Guys
I am at my lowest point in training so far. I had thee worst flight ever. The trip was to be Liverpool, Kirkby, Leyland, Southport, Seaforth, Liverpool.
After take off, routing Kirkby, we were told to route Seaforth due to traffic - mix up number one. On route I just couldn't seem to relate the chart to what I was seeing out the window - There was a huge river ahead (the Ribble) but there were lots of blue lines on the chart. I should have called Wharton but did so on the last minute, so all I got was an FIS cos she could tell I was up my own ass. My heaight was all over the place - I should have been 2000ft and I was up to 2,600 (I probably busted Manchester airspace) and down to 1300 - complete hash. My airspeed was about the only thing I got right. The flight plan went out the window and I wasnt writing anything down - I had pen in one hand, chart in the other, VFR log on my other knee - a complete mess and I just wasnt doing the obvious - FLYING THE AIRCRAFT. My RT was crap too - botched up the position report (as I didn't know where I was) and kept pausing.
To top it all off - I had the worst landing ever (ok we had 14kt xwind - very close to limit, certainly the strongest one I have experienced so far). I flared early, didn't have the nose straight, floated and then WHALLOP!!
The wind was all over the place and kept gusting in different directions.
I think about the only thing we got near to correct was the timing - we did actually sort of arrive at the checkpoints within a minute of the time calculated. In all honesty, my instructor assured me not to worry as it was my first nav flight, and it was hazy, raining at times, dark(ish) and very windy. He said that a lot of people are like that on their first trip, and I bloody hope so cos if my next flight is like that then I am gonna need some serious practice. Furthermore, there wasnt any proper flight plan - I did it myself and had it checked, so for Wednesday I have booked a 3 hour slot, with groundschool before the flight, to make sure I know what I am doing.
I guess this must be the same feeling that has been experienced by several people in the past, and I have said to them "dont worry it will get better" - well I must take my own advice (and hope to
that the next flight goes alright)
Regards all - and I hope you manage to get some flying done
Lee