Originally Posted by
pasta
Rather than thinking of someone learning to sail a large wheel-steered yacht (everyone knows how to operate a steering wheel), think of someone learning to helm a relatively tippy dinghy with a tiller extension. It takes a while even for them to learn which way to move the tiller. Now add in the fact that they have a sheet in the other hand, and moving either sheet or tiller seems to want to make the boat capsize one way or the other. Half the time the boat feels like it wants to capsize even if they don't move either. The only way to feel "in control" is to figure out how to coordinate the tiller and sheet, *and* respond to the constantly changing wind. That's before we've thrown in manoeuvres, collision avoidance etc, and it feels like you have to learn it all at once. Now think how "in control" your student's going to feel after 5 hours in the boat; if they're much over 20 years old, the answer's most likely going to be "not very". IMHO, that's closer to what learning to fly is like. Stick with it, you'll "get" it, and ultimately you'll have just as good a feel for an aircraft as you already do for a boat...
Great advice - I fly and sail and you just have to re-write the book when you swap between the two. Boats are big and lumbering if you are used to yachts - a Cessna requires precision control/small movements.