I'm an older student (45) enrolled in a great Part 141 school. I've wanted to fly since I was 19 and am finally working on it. I had my discovery flight about a month ago. Was nervous, but set that settled down after a bit. I've adjusted my work schedule so I can get 2-3 lessons a week and have had four ground lessons, but today was my first time in the air (due to weather). I logged 1.6 hours on maintaining a heading, level flight, level turns, etc., but I felt like I was a mess. At times, I felt super task saturated and a bit overwhelmed. So, two questions:
1. I did the weather check today: DUATS and had the AIM/FAR out to make sure I read everything correctly. Still, we had gusts that were about 17k and that I didn't see in the winds aloft, METARs, TAFs, etc.? What did I miss???
2. I had a lot of trouble maintaining the centerline on takeoff (left drift) and that really unsettled me -- along with the gusts from takeoff to landing (forecast was 6 knots). Though the instructor said I did really well (maintained course, power management, held altitude through the turns, great situational awareness), I was really nervous for a lot of the flight. I'm going up again tomorrow. Does the anxiety go away? How can I better handle the task saturation?
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