I just did my first flying lesson and I don’t understand a single thing
Posted by CryingGod0@reddit | flying | View on Reddit | 47 comments
Hi guys, would like some advice for how to comprehend or understand what the instructor is teaching. There is so much information to process such as RPM, Throttle, Climbs, descents, airspeed. I think I’m overwhelmed by flying.
Does anyone have advice on how to process or understand subsequent lessons?
flowerpower695@reddit
Definitely ask your instructor for pre-/post- briefings. Don’t do yourself a disservice by only listening to your CFI, though. It’s 2026, there’s unlimited access to information. Leverage online content (FlightInsight on YT, mZeroA on YT, PilotInstitute on YT), bold method has great articles IMO. Also, what helped me a lot was chair flying: sitting in my desk chair, and pretending to be in a 172, going through flow checks for taking off, pre landing checklists. If you’re overwhelmed by radio, download LiveATC and just listen to how ATC and the pilots communicate, I would eve listen while having FlightAware open so that I could anticipate what a pilot would say and see if their actual transmission was what I predicted. Finally, just mentally prepare by understanding that you’re doing something completely new and unnatural, but you will grow with time and effort.
Good luck
Over-Potato689@reddit
I felt the same way after my first few lessons. It’ll start to slow down for you. Something I line to do is journal about those days that kick your butt. Just to digest things and analyze the good and bad about that specific flight
one1200@reddit
Everyone feels like that after their first lesson. Just keep going and you’ll pick up more and more every time
JhPPharmaGuy@reddit
Welcome to the club. We ALL felt the same way you did. Instead of focusing on what was overwhelming, try focusing on how much you enjoyed the exhilarating experience. That, my new pilot friend, is what will carry you for the rest of you aviation days!
_TheS0viet_@reddit
This is normal. Try to ask questions when you don’t fully understand something. Study on the ground too. And also, DO YOUR GROUND SCHOOL. I’ve learned better by doing ground and connecting everything in the air.
jimcarroll_cfi@reddit
The Airplane Flying Handbook is your best friend. Start with Chapter 1. https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/aviation/airplane_handbook
nolaflygirl@reddit
Sounds like your CFI might've introduced too much on your first lesson. I hope he went over stuff beforehand & afterwards.
He should tell you what to study & prepare for, for the next lesson. I had a big textbook published by Jeppesen for Cessna. I studied it religiously, daily, chapter-by-chapter, & reviewed, with & without my CFI, what was done on each flight. Everything was presented in a logical, orderly fashion, so I never felt overwhelmed.
It's relevant, too, what your background is re studying ANYTHING. Are you fresh out of h.s.? Not out of h.s. yet? Any college? I find that students who have developed good study habits from prior experience, like college, generally do not get overwhelmed, which also depends on the CFI & how they introduce topics.
I, like many others, was finishing my Bachelor's degree when I started flight training, so I had well-established study habits.
In the past, how have you approached learning other new skills? Like sports? Driving lessons? Horseback riding lessons? Did you feel the same way...that you didn't understand anything after the 1st lesson? If so, & you wound up w/ a driver's license, etc., then just relax & take it one step at a time, study the written material, and...above all...ENJOY EVERY MINUTE!!
It'll ALL come together & feel second-nature. And by the time you solo, you'll wonder why you ever worried in the first place!
usmcmech@reddit
Neither did most of us.
Purgent@reddit
Very normal
mtconnol@reddit
After my first few flight lessons I would come home and just stare at the wall for hours.
I start an airline job next week!
psychonautical101@reddit
This really just made feel a whole lot better as someone who’s graduating this month with a bachelor’s in something totally unrelated to aviation and pivoting into in this world with the end goal of the airlines someday, thank you internet stranger!
Antique-Kitchen-1896@reddit
In Canada we have this book: https://publications.gc.ca/site/eng/263554/publication.html
In the USA they have this: https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/aviation/airplane_handbook/00_afh_full.pdf
You get assigned pages to read before when you are doing your PPL where I learn. And you typically re-read it after the flight would be the advice.
Should read the book. This isn't driving.
BarnackIIIF@reddit
At the end of each lesson, ask your instructor what you will be doing for the next lesson, then make sure to study that so you are prepared. Make sure to study after the lesson, and write things down before you forget.
If you haven't heard it yet: Learning to fly is like drinking water from a fire hose.
Few_Coach704@reddit
That’s okay, just keep going and soon it will be second nature with that stuff
retiredaaer@reddit
Find and purchase a book called “Stick and Rudder”. Available on Amazon.
CaptMcMooney@reddit
take more lessons, stop asking randos
Specific_Gas4322@reddit
It takes time to learn, it takes time, keep at it.
Apuonbus@reddit
There's alot to absorb. Feel free to ask questions, you can dm me if you want and I'll try and help
kevinossia@reddit
Study hard, ask good questions, and fly a lot.
What did you expect? You’re learning a new skill for the first time. You’re not gonna be skilled at it after one day.
johnron2srrl@reddit
When I started I thought a couple of hundred hours and I would be a really good pilot. 600 hours seems to be a good number for begining to know what your are doing. So at 1 lesson all this is expected.
ZappBrannigansLaw@reddit
As I heard someone else say, "don't worry, it'll get worse before it gets worse".
Lol
The point is, it feels like drinking from a garden hose. It will feel that way for a long time.
awkwarddachshund@reddit
Are you saying you're not check ride ready after your first lesson. Man student pilots these days
TxAggieMike@reddit
GO TALK TO YOUR INSTRUCTOR!!!!
Your instructor is tasked with so much more than just demonstrating maneuvers and ensuring your safety.
