Thanks for the useful comments and suggestions, always good to know that my experiences are not unique! It has been very helpful to download on here - I do feel isolated with no contact with any fliers other than my instructor during a lesson. I have not yet solo'd. In fact I have not flown since my last post because work commitments have had me traveling a lot - I am writing this in St Louis airport waiting for a flight to Minneapolis, what fun! My instructor keeps reminding me that I am totally ready to solo, except my landings are not safe. I definitely have a wall to break through there, but I am absolutely determined to get through it. I guess that my next flight will be tough having not flown for something like 2 months. I feel ready to solo. The landing thing seems so trivial, and everything seems so easy until I F!@#k up those last few seconds.