2nd Acro Practice Flight in Citabria

[AcroGimp]

Here are some cuts from my 2nd acro practice flight in the 7KCAB Citabria. I am definitely rusty and the little Citabria requires a lot more input to complete maneuvers than the Extra did but that said, I am really enjoying it.

Lots of common errors so far, dishing of rolls, slow recovery (~2-2.5G), off-heading errors and such. The little Citabria is working hard since I am flying 6-8,000 MSL which gives me about 5,000 AGL - will definitely get more interesting as I work back down to Sportsman altitudes.

Comments and suggestions welcomed. First minicamp with coach is this Sunday.

'Gimp

 

[Timmer]

Woot! Did you fly on Sunday morning? I was there taking a non-aerobatic 172 out and saw this plane flying. I can't wait to take aerobatic training -- probably in a couple months after I get a tailwheel endorsement.

 

[AcroGimp]

Woot! Did you fly on Sunday morning? I was there taking a non-aerobatic 172 out and saw this plane flying. I can't wait to take aerobatic training -- probably in a couple months after I get a tailwheel endorsement.

Yup, that was me. It's a great little plane, and I am enjoying myself, fly again tomorrow afternoon.

'Gimp

 

[whifferdill]

The Citabria makes you feel like you're working, doesn't it? Pretty good for second acro flight in the plane. I think you've already noticed most of the issues. It's been a long time since I've flown a Citabria, and can't remember what the stall break is like, but the spin entries in the video appear that the airplane is rolling off into the spin before the nose drops. That would be a deduction per the IAC rules. Can't see much of a perceptible nose drop/stall break. Might just be the way it stalls, but you can typically help spin entries by climbing barely perceptibly (on the altimeter) just before the stall. The judges will not see it, and it will get you slower, with a better nose drop and cleaner spin entry. Also just before the spin entry, hold a very slight amount of rudder in the direction you want to spin. This also typically makes for a sharper entry. It appeared that on the one-turn spin entry that you may have been descending ever so slightly just before the stall. In most airplanes, descending into the spin will make the entry more sluggish. Also get in the habit of doing a quick wingtip check on the downline after stopping the spin to check your vertical attitude.

Perfect rolls are tough in a Citabria. They're not too bad here, but you can see that you're dropping some altitude in the second half of the roll and ending up slightly off heading to the right after the roll. Looks like you're losing over 100' of altitude between start and finish. The dishing to the right and altitude loss is typically a result of insufficient forward stick between 180-225 degrees of roll (assuming you reached the proper inverted attitude to begin with). Do some half rolls and stabilize your airspeed and altitude inverted so you can burn in the proper sight picture attitude, which is what you must hit as you reach the inverted portion of a full roll. If you don't quite get the nose high enough, this will also cause altitude loss on the second half.

What kind of power setting are you using? I see your left hand on the cockpit tube for most of the flight. Funny how many Citabria/Decathlon pilots use that as a hand hold. Are you just setting the power and leaving it? What RPMs are you seeing? Full power during the rolls will help. I know it's not your airplane, but letting it turn up over redline for short periods will not hurt anything. Keep it up and have fun!

 

[AcroGimp]

Thanks Whifferdill I was hoping you'd chime in.

The spin entry issue is me getting ahead of myself with the rudder (before the pronounced break) and yes, now that I have done 3 or 4 spins I will add the wingtip check for the downline back in. I used to give the Extra a little 'pull' into the spin break, essentially the last inch or two of throw and it would make for a pretty clean entry - I am still working on rebuilding muscle memory from that even though it was only 10 or so hours of acro.

I know I am definitely not pushing enough for inverted basically any time I am upside down yet, and doing some half rolls is a great suggestion, I think I am also not getting enough left/top rudder on the last 90 or so and that combined with the insufficient forward stick is giving me the pronounced nose drop, altitude loss and dish-out.

Since I am flying fairly high (6-8K') I set full power, pulling it off for spins and to avoid overspeeds - even with that I have to dive for most entry speeds since I am just working individual figures that are not connected to big vertical maneuvers like hammers, humpty's, loops or cubans, where you come out with a bunch of smash.