Big Numbah one is ensuring you are really learning the items you need to learn.
If you don’t provide feedback to your instructor that you are struggling, they won’t know that you need help.
GO TALK TO YOUR INSTRUCTOR!!!!
m4a785m@reddit
No that would make too much sense, it’s better for them to ask a bunch of random strangers on the internet for advice
MaybeBowtie@reddit
I didn’t either when I first flew
It kinda just, at least for me, sticks with you
thanksforallthetrees@reddit
Probably a good idea to learn to drive a car or motorcycle first, in the flat world. It’ll help with RPM and throttle knowledge. Bonus points if it’s a manual transmission. And it’s imperative that you read about it. Trying to learn the theory and physics of flight while actively flying is nigh impossible without the fundamentals.
SnarfsParf@reddit
I’m working on CFI and I also don’t understand a thing
Old-Trouble-8830@reddit
Everyone starts that way don’t try to understand everything just try to take key notes off of the flight I’d say and then when you do learn more you’ll remember “ohh that’s that thing I remember from that one time”
Break it down into chunks, bite sizes and don’t give up you got this!
fondlethethrottle@reddit
First lesson? Let the learning begin… just follow the process and things start falling into place at some point. If they don’t, you’ve learned flying may not be for you.
Accomplished_Beat418@reddit
Your instructor should break it down in digestible bites of information.
Think of the throttle like your gas pedal. There is something called “Known RPM settings”, which are general starting points for something we are looking to do. Take off? Full Power/Full Throttle/Max RPM. Straight and Level Flight: ~2300 RPM in a Cessna. Descending: ~1900RPM in a Cessna. This relates to the amount of “Energy” we’re looking to keep, add, or remove from the equation.
Airspeed is a number we use to gauge how fast we’re moving. It’s relative to the wind. It’s also a number we need to be cognizant of regarding maneuvering the airplane. There’s a bunch of different kinds of airspeeds. Ice-T (G) is how I teach it.
There’s a whole slew of lessons your instructor should have lined up for you. Watch the Embry Riddle Aeronautical University YouTube videos to supplement your learning.
Ok-Rule-8448@reddit
Use a simulator, and a good one...
Unremarkable_Potato_@reddit
So the one thing I learned getting my PPL is my expectations were far too high for myself. All the way to my check ride. First flight as a licensed pilot, things I fought forever came easy. Almost like taking a deep breath and enjoying it improved my performance drastically. All that to say, it’s a learning experience and they don’t expect you to have it sorted on day one. Or even day 30. Enjoy the process of learning, don’t beat yourself up when things go wrong(easier said than done if you’re anything like me), and take a few deep breaths.
FlowerGeneral2576@reddit
I’ve got thousands of flight hours and I still don’t understand anything if it’s any consolation.
Trust the process. It’ll all come naturally
PutOptions@reddit
Hey welcome to the club. It gets so much better. The it sucks again. Then there is hope. Then that evaporates before miraculously returning.
You are doing fine. This is normal. Just keep grinding. And don't forget how it feels when your best work shows up.
Aggravating_Fix_9965@reddit
What part training are you getting?
Your paying him for instruction if your not understanding something discuss it on the ground. Either A he is just trying to build flight hours or b doesn't care if you get it or not.
Remember this
pull up lose airspeed
Push down gain airspeed
On the first flight it should have been very basic
Throttle controls rpm which controls airspeed to a point you can pull the throttle and push down and you'll gain airspeed you can have the throttle all the way in pull up and you will loose all your airspeed.
Flyingredditburner44@reddit
Talk to your instructor.
flyghu@reddit
How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.
At some point in the future, all of these things that feel overwhelming today will be second nature and you'll be fluent in things you don't understand now. Until then, one bite at a time.
LemonAny6444@reddit
exactly take a deep breath and take it one step at a time, It’s overwhelming but worth it.
BrtFrkwr@reddit
Fly the wing. The wing is what flies. The engine just pulls the wing fast enough to fly. Everything else is just along for the ride.
Schwalbe262Guy@reddit
Well after flying study what you learned on your own time what you are curious about, or ask your instructor. It’s a new environment so expecting to understand it on the first time stepping into the cockpit is insane
brianbrush@reddit
Have you started your ground school?
AppleAvi8tor@reddit
This is all normal. Study before and after the flight. And maybe even chair fly at home. That’s where you sit in the chair, and pretend you’re flying by vocally saying what you’re doing.
boganfromdownunda@reddit
Deep dive into what flying is.
Study the next lesson, of course. But you can also read books, listen to podcasts, watch youtube videos.
Most importantly, ask questions.
There are no stupid questions in aviation. Especially as you’re starting.
Infinite_Oil2964@reddit
For the most efficient experience, I would ask your instructor for a few things to read prior to every lesson. Even a few paragraphs on aerodynamics or flight instruments can be helpful, especially early on.
For the record, the only two instruments I introduce on the first flight are the RPM’s and the windscreen. Don’t forget to look outside!
pattern_altitude@reddit
Study before lessons, do it more.
You're doing a complex thing you've never done before... you shouldn't expect to understand it or even not be overwhelmed by it at first.
Drew-Blankenship@reddit
keep taking lessons and study what you went over after the lesson
rFlyingTower@reddit
This is a copy of the original post body for posterity:
Hi guys, would like some advice for how to comprehend or understand what the instructor is teaching. There is so much information to process such as RPM, Throttle, Climbs, descents, airspeed. I think I’m overwhelmed by flying.
Does anyone have advice on how to process or understand subsequent lessons?
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