Day in the Life of a Student Pilot

Nick: All right. So, we have Caroline Nicholson. Is that is that correct?  Okay, cool. Here on the podcast. She is a student pilot and we’re going to get to know her kind of in this day in the life series that we’re doing here on the podcast and she’s also which we’ll learn about our recent scholarship winner.

So, why don’t you start off with saying you know kind of who you are, where you’re from and give us a background.

Caroline: Yeah. So, I grew up in Southern Virginia, right on the North Carolina border in a really, really small town. My dad was a farmer. I moved to Florida for college when I was 19. And I’ve lived here ever since. I live in St. Petersburg in Tampa Bay. And I graduated from college with a business management degree.

Didn’t really know what I wanted to do with my life, so I just did something really broad. And then when I was 24, almost 25, I was going through a bit of like a quarter life crisis because I was just so bored with my office job and wanted to do something that I knew I would enjoy for the rest of my life. And my friend actually had the idea of being a pilot before I did and she was like, “Caroline, like you’re adventurous, you’re smart. Why don’t you be a pilot?” And I’m like, “Oh My God, that’s a great idea”. So that’s what kind of got me into everything and started this whole journey for me.

Nick: Okay, cool. Have you ever like flown in a small aircraft before that?

Caroline: Never in my life. No. I think maybe once when I was like four or five, but I wasn’t conscious then. So, I don’t really remember, but never in my adult life.

Nick: No. Okay. Interesting. Yeah. That’s really cool. And then, so you’re still like so you quit your job and at the office job?

Caroline: Yes, I quit my office job. I signed up for your course and was still doing that in the office job at the same time. And then I knew like once I actually started flight training, I would need more time during the day because it just gets so busy and crazy on the weekends at my local flight school. So then I quit my office job and started serving and bartending at a little restaurant. So I mainly work late-night shifts now, which gives me a lot more time during the day to study and fly and do all those things.

Nick: Yeah, I saw that in your application for the scholarship and I just thought because I try to tell people and get to people before they get too far along in flight training to really kind of plan their flight training out and kind of mold your life around it. And I thought it was so smart and amazing what you’re doing to like do flight training in the day and still working at night. It’s probably a lot. It shows your dedication. But I thought it was also really smart of you to kind of plan ahead and do that because it can be really hard when you work a 9 to5 to either only fly on the weekends or you know fly after work when you got to commute there and things like that. It just makes it a lot harder. Not saying it can’t be done, but I thought that was really really cool. So you want to be a pilot for a career. Can you kind of expand on what your goals are for aviation?

Caroline: Yeah. So, starting out, I believed airlines were my goal, and that’s definitely still an option for me. But then I just really didn’t know how many options there were as far as careers. I’m thinking hard about cargo. I’m thinking about like chartering jets. There’s no like thing that I’m completely set on. I just know like I definitely want to be flying for the rest of my life. So, one of the three like airlines, cargo, charter. We’ll see. We’ll see where it takes me.

Nick: Gotcha. Very cool. Yeah. I was just talking I was on a podcast called the Calm Cockpit podcast. I don’t know if you ever heard of it. If you haven’t, you should go check it out. It’s really cool. They cover all things like you know like stress, sleep, exercise, and all things kind of external the ground and flight training that can make you a better pilot. Anyways, we were talking about how like you know before I got into aviation and flight training like same thing. I thought like the only way to make money, you know, in aviation is like to become an airline pilot or whatever. And once you get in it, like you kind of see and you even dive more and more in it, you see more and more opportunities especially with like the online world now and I don’t know, air taxis, are those going to happen? Are they going to have pilots? Who knows? But it’s just it’s an very expanding industry. So, yeah, it’s cool. Very cool. So, you don’t know quite yet what you want to do, but you know you want to fly.

Caroline: Exactly. I can’t imagine myself doing anything else and that’s what like keeps me going.

Nick: Gotcha. Cool. So, tell me a little bit about like your very first flight in in flight training. How was that? Was was it good? Did you get like because the very first time I flew was actually for a class in college. Our teacher was a pilot and I don’t know how the the liability of this worked out, but he was able to take us up two students at a time and we like collected some data and stuff at the University of Washington. But on the way back from where we went to like collect this data like I got really really sick air sick and so I thought like I was never going to lie but then once I was in the in the controls that kind of went away. So, did you have anything like that or how did it go?

