What does "straighten the wheel" and "the plane right itself" mean?
This is from the book, Hatchet, and a pilot is teaching a guy how to fly a plane.

"It's not as complicated as it looks. Good plane like this almost flies itself. ... Now turn the wheel a little to the right and push on the right rudder pedal a small amount." Brian turned the wheel slightly and the plane immediately banked to the right, and when he pressed on the right rudder pedal the nose slid across the horizon to the right. ***He left off on the pressure and straightened the wheel and the plane righted itself.***
"Now you can turn. Bring her back to the left a little." Brian turned the wheel left, pushed on the left pedal, and the plane came back around. "It's easy." He smiled.

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I thought the part marked in stars meant the plane was coming back to where it was, before the boy turned to the right, since the plane "righted itself".
But then the passage right after it describes the exact same process of what I thought the first passage was doing, "the plane came back around." (Sounds to me like the plane turned back to the right twice, in the first passage and then again in the second passage.)

So I guess I'm misinterpreting the meaning of the sentence marked in stars.
What does "left off on the pressure", "straighten the wheel", "plane righted itself" mean here?

Thanks in advance.

Question

What does "straighten the wheel" and "the plane right itself" mean?
This is from the book, Hatchet, and a pilot is teaching a guy how to fly a plane.

"It's not as complicated as it looks. Good plane like this almost flies itself. ... Now turn the wheel a little to the right and push on the right rudder pedal a small amount." Brian turned the wheel slightly and the plane immediately banked to the right, and when he pressed on the right rudder pedal the nose slid across the horizon to the right. ***He left off on the pressure and straightened the wheel and the plane righted itself.***
"Now you can turn. Bring her back to the left a little." Brian turned the wheel left, pushed on the left pedal, and the plane came back around. "It's easy." He smiled.

-
I thought the part marked in stars meant the plane was coming back to where it was, before the boy turned to the right, since the plane "righted itself". 
But then the passage right after it describes the exact same process of what I thought the first passage was doing, "the plane came back around." (Sounds to me like the plane turned back to the right twice, in the first passage and then again in the second passage.)

So I guess I'm misinterpreting the meaning of the sentence marked in stars.
What does "left off on the pressure", "straighten the wheel", "plane righted itself" mean here?

Thanks in advance.

Answer

"He left off on the pressure"
He pushed less with his foot on the rudder pedal so that the rudder pedal would come  back a little (less rudder input).

"straighten the wheel"
If the wheel is turned left, the plane flies to the left. If it is turned right, the plane turns to the right.
'straightening the wheel' is turning/adjusting the wheel so the plane is no longer turning but flying forward (straight ahead).

'righted itself'
The plane was turning and not in a horizontal position. It was tilted to one side and possibly up or down a little.
When the plane is 'righted' it is flying in a level position, not turning and stable.

Answer

To "straighten the wheel" is to put it into the “normal” position so that you’ll go straight ahead and won’t turn left or right. (I imagine you have to adjust for the wind, but you get the idea.)  “The plane righted itself” means the plane stopped banking (banking = leaning to one side while turning) and the wings assumed a horizontal position.

Answer

Here, “left off the pressure” means he stopped pressing on the rudder pedal.  “Straightened the wheel” means that he turned the steering wheel back to its centered (“go straight, don’t turn”) position.   “The plane righted itself” means that plane stopped banking (tilting one wing down) and came back to a level position.

I think your confusion is that “righted itself” does not mean “turned right” but rather means “returned to a level, non-tilting position.  In the passage, the plane first banked to the right to turn right; leveled itself; then turned back to the left (“came back around”).

Answer

*correction* (Sounds to me like the plane turned back to the **left** twice, in the first passage and then again in the second passage.)