Thanks everyone.
I think you have all hit the nail on the head with the trimming. It seems to get shuffled down my 'mental priority list' as something you do when you have got everything else sorted out. As I am taking my sweet time to get everything else sorted out, I am not sure I am giving proper attention to the trimming. This will be my mission for tomorrows lessons.
Michael, reading your bit about how when you get something right, you get something else wrong brought a big smile to my face. Great to hear someone else is going through the same thing. There were a few circuits today where everything seemed to be going swimmingly (even managed to hold 1000 feet through the downwind leg), then I would turn final too late and find I had overshot on base. It almost feels like my brain is going, "Hey, this is all going a little too well, QUICK we need to find something to
up!" Ha ha.
Also, the crosswind today didn't help matters. A good learning experience though. The first landing trying out 'crabbing' was interesting.... when my instructor said, "A little left rudder", he really did mean 'a little'. Was landing on runway 29 until at the last minute I stamp down on the left rudder and nearly made an (extremely) short field landing on an imaginary runway 20
. Clearly, my instructor had been through this before because I felt a definate force on the right rudder, and it wasn't *my* foot
Was my first time in the air today for over a month, so the first few circuits felt a little 'white knuckle' again. Incredible how quickly that feeling disappears though. After two circuits, when a sudden gust yawed us to one side, I stopped swearing
Thanks for the encouragement everyone. I will post a solo report when the day comes.