Caroline: So, fun fact, I was nervous about that because that flight I said I took when I was really young that I don’t remember, my mom said I was throwing up the whole time. So I was a little nervous that maybe 20 years later this would carry over and I would get air sick, but I was fine. I haven’t like even in all my maneuvers now to this day, I haven’t ever felt airsick, thank goodness. But my discovery flight I loved. Like I went in thinking like I know I’m going to love this, but I know a lot of people do it and then they get a little scared or maybe get pushed away from it a little bit. But I had a great time. I didn’t really know what I was doing at all because this was before I even started the course. I was just seeing if I even liked flying period before I started anything. But no, I had a great time. I was just kind of cruising around playing with the controls and stuff. So good experience for me.

Nick: Very cool. Awesome. And where are you at now with your training progress?

Caroline: I’m about 20 hours in. I’m flying, I try to fly twice a week, but with weather and cancellations and stuff, sometimes it’s once, sometimes it’s three times. It just really depends on my schedule with work and my instructor’s availability. So it’s going slowly but surely. I am starting at a different school in September and I’m planning to be flying way more then and just kind of make it a full-time thing. But yeah, about 20 hours. So, still in the beginning stages right now. Okay. So, you’re going to you said you’re going to switch schools. What’s the purpose for that? So, I love where I am now. It’s just it’s pretty expensive flying where I fly because Tampa Bay is so beautiful. I fly out of Cape Air which is right on the water in Cape. So, we fly over all the beaches and stuff. And I think that’s kind of why it is so expensive because who doesn’t want to see that when they fly? So I’m moving somewhere about two or three hours north of here that just has a cheaper cost of living in general and the flight hours are cheaper there. I went and toured it and it’s a great place, maintenance on site. All the managers were nice, the students were nice. Just seems like a good fit for me.

Nick: So, wow. Yeah. So, I that’s awesome. It’s like I feel like I don’t know if you read like my advice before you got started, but it sounds like you did because I tell people that as well like if you’re willing to do it and really commit like move somewhere more rural away from the site stuff and you can really save some money flight training. So that’s that’s really cool that you’re doing and yeah, so good on you. And so you’re going to kind of just do that for it’s just solely the reason is flight training.

Caroline: Yeah, solely the reason. And I’ll probably move back here when I’m done.

Nick: Okay, cool. Yeah, I like that’s smart. Very smart. Okay. And you said 20 hours in. Have you soloed?

Caroline: I have not yet. I’ve haven’t even really started pattern work because the weather hasn’t been cooperating at all. So I’m just like really getting my maneuvers down, steep turns, stalls, all that good stuff right now.

Nick: Does the weather change much from where you are to where you’re moving or no?

Caroline: It’s not as coastal as it is here. Like I’m right on the water here in Cape obviously and this is more inland. So I don’t know if that will really affect it at all, but I’m sure they’ll still get like the South Florida rainy summer weather that I get here.

Nick: I’ve been to like Orlando and I know it’s stormy in the middle of Florida, too. And Florida’s so flat. The weather systems are different. Like here in California, there’s the Sierra Mountain Range all the way up, and then there’s the water. So you got the lifting action and the water and the radiation. Yeah. So that it Yeah, it’s, I’m curious about that. I wonder if it’ll be any different or not, but very cool. Okay. Let’s see.

So, 20 hours in, haven’t soloed yet. Maybe you’ve kind of already alluded to it, but what would you say I want to kind of give an idea and one thing I think is really powerful is if you’re open to it is to talk about our struggles. I learned that by talking about my own struggles with pilot training and got a such a positive feedback when I did that cuz I I think people especially in this day and age, a lot of people are on social media and they just show their successes and when we go through it, everybody goes through struggles in pilot training because it’s not easy. And so if we don’t share that, you know, or when we do share that, it makes other people who are going through it feel a lot better and have a common struggle. So is there any like big struggles you have or what’s your like biggest struggle you’ve had so far in pilot training?

Caroline: I struggled with steep turns a lot when I first started doing them, but I feel like everyone does. Hopefully it’s not just me. But I remember like I felt really defeated after a lesson one day cuz like my instructor’s telling me everything to do and I’m doing it. It’s just not working. So I was just like watching a bunch of videos when I got home and studying up and then couple lessons later like it worked out fine, and I can do them better now. Still not perfect, but definitely better. But I’ve also just like struggled with having impostor syndrome in a way. Like being around everyone in the aviation community at the airport. It’s like I find myself looking around like do I really belong here? Like do I really know what I’m doing? So that’s something I’m still working on overcoming just like convincing myself that this is something I can do like and I know this is what I want to do with my life like I do belong here.

Nick: Yeah. Yeah. I get imposter syndrome as well and so I feel you there. On steep turns, was there something that clicked or something you did differently that helped you out there or?

