Today I had the fourth (I think) flying lesson in Palo Alto. It was a real doozy as it required me to talk to the airport tower as well as setup and land (or attempt to land) the plane.
As expected, it was a minor success bookended by a series of incremental failures. I don’t have any idea what I’m saying to the tower at this point, what the ATIS is saying to me, and I certainly had a lot of mess to deal with on the take-off roll and landing. Tail-dragger aircraft sure are tough to manage.
The instructor said I did pretty well but I feel tired, beat up, and more than a little bent at all the mistakes I made. I’m still chasing some of the instruments and over-correcting for climb and descent. It sure seems to be a chore to keep all the stuff juggling in my head.
I can only hope that I get better soon, as the real dollars start adding up with the next flight: local flying club membership, books, supplies, headsets, and insurance. And the flight instruction costs go up starting on the next lesson too, since I’m now committing to the whole deal there are no more free (or discounted) rides. The rubber meets the road from here on out.
It should be a good feeling to fly at some point, but right now all I see are the mistakes I’m making. Hopefully it will smooth out and I’ll worry less while enjoying more.