I had a big down before an up. I took well over 20H to go solo, and decided to pack it all in. I still had a couple of lessons booked, so I went in and flew them just to say goodbye and thanks to the FI. Which I had second thoughts about when I realised the pressure I had just put on him... Anyhow, suddenly, somehow, I could 'see' what was happening in the flare, the terror faded, and I think I knew I was going solo before he did. The rest of the PPL went fine.
My big down was one day prior to my first solo when I was doing dual circuits in some pretty dreadful weather. Low cloud, 15 knot winds gusting to 20 knots, a wet runway, but visibility was good enough for circuit flying so off we went. I missed checks, failed to trim properly at all, my approaches were way too fast so we bounced and porpoised etc.., I had my instructor riding me about it because up until then I had been making excellent progress. In hindsight I think both of us got out on the wrong side of bed that morning. By the time I landed I had convinced myself I'd never master the skills required to fly so today was my last lesson. I was so angry with myself that I had wasted all this time and money on such a foolish escapade, it wasn't until I was nearly home that I realised that without thinking about it I had walked to my car, strapped my safety belt on and started the engine, and had driven most of the way home from the airport without any conscious effort.
Then it dawned on me that with practice, I would be able to do the same thing with an aircraft. After a PPL and 160 hours I still need to apply more brain power to fly that I do when driving, but I've definitely made progress.