Caroline: Yeah, at first I know like people have different ways of teaching it. Like some people say to put your trim in before just to help you and then some people just say to hold it back on your own and my instructor does it that way where no like trim is involved. You just hold it back. And at first, I wasn’t holding it back enough. So we were just like descending and then I was feeling all the G’s. And it’s just so hard to like think about all those things when you’re new to it. But I just like counteracted that by obviously pulling back more, but then I was like pulling back too much and climbing. So, it’s just like finding that happy medium between pulling too hard and pulling enough. Sorry, that was my dog if you heard that.

Nick: Oh, that’s fine. Yeah. Yeah! Totally. And then, you know, it’s hard to you got to keep an eye on the, you know, the altimeter and all that stuff. One thing that that helped me because it also not only does it kind of help with your bank angle, but it also kind of helps keep that the right attitude and altitude during a steep turn is like to put the horizon at a at the same spot. Like once you get to, you know, the angle you want for your steep turn, it’s going to have like, you know, your nose is going to the nose of your dashboard is going to have a line with the horizon. And you just keep that kind of angle and that spot where the horizon intersects the top of the dashboard.

Caroline: Yeah! My instructors touched on that before like she said to find a rivet or something and then just like watch it and hold it. So that’s helped too.

Nick: Okay. Yeah, that really helped me for some reason. Like they started clicking after I did that. So thought I’d mention it, but it sounds like you already know.

Caroline: I’m trying I’ve tried everything to get them good.

Nick: Yeah. Cool. All right. I want to kind of switch to just ask you about ground school a little bit. I’m really big on you know trying to get in front of students’ eyes before they get too far in training so that I can give them some tips. So like I’ve talked about to you, you know, you you’re taking you doing some of those tips even without hearing from me, but like so they don’t they don’t get in the situation that I was in where I I’m just continuously kind of burning money and getting stressed out and burnt out. And one of the things I do is like or one of the tips I have is ground school. Like, so many students underestimate the power of getting a good ground school education. And fully comprehending it, not just doing test prep, you know, understanding it so that it’s preparing you for your flight lessons again, not just passing the test. And then also doing that before so you’re not you know when you don’t have a lot of time, you’re working a job and do there’s enough like home ground work to do just to prepare for a flight lesson. So when you add ground school onto that it’s just it can become a lot. So, I guess you took our online ground school. Just and you kind of mentioned this in your scholarship application, but if you can kind of touch on kind of before the ground school, what you felt maybe your confidence or what you knew about aviation and then after kind of that transformation of your knowledge.

Caroline: Yeah. So, I finished ground school before I even took my first flight lesson. I did the discovery flight first and then ground school, then started training. But I didn’t have any aviators in my family. I don’t really have any close friends that are pilots. So, I kind of went in blind, not knowing anything. So, I remember when I first started the course, like looking at all the sections and stuff, I’m like, “Oh my gosh, this is so much information that I’m going to have to learn. How am I ever going to do it?” And I did really take my time with it. It took me about I think eight or nine months to get through the whole course. But that was like really taking my time and making sure that I was taking notes and understanding things like because I know a lot of people do it the way like you said they just kind of do the test prep and memorize the answers but I knew I wouldn’t really be learning anything if I did it that way. So yeah, I definitely I took my time with it and I’m so glad I did it that way because I cannot imagine going in for my first lesson and like not having any prior knowledge. So it really helped me with my confidence going in for sure and then just I learned so much in that ground school.

Nick: Awesome. And do you think it like so your first flight you had the confidence and then like when you got the things like have you done any like VOR work or navigation or anything that you kind of recover?

Caroline: I haven’t not yet but like even like if my instructor just mentions something that we’ll be doing in the future I’m like oh yeah like I remember learning about that in ground school.

Nick: Okay cool. Yeah. Now, it’s cool to see and hear that because you know I always teach that like if you don’t fully understand that stuff and you get up in a lesson you know you’re going to be thinking and not flying. You know what I mean? You want to be flying not thinking like they say that in Top Gun. I don’t know if you remember but yeah. So very cool. So you won our Spring Scholarship and most mostly that cuz it was just your determination and dedication showed through on what you’re doing like we touched on. I mean, you’re even going to move somewhere just just for flight training. That’s amazing. So do you have any have you already spent it? I know it’s not a ton. I wish I could give out more, but $1,000 in the in the free ground school. Have you spent it already?

Caroline:I have not, and it is plenty, and I’m so appreciative and still can’t believe I won. But I have a savings account that I don’t touch for anything except aviation. So, I put it straight in there. I have considered getting a headset because that’s something that I knew I was going to have to get at some point in the future. I just had like an old David Clark that I got for free right now. So I’m definitely thinking about getting either a Bose or a Light Speed, maybe as like a gift to myself after my solo. We’ll see. But, Yeah, definitely more inclined to get it now that I have a little scholarship money. So.

