When I asked a student why he had not put the gear down before landing (I called go around at 100'), his reply was "I could not think because of the noise from the horn going off" - this was of course the gear warning horn!
Another was the same student, he had his own (retractable) and had finally reached solo X country stage. Wx was marginal but he was VERY insistant about going, finally told him the ONLY way he could go was for him to take a school aircraft and I would follow in his (faster) a/c - but he would not see me. After a thorough briefing, including what to do if lost (turning west he would hit the coast without infringing anything) he set off and I tucked up in his 6. It is amazing how you can tell from a following aircraft the EXACT second when someone loses themself! I finally pulled up alongside about 2 miles before he infringed the LPL control area - he should not have got closer than 10 miles!
