The International Cessna^® 170 Association

I had not had a hood on for a long time, 20+ years, and then it was very little time. I got the bright idea that it would be good for and old dog to learn new tricks so I thought I should get my IFR ticket.
Well last evening I went up with a CFI and had a hood on for about and hour. When i took it off it was already dark and I just had a really hard time focusing in on a normal landing. I had a headache that wouldn't go away. It was like, yuck, do I really want to do this? Maybe I just pushed too hard at one time. Is this normal????

W.

Seems like you were under a lot of stress. Probably a normal reaction. Don't give up based on this experience. It really does get easier and the stress level will be reduced.

Flying under the hood for an extended period of time - an hour can be a long time under the hood without breaks, if you have not experienced it for a while - and can be fatigueing especially if you are performing multiple approaches one after the other and flying the missed apporach procedures as well. The concentration a good instrument scan requires when you are out of practice can produce headaches. Other contributing factors may include eye glasses - many eye glasses prescribed for near vision or reading don't work well under the hood. Most instrument panels are just a little to far away when looking through reading glasses. Also the position of your head can be a factor. If the hood is not placed on the head correctly it may cause the wearer to fly in a head down position which can result in straining of the neck and shoulders. There is some transition required when switching from flying under the hood to flying VFR. A night transition may be more difficult if you have been staring into bright panel lights for an hour. I believe you will find subsequent flights under the hood easier as you become more proficient.

Willie,
It would not hurt to check the CO content of your cockpit.

I know that if I'm even a little stressed in the cockpit for more than 30 minutes, my neck tightens up like a drum, and I end up with a headache that lasts the rest of the day.

After the 2 min ride on the Wildfire in Branson, that probably explains my 4 hour headache.