Simviation Forums

today  after practicing ground manuevers me & my instructor did a series of touch-n-go's at a uncontrolled airport, was pretty fun, however i'm on lesson six and lesson ten i take my check ride, to do my first solo. Now I know its my flight instuctors job not to let me do it if he feels im a moron. However lesson ten is begining of next week sometime and I can't stop thinking about it. Once i'm airborne i'm fine, its just the take off & landing that somewhat make me nervous, is this a normal feeling? Also when landing it at about 100 agl/50agl before the threshold it looks like i'm gonna hit before the numbers but i don't is this always the mental image i should have in my head? I'm just afraid on my first solo my main main gear will hit the grass before the threshold and i'll give everyone a show up in the tower.

Nah you'll do fine. Just keep concentrating.

Well, you should feel somewhat confident in your landings.  At least in the fact you know you can get the plane ON THE GROUND in one piece.  Maybe with a bounce or somewhat firm, but at least on the ground. lol  And with 4 flights to go, you're confidence/skill will continue to grow.  

I kind of understand what you were saying about your sight picture during short final.  I learned to fly at an airport that required a very steep approach due to terrain.  When I would go to "normal" airports and fly the VASI I always felt as though I was going to be crashing into the ground as I was used to more of a 7 degree glide slope instead of the normal 3*

As long as you are sticking to the proper numbers and keep all things constant, you should be alright.  Just keep your aimpoint in the exact same spot on the windscreen and you'll make it.  And remember, the aim-point is not where you're trying to touchdown.  You will (or at least should) float several feet past it as you flare.  

Is it normal to be nervous on takeoff and landing?  Yes... takeoff leaves you very vulnerable (high A of A and low airspeed, moving away from a perfectly good runway), and landing is just... hard. Almost as hard as taxiing. But landing is probably safer than any other phase of flight, statistically speaking.
If I had to have an electrical failure, an engine failure, a fire, a birdstrike, and control-lock all at the same time, but could choose when and where it happened, I'd want it on final, with a nice runway in front of me. In such a situation, having the runway before me would actually give me something to smile about...
It's normal-and smart- to be a little nervous throughout the entire flight!! Reminds me of a quote from legendary flyer and writer Ernest Gann: when asked (often) as an airline captain if he was ever scared in the air, he said:
"Always."
  He wasn't kidding, either.
 But he did pretty well as a heavy-prop  captain, even flying the North Atlantic military supply routes, the extremely dangerous Hump routes, and the Berlin Airlift- often in ridiculously overloaded planes and in the most godawful weather. He saw it all, and lasted much longer than many of his cockier comrades. He would say he was just lucky, but I think luck was only part of it. Can't take anything for granted up there; gotta be wary.

But don't dwell on it. If you pass your stage check and are signed off to solo, that means you've already done it, with the instructor aboard as an observer only. Don't sneak glances at him, trust me. There will soon be a flight where he doesn't even keep his hands 2 inches from the yoke, if that hasn't occurred already. He may even put them in his lap.
And don't sweat the "I'm gonna undershoot" feeling: as long as the numbers are getting bigger and not moving up or down (or sideways), you're golden. And if the engine is running, you'll be fine if you do get low... just add a shot of power to get back on-track, or go around. But you already know that.... right?
You may very likely have a "what the hell am I doing?" moment at some point in your first solo, but just remember you've already done it, and you know how. that was my mantra for a long time, and I still think of that when I'm faced with a new challenge in the air.