I won't tell you how many flights I had where my instructor landed the plane. It took me quite a few flights before I was confident enough to bring it down low enough to land it, and when I did, I brought it in way to far away, not at all on the center line. But, eventually, my landings improved to the point where landing on the center line was the least of my problems.

One time, after being away for several months, I had my favorite Skylark 70 out and flying it. I "read" the wind sock, lined it up and took off. The take off was long, and my landings were all long. But I got it down safely.

One of the guys at the field was an instructor. He came up to me and said, "Hey, Dick.. good stuff paracticing downwind take-offs and landings'. Well, I thanked him, then turned the darned plane around and started taking off and landing into the wind. duh... I misread the wind-sock and was doing downwind flying without really realizing what I was doing.. this happens when you are away from it for a while.

It was funny but it really humbled me a tad cuz, after all, I had all that experience...

CGr.