RTFobia
Anyone out there got any tips for a 100+ hour PPL who's afraid of the radio? Think it started in the States, where I was literally screamed at by the denizens of the tower at some remote field, for not being quite where I said I was.
AS far as I'm concerned, ATC is manned entirely by flesh-eating cyborgs who hold anything smaller than a 767 in total contempt (a view backed up by a number of Pprune threads). They have hidden cameras in my C152, know my life history, where I live, and that I am a cretin. The fact that I have yet to stuff up an RT procedure, and apparently come across as Captain Cool and Competent, matters not a jot. If I can avoid talking on the radio, I will. I'm well aware that this is far from ideal from a safety point of view. It is also chicken.
I've visited the tower at the local small airport and they couldn't have been nicer or more helpful. I've also stencilled "They're down there because we're up here" across the dash. Nothing helps; I still break out in a vibrating sweat every time I have to key the mike.
Other pilots, ATCOs, Radio operators, instructors..: Hints please.