Checking in with a failed V-03 report ;)

[Breus]

Hello everyone!

I planned this flight carefully and took many things into account! But I failed it!! Everything went smooth (so I thought). I departed John Wayne and had planned to fly the Mini Route northwest bound first, then Coastal Route on the way back to Torrance. I got cleared through the Class B airspace on the Mini Route in the last few seconds close to the airspace (it felt like that because it's 'busy'), so I was ready to break off before I had entered the Class B! And after contacting Santa Monica after leaving the B airspace, he told me I had failed the V-03. I was really surprised. Thinking all kinds of things I could've done wrong! He told me he just got confirmation that I left Socal departure prematurely after departing John Wayne. I was told to fly heading 240 and fly at or below 2400 ft. after departure, and I did that. Then he told me, "cancel altitude restrictions, resume own navigation". My mind was saturated by now, with all kinds of information and planning ahead of time. I changed frequency after confirming own navigation. But of course he never told me to change the freq., so obviously a fail, and a rookie mistake! I continued north out of Santa Monica Class D and stayed away from the other airspaces while climbing to 11500' so that I could stay above the Class B and relax a bit. Then I returned to John Wayne for full stop! No need to act like a child and disconnect after getting told it was a fail. The whole reason we fly on PilotEdge is to learn/keep our skills and get challenged. So of course I returned (home). I've never actually flown a VFR route or corridor or similar for real, so it's a challenge for me too. And I love it!

N6218B flying VFR overhead KLAX via the 'Mini Route' at 2500ft. northwest bound. (FSDreamTeam KLAX)

[NameCoin]

No need to act like a child and disconnect after getting told it was a fail. The whole reason we fly on PilotEdge is to learn/keep our skills and get challenged.

I'm sure you don't mean anything by it, but you don't think a statement like this might be a little bit uncalled for? There are plenty of "valid" reasons to disconnect after failing an exam, one of which is to cool off, debrief, and figure out how to avoid making mistakes next time.

Anyway, nice trip report. I hope your next attempt will be a success.

[Ryan B]

Uncalled for? No. I agree its silly to disconnect because you failed. Keep going, you might learn something else. It's a sim for goodness sake.

OP - so you're the jerk who keeps flying my 18B tail ARGH!!! lol

[NameCoin]

Uncalled for? No. I agree its silly to disconnect because you failed. Keep going, you might learn something else. It's a sim for goodness sake.

I'm sorry, but you're also being aribtrarily dismissive. If you've ever tried learning a highly technical skill or hobby, you would know that there are times when things aren't going right, and you get flustered, frustrated, surprised, etc... I don't ever recommend that somebody keep going in that state because it's "just X for goodness sake". It can even make the problem worse and create bad habits by forcing one's self to keep going. Recognise that there are different approaches and situations in learning than your own.

[Keith Smith]

Interesting discussion, I just hope it stays productive.

There is value in continuing when "the chips are down" IF your goal is to practice dealing with task saturation, being flustered, and handling unplanned events on the fly.

However, if you are wanting to practice a narrowly defined set of tasks (course interception, course tracking and airspace awareness, for example), then you might make a conscious decision and say, "I'm sure there is value in dealing with being task saturated and flustered, but I don't want to do that right now, I really want to practice these other things."

In that regard, I have to agree with NameCoin, people are here for different reasons and are wanting to practice different things. Ryan, I'm with you...with few exceptions, I don't pause sims, and I don't quit sims in flight, however, that's because I'm specifically using the sim to replicate a realistic, dynamic environment, and not to practice a narrow set of tasks.

It's absolutely fine to point out the possibility of expanding someone's training horizons, but don't be shocked if the response was "thanks, but not right now." It doesn't mean that they're using the sim incorrectly.

[NameCoin]

Keith (and others),

I'm actually not disagreeing that there is good training value in continuing a rating exam even though it has been failed. But as you pointed out, it depends on your goal and level. Any sufficiently advanced student or simulator / rated pilot can and should continue the flight. However, someone just beginning to learn the fundamentals might not get any value if things start going south. For example, if someone is trying to learn basic navigation for the V-2 and ends up getting lost, then vectored all over the place, it's probably better to stop and debrief. Forcing a continuation past that point is only humiliation.

Anyway, my only point is that you can't call someone's decision to stop "childish" or "silly" when there are perfectly good reasons to do so. Or even if there aren't, it's still unproductive and rude to put down someone who is only working at his own pace. I say all of this in defense of students and learning, having taught college mathematics for many years now.

Thanks for the discussion.

[Keith Smith]

NameCoin, totally agree.

[stevekirks]

Everyone, I think the OP is referring to him self--that he failed and instead of acting like a child and disconnecting, he/she moved forward. I don't think anyone called anyone a name.

[Keith Smith]

I think that is understood, that wasn't the issue, it was the implication that those who do disconnect are doing something wrong.

[Kerbo]

Beautiful screenshot and thanks for sharing your story so others (newbies like me) can learn from it.