Becoming a Pilot

Decision made, determination solid, the path to becoming a pilot is before me. It's summer so one or two evenings a week and most Saturdays I head for the airport. The Cessna 150 is an ideal trainer. Easy to fly, forgiving, inexpensive to rent. His name is Hugo as he was flipped on his back during hurricane Hugo. No, he wasn't in the air at the time, he was on the ground. The hours went by as I learned through practice, and more practice all the controls and maneuvers required to fly the airplane. First landing came quicker than I expected and was terrifying and exhilarating all at once. As pilots are fond of saying "It was a good landing because we could walk away and a great landing because the plane could be reused" but beyond that I choose not to comment! Landings got much better, confidence and skills grew. I learned to use the radio which was quite difficult. It takes awhile to tune your ears to hear and understand transmissions and learn the specialized language. But at long last the day had arrived... I was ready to solo.
This is a major milestone. The day the instructor (I'll call him Bob) climbs out of the plane and says "Take it around the pattern for 3 landings."
Thoughts sped through my mind, Oh my god! What am I doing? I can do this thing, as I calmly taxied to the end of the runway, made radio announcements, and pushed the throttle forward. Hugo jumped into the air...whoa! I'd heard about this - a lighter plane with 200 pounds of Bob on the ground, but still a surprise. Around in the pattern, perfectly setup for first solo landing...it was nothing to be proud of. Second landing a bit worse. Third so bad Bob checked to see if the emergency ELT had been set off. What the hell! I had been making very good to near perfect landings, why now could I not seem to manage? My spirits were low as I slunk home questioning my goal of becoming pilot. I licked my wounds for several days, feeling terribly sorry for myself. Then one morning, just as I awakened, it came to me. When landing, there is a point when the plane should be flared, which means the nose lifted a bit so the plane settles smoothly on the two main wheels. This technique is complex to learn, and vital to consistenly good landings. In a Cessna 150 the cabin is so narrow that instructor and student are in contact from shoulder to hip. Bob was tensing his arm, just at the point I should flare. I'd learned to respond to that signal without even being aware of it! Problem solved! Remedial training commenced with Bob pulling his arm across his body so we would not touch. Landings quickly improved, I had my second solo, and was turned loose to fly on my own. Only in the pattern or to the practice area a few miles to the west of the home field. I had restricted wings!