dubbleyew eight and others:
someone smarter than me said: "flying is done largely with the imagination".
What you dubbleyew and others may learn or have learned is this:
not how to fly
BUT (pre emptive high five) HOW TO LEARN/TEACH YOURSELF how to fly.
Imagining kicking the crab out (slang useage of the language)
or imagining how to maneuver a plane in a confined area.
But by doing it , safely thinking on the ground, you are expanding your brain and the ability to think about it, imagine, project, whatever word you like while in the sky.
The mind of a pilot becomes highly evolved/developed in the perception of multiple dimensions and options and , in a way like playing chess, you are ahead of the game by one, two or a dozen moves.
I read one thread in which one pilot constantly had an idea where to land and one response said this would be too much of a mental effort. IF you develop your "FLYING MIND" you will have surplus to handle things.
Others have called this : being ahead of the plane.
the reverse is: sitting in row 15 because you are so far behind the plane.
so , brave PPruners, learn to think like a pilot. And much of this can be started at home without the hobbs meter running (money). Build your brain so that when you get those precious moments in the sky, your brain can handle the things reality presents you with.