law of primacy plays a huge part in doubt. I've rode along with other pilots and felt like the entire time they were giving up their authority because they were intimidated by my experience. For example, I flew with this person who is relatively low time in a complex aircraft. After the run-up, during the departure briefing the other pilot said this in reference to an emergency after takeoff, "If anything happens you take it." I couldn't believe it, they were PIC and not I. That sort of mindset of giving the responsiblility of the flight up, has to reflect on a CFI not knowing how to properly teach decision making, and how to build confidence within the student to follow through with those decisions.

I think that this is an example of good judgement on his part. He is exercising is PIC authority by making the decision for you to be the PF in the case of an emergency because it would lead to the best chance of a safe outcome. There is nothing wrong with that, and he is exercising, not giving up, his PIC authority. For example, I gave up the controls to my instructor once when we lost our engine right after takeoff at SNA. Granted we were both logging PIC, but I only had about 5 hours complex verses her hundreds in that make and model, so I made a quick decision and positively gave her the controls.

[jrh]

Originally Posted by BrettInLJ

I think that this is an example of good judgement on his part. He is exercising is PIC authority by making the decision for you to be the PF in the case of an emergency because it would lead to the best chance of a safe outcome. There is nothing wrong with that, and he is exercising, not giving up, his PIC authority. For example, I gave up the controls to my instructor once when we lost our engine right after takeoff at SNA. Granted we were both logging PIC, but I only had about 5 hours complex verses her hundreds in that make and model, so I made a quick decision and positively gave her the controls.

I think there can be two ways to look at a situation like that.

Brett, you're talking about the pilot exercising his authority as PIC by him essentially saying, "I can handle this plane by myself if I need to, but because you're more experienced, I'd like you to fly while I troubleshoot any emergency. I'm still in charge, but I'm using you as a resource." That's a good thing, and I totally agree with that attitude.

FlyOrDie seems to be talking about a resignation sort of attitude. The pilot is essentially saying, "I can't handle this plane by myself. If I were solo and had a problem, I'd really be up a creek. But you're qualified and more capable than me. Therefore, if we have any problems, I'm dumping the mess in your lap to fix." That's a terrible attitude, in my opinion. If a person is legally qualified to do something, they ought to be able to go do it. It's one thing to have personal limits and minimums, but it's another thing to not even see yourself as the one in charge of the flight.

Do you see the difference I'm talking about?

[MikeD]

Originally Posted by jrh

FlyOrDie seems to be talking about a resignation sort of attitude. The pilot is essentially saying, "I can't handle this plane by myself. If I were solo and had a problem, I'd really be up a creek. But you're qualified and more capable than me. Therefore, if we have any problems, I'm dumping the mess in your lap to fix." That's a terrible attitude, in my opinion. If a person is legally qualified to do something, they ought to be able to go do it. It's one thing to have personal limits and minimums, but it's another thing to not even see yourself as the one in charge of the flight.

Do you see the difference I'm talking about?

All I know is that in your example above, the solo pilot has the rest of his life to solve the problem.

[jrh]

Originally Posted by MikeD

All I know is that in your example above, the solo pilot has the rest of his life to solve the problem.

Exactly! It scares/worries/bothers/frustrates me!

There are students out there who never take charge early in their training. As a result, they don't learn how to operate in bigger, faster, more advanced environments. They're always dependent on somebody else to take care of them. They are physically capable of flying the plane, they are intellectually capable of flying the plane, but the missing ingredient that stops them from becoming a top notch pilot is that they have no confidence or, some might say, the "right stuff" needed to fly the plane when a glitch occurs.

Find a way to make them take the bull by the horns and they'd be great, but until then, they're dangerous. An otherwise competent pilot is hindered by their own mindset. I hate seeing that.