To be totally fair I too think that 2D made some good points. And yes, being a sensitive soul, I would prefer that he'd made them in private. But then the rest of you wouldn't have had the lessons pointed out, would you?
OTOH, I think many of my mistakes were down to inexperience of flying alone in a foreign country. A long forgotten CPL(H) course and innumerable helicopter trial lessons doesn't actually prepare you for flying solo in a C150 in France. I actually tended to plan like mad, but didn't necessarily do the things that were really needed. But on reflection, most of my stress and workload was self-inflicted. I worried...about crossing the channel, about talking to ATC, about ATC not replying, about not understanding them when they did, about all sorts of things. I kept trying to relax, but I couldn't, not at first. That lack of confidence in itself is exhausting.
Other than that, I have tended to play up the problems...you see, I was a writer long before I was a pilot, and it shows.
