Jeanie
Pattern Altitude
OK. I got to fly the decathlon last week and had a ball. We did a lot ! including one inverted spin - which was rather weird.
I didn't much like the downline after the one turn spin but I suspect I can get used to it. I've always just recovered one not purposefully gone at the ground. It was "Ummm, Sam, I think I can read the tag on that cows ear"
I got to learn hammerheads and try a humpty bump too. Man I really love aerobatics. And, what was good to discover is that when I messed up a maneuver I managed to recover on my own. Sam said he'd let me fly much of what we practiced by myself now.
Either the end of this week or beginning of next week I'll be flying a Citabria and will get to see how it compares.
One thing I'm wondering from the short, as in vertically challenged, acro pilots on the board... is there such a thing as rudder pedal extensions that you can make/buy?? I tried my "platform" sneakers and while I could reach well and have the seat back enough for full stick back extension I didn't get the kind of feedback to my feet for rudder inputs that I needed. Maybe I could get used to it but I'd rather have something hard on the rudders so I can wear regular shoes. I'm thinking of the kid on Indiana Jones driving the car w/ blocks on his feet.
Sam did say that it's possible that it's that kind of extension that may have contributed to Vickie Cruse's accident but I think it's worth looking into I won't be doing much other than easy/basic stuff. Up to Sportsmans level maybe someday. And, that's way plenty for me.
I didn't much like the downline after the one turn spin but I suspect I can get used to it. I've always just recovered one not purposefully gone at the ground. It was "Ummm, Sam, I think I can read the tag on that cows ear"
I got to learn hammerheads and try a humpty bump too. Man I really love aerobatics. And, what was good to discover is that when I messed up a maneuver I managed to recover on my own. Sam said he'd let me fly much of what we practiced by myself now.
Either the end of this week or beginning of next week I'll be flying a Citabria and will get to see how it compares.
One thing I'm wondering from the short, as in vertically challenged, acro pilots on the board... is there such a thing as rudder pedal extensions that you can make/buy?? I tried my "platform" sneakers and while I could reach well and have the seat back enough for full stick back extension I didn't get the kind of feedback to my feet for rudder inputs that I needed. Maybe I could get used to it but I'd rather have something hard on the rudders so I can wear regular shoes. I'm thinking of the kid on Indiana Jones driving the car w/ blocks on his feet.
Sam did say that it's possible that it's that kind of extension that may have contributed to Vickie Cruse's accident but I think it's worth looking into I won't be doing much other than easy/basic stuff. Up to Sportsmans level maybe someday. And, that's way plenty for me.