Why oh Why do you go up without an instructor on a buddy box?

It makes a WORLD of DIFFERENCE since:

1) You won't necessarily have to fly so damn high that you can barely see the plane.

2) You won't have to worry about the instructor ripping the plane out of your hands and/or fiddling with ackward positions because taking control with the buddy cord/box is flip-the-switch second.

3) If your instructor is good, you can basically make mistakes until you've learned not to make them as much (or any more).

I can guarantee your jitters will still be there but they will be a whole lot less with a boddy box. A lot of instructors at my field will simply not try to fly this way because it is too risky and difficult to manage.

Spend the few dollars for a cord that is compatible and/or radio with the majority of instructors at your field, it is way cheaper both in time and money than repairing a plane.