Nick: Yeah! Do you fly with an iPad?

Caroline: I have an iPad, but I don’t fly with it yet.

Nick: I like that, man. Okay, everybody listening, like do what Caroline is doing because this is all like I feel like you’re hitting all the steps. I also recommend students to at first don’t fly with an iPad, learn to fly without one. And then what I did in my training was once I did my first solo cross-country without an iPad and for flight and GPS, then I rewarded myself kind of like what you’re talking about with a headset, right? So, I think that’s really cool to also reward yourself at milestones and celebrate those wins. And that’s a cool way to do it, you know, to help yourself out with a new piece of equipment as well. Yeah. Very cool. All right. And then just curious, how much does it cost to to an hourly rental at where you’re at versus the place you’re going to?

Caroline: So, I have the club rate, which I think is 187 for a for a 172. And then I can’t remember the numbers off the top of my head. It was either the plane rental was super cheaper, super cheap, or the like instructor rate was a lot more cheap at the other school, but it is like I crunched the numbers and it’s like a pretty drastic difference. Compared to where I am now.

Nick: And there’s probably going to be less competition for the aircraft on good weather days. Right.

Caroline: Yeah. They have their fleet is bigger and it’s in the middle of nowhere, so there will probably be less people flying, too.

Nick: Yeah. Because that’s another thing, too. Even in some large cities, you will find you know like one that is one place goes by far the cheapest rental rate and everyone kind of flocks there without looking into anything else, right? And it’s like well they’re cheaper because they have so many students and they’re just working those aircraft to death. That’s not always a good thing. So you have to look at how many students do they have, how many aircraft do they have, are the aircraft well maintained, you know. So anyways, yeah, just had to get that in there.

Caroline: Yeah, something to think about.

Nick: Yeah. okay, so do you have I mean you’re 20 hours in. Do you have any, we’ve talked about a lot of advice, so you’re already killing it and doing a lot a lot of good things, but do you have any other advice for student pilots? Maybe like those just getting started, or someone that’s 20 hours in that you share.

Caroline: I got my medical first. A lot of people told me to do that and I’m glad I did because I’ve heard the horror stories of people getting like almost to solo and then they go get their medical and they get denied. So definitely do that first if you’re even like considering starting this whole process because you can save yourself a lot of money. I’m really glad I did ground school first. So again, I would recommend anyone to do that, especially if you know absolutely nothing about aviation. And if you know it’s for you, just go for it. That’s what I’ve done and it’s paid off so far.

Nick: I like that. That’s awesome. And then I have another question that just kind of selfishly am curious about. I know it’s improving, but as a woman, is it you talked about impostor syndrome like are there other women at your flight school now or has that been a challenge for you at all? Or can maybe you can speak on that?

Caroline: Yeah, it’s definitely something I was thinking a lot about when I first got into aviation. But luckily where I’m training, my instructor is a female. There’s a couple other instructors that are females and there’s honestly a ton of girls at the flight school. So, it’s not really something I’ve run into yet. But I’m sure I will inevitably at some point in the future, but it’s awesome. Like, just being a girl in a male-dominated field and having so many other empowering women around me right now.

Nick: Yeah, that’s awesome. Is your new flight school, do you know? Do they have?

Caroline: I did ask, do they only have one female instructor, but it’s still one. I’ll be number two.

Nick: Yeah. Very nice. Very cool. Yeah. I like to hear that, you know. is be, you know, women are becoming more and more represented in aviation. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen those stats, but they continue to they’re kind of like really going up now, which is great.

Caroline: We’re on the incline for sure.

Nick: Yeah. Very cool. well, is there anything else that you want to share? Like maybe what’s your next when’s your next flight?

Caroline: Wednesday. Today is Monday. I fly Wednesday and I’m excited because it’s been almost a week now since I’ve flown. So, I need to get back into it. Yeah.

Nick: Yeah. What What’s the plan for the lesson? Do you know?

Caroline: We’re going to try to start pattern work. So, fingers crossed the weather finally cooperates with us. I think it’s an earlier flight, so that should be better for us because it’s those little afternoon like storms and turbulence and all that. That have been messing us up. Yeah.

Nick: Yeah. Okay,cool. Any anything else you want to share for the listeners?

Caroline: No, we covered a lot., I could go into a lot of stories, but yeah. No, we covered basically everything I’d want to say and give advice and all that.

Nick: So, cool. Well, Caroline, thank you so much for joining and congratulations on the scholarship once again.

Caroline: Thank you! Thanks. Thanks for having me.