OK, have a giggle about a <30-hour PPL student during his Flying Scholarship at Kidlington on the Piper Colt (wow, real aeroplane!!)...
1. Solo GH sortie. Pre-descent checks, pull out Carb Heat knob ... which came out of the instrument panel, along with the cable. I was in one with radio, so calmly called Pan, Pan, Pan on Oxford Tower frequency. No reply. Someone else replied, and said he would land and get an Instructor up to the Tower. Followed the subsequent advice (avoid large power changes) and landed smoothly (as I usually did).
2. Solo Navex. Got a bit close to (inside) the Upper Heyford Zone, leading to White Vereys! Soon afterwards, encountered slipstream of a B-47 (those were the days) and was pleased I was quite good at "Unusual attitudes ... Recover." Didn't my Instructor check my Flight Plan/Chart? I'm sure I was on track.
Well, we all had to start somewhere. As it transpired, I didn't get much further anyway
