I flew for the first time today in a Cessna 172. I had a hard time determining if I was climbing or descending by looking over the cowling and found myself frequently checking the altimeter and rate of climb steam gauges. To be fair it was mountainous terrain so there was no obvious horizon.
That’s funny to read, I took my first flying lesson a few weeks ago and had the exact same problem flying over completely flat terrain. I have some simulator experience which made me look at the instruments way too much, the instructor had to remind me continuously to stop doing that and look outside instead.
