When All Else Fails

It never fails... whenever I work on a new certificate or rating (I'm working on my 6th now), I reach a point where I struggle with something and get frustrated. Good for me, I've been reaching that point quicker and recognizing it sooner with my recent efforts than I did for Private, for instance.

I'm working on my Multi Engine Commercial certificate now and as usual, hit that frustration point earlier this week. Struggling to master a task and failing mightily. In the after flight debrief my CFI was telling me what he thought the issue was. I argued with him. I thought the issue was something else. I left frustrated and annoyed.

The usual thoughts were floating through my head. "I'll never be able to....", "I should be better than this!", etc. etc. But as the evening wore on I started thinking about what my CFI was trying to tell me. And, while I still didn't necessarily agree with him, what I was doing certainly wasn't working. Maybe I should just stop thinking about it and do what he tells me. I figured it certainly couldn't be worse than what I was doing, and would probably be better. After all, he's been doing this for much longer than me with a much better track record of success.

We met the next morning and sat down to discuss the plan for the flight.
CFI: "Any thoughts or suggestions before I DICTATE what we will be doing today?"
Me: "I thought about this long and hard last night. You've been doing this a little more than I have so I figured I'm best off just doing what you tell me to do."
CFI (blink, blink): "OK then."

He proceeded to outline the plan for the flight. When we were walking out to the plane I asked him, "You were ready for a fight weren't you?" He was. And he wasn't going to let me hijack his syllabus anymore.

The result of the flight was predictable. I did what my CFI told me. It worked splendidly and I learned a lot. So, once again, the lesson for all pilots, old and young, experienced and inexperienced, and especially me. When all else fails, do what your CFI tells you.