Hello, my name is Ben Lovegrove and in this video I'm going to give you some tips on how
to calm your nerves before your flying lessons, skills tests, and other daunting prospects
on the horizon.
I'm going to give you a few things to think about if the nervousness is starting to spoil
your enjoyment of learning to fly.
Learning to fly presents the student with all kinds of challenges.
How each person reacts to these depends upon their individual strengths and weaknesses.
For some, they have to overcome a fear of flying itself.
There are those seemingly gifted novice pilots who seem to sail through all the practical
lessons and pass each exam first time as if they were born to the task.
They qualify for their licences in minimal time and head off to hour build before moving
on to the next round of training.
Then they joyfully follow the path that leads them to a career in aviation in which they
are truly Pilot In Command.
However, I suspect such people are the exception rather than the rule.
Most students will take more than the minimal amount of hours to learn the practical lessons,
and they won’t be as confident at every stage.
Besides, some of those calm, and collected student pilots may have all the appearance
of an ice cool fighter jock but underneath they are in as much turmoil as anyone else.
No one likes to admit to being nervous or unsure.
The Guilty Relief of a Cancelled Flying Lesson.
It’s the night before your next lesson.
You’ve been circuit bashing and you know that your first solo is looming.
Perhaps you’ve been set the task of going on your first cross country solo, your first
land away, or the Skills Test is booked for the following morning.
Whatever your next challenge is there may be some moments in which you feel less like
Tom Cruise in Top Gun and more like a quivering plate of jelly.
There may be moments when you look out of the window to check the weather and secretly
wish the cloud base was a bit lower and that the weather would close in and postpone the
imminent lesson.
You might call the flying school and wait with hope in your heart while they check the
weather, and you might feel a guilty sense of relief when they tell your lesson is cancelled.
You didn’t really want to learn to fly, did you?
You’d much rather put your feet up and watch a film.
"What fools learn to fly anyway?"
"It’ll all end in disaster or divorce!"
"Put away those silly, self indulgent thoughts and keep your feet where they belong – firmly
on the ground."
Then you remember the inspiration of books, films, and family members, or people you’ve
met who sowed the seed and started you on this journey.
You remember that you look up at just about every opportunity when any type of aircraft
passes overhead.
You remember that sense of freedom when you first took to the air and looked down at the
towns and countryside below.
You remember the beauty of the skies when your instructor took you through a gap in
the clouds and you flew above in the bright sunshine, watching the shadow of the aeroplane
on the white cloud beneath.
Overcoming Nerves With Distraction.
Nerves are normal.
They are part of the process of anticipation and they are to be expected when you’re
about to do something you’ve never done before or at least not often.
The trick is not to focus on them and turn your attention to other things.
In other words, distract that fearful part of yourself by thinking about something else.
Use the power of your imagination to portray the outcome you desire.
There you are, confidently flying the plane, in full control and command.
That’s you, in the left hand seat, flying neat circuits, and flying from A to B in full
and certain knowledge of where you are at any given time.
Have you ever been on your way to an interview, dental appointment, or presentation (substitute
your own fear inducing event if need be) and saw something that quite literally took your
mind off it?
That’s all distraction is – turning your attention away from your thoughts of disaster
and towards either mental images of success or something completely different from the
imminent experience.
Worried about getting lost?
If the worst comes to the worst call Distress & Diversion on 121.5.
They’re there to help and they want to help.
It’s they’re job and that’s what they’re waiting for – anyone who to make that call
so that they can give the help they’ve been trained to provide.
There’s no shame in admitting that you need some help.
The idiot is the pilot who stubbornly refuses to admit to him/herself that help is needed
and flies on into some unhappy outcome.
Breathe & Become Calm.
Butterflies in the stomach?
Sweaty palms?
Wobbly legs?
As well as the mental trick of distraction there’s another simple method for calming
your body down – breathing.
No, not that shallow breathing we all do on autopilot, but deep abdominal breathing.
It’s a conscious way of filling your lungs with more air and consequently more oxygen.
By adding more oxygen to your lungs and consequently your blood stream your brain receives more
and therefore your mind feels clearer.
As the name suggests, abdominal breathing is simply the process of extending your abdomen
outwards as you breath in, and inwards as you breath out.
By pushing your abdomen out you draw down your diaphragm (the wall between your lungs
and your stomach), and that motion in turn creates a partial vacuum in your lungs so
that air rushes in.
The reverse helps to push the breath out once you’ve absorbed all that lovely oxygen.
The motion should be gentle, fluid and rhythmic.
Try practicisng a sequence where you breath in for four counts, hold for two counts and
out for four counts.
Three deep abdominal breaths can have a calming affect in all kinds of situations, not just
before your next flying lesson.
Confidence Increases In Proportion To Log Book Entries.
Another thing you can think about is that feeling of elation after successfully completing
a flight.
Remember when you walked across the apron feeling ten feet tall and ready to fly around
the world?
That’s one of the reasons we fly.
To feel that buzz again you’ve got one little task to do first – fly the aeroplane again.
Thanks for watching.
I hope you found this video of interest.
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