Will try a couple loops tomorrow and maybe a cuban or two, they are my favorites to fly along with hammers but I won't try a hammer until I am flying with a coach (Sunday) since botched hammers can get real interesting.

I also need to work up to feeling comfortable putting real G on the plane. I haven't gone past 3 G yet even on the spin recoveries and that stretches them out. The plane is good to +5/-2, but it's 2 years older than I am and I just have to build confidence in it being strong enough. Had the same issue with the Christen Eagle I flew, I never questioned the strength of the Extra but I have to build up a FEELING that wood and fabric wings are as tough as I KNOW they are - if that makes sense.

I am basically following Alan Cassidy's workup from Better Aerobatics so will be working 45 up and downlines with half-rolls, and starting to get back into the wingtip check.

Thanks for the input!

'Gimp

 

[whifferdill]

I used to give the Extra a little 'pull' into the spin break, essentially the last inch or two of throw and it would make for a pretty clean entry - I am still working on rebuilding muscle memory from that even though it was only 10 or so hours of acro.

I would recommend against that technique in any airplane, since you do not want to potentially display the slightest accelerated pitch up of the nose before the stall occurs. The IAC rules allow for a hard zero for snapped entries - pitching the nose up and accelerating the stall. It's not necessary. The nose will naturally come up at an even rate as the you slow down for the spin, which is fine. You just don't want to show any accelerated pitch up just before the stall.

Just keep the stick steadily moving aft, climbing ever so slightly, and right at the first stall indication, quickly but smoothly (don't stomp) apply full rudder along with any remaining aft stick. Again, with just a slight bit of rudder held in the direction you want to spin before the stall occurs.

 

[AcroGimp]

I would recommend against that technique in any airplane, since you do not want to potentially display the slightest accelerated pitch up of the nose before the stall occurs. The IAC rules allow for a hard zero for snapped entries - pitching the nose up and accelerating the stall. It's not necessary. The nose will naturally come up at an even rate as the you slow down for the spin, which is fine. You just don't want to show any accelerated pitch up just before the stall.

Just keep the stick steadily moving aft, climbing ever so slightly, and right at the first stall indication, quickly but smoothly (don't stomp) apply full rudder along with any remaining aft stick. Again, with just a slight bit of rudder held in the direction you want to spin.

Thanks for the input, I'll take that thought process out of the mix. I may not have explained it well in that there was no real pronounced 'snap' but I will just work on clean technique.

'Gimp

 

[whifferdill]

Thanks for the input, I'll take that thought process out of the mix. I may not have explained it well in that there was no real pronounced 'snap' but I will just work on clean technique.

'Gimp

I gotcha. Just wanted you to be aware of the rules, and what to avoid. Spin entry technique can vary a little across different aircraft types. Doesn't matter how you get it done as long as your ground critiquer (and the judges) like it.

 

[AcroGimp]

Finished my 4th acro flight in the 7KCAB Citabria this morning, first minicamp with instructor/coach Gray Brandt out at Borrego Valley (L08).

Worked on the slow rolls and made big progress and covered a lot of ground on spins as well as identifying and correcting a few common mistakes I was making.

I'll post up video once the processing is done but a great day of flying and learning.

Edited to embed video from practice

'Gimp

 

[AcroGimp]

Scrubbed a planned acro practice today, head was not in it and acro is simply no place for less than 100%.

Why does life have to get in the way of my flying fun? ;^)

Bummed but satisfied I made the right decision.

'Gimp

 

[whifferdill]

Good decision John. Rolls are looking better. Last one looked the best! Probably the hardest thing to make yourself do at this point is to even out the roll rate - especially in the last quarter when it speeds up as that left rudder and aileron combine. Wouldn't be fun if it was easy right?

 

[AcroGimp]

Good decision John. Rolls are looking better. Last one looked the best! Probably the hardest thing to make yourself do at this point is to even out the roll rate - especially in the last quarter when it speeds up as that left rudder and aileron combine. Wouldn't be fun if it was easy right?

Indeed, I am finally getting to the point while going around that I can start to think a little about taking out some of the roll input on the last 90 as the top/Left rudder gets effective.

Real key is to move from a 'thinking' break-it-into-little-bits approach which results in jerky/poorly timed control inputs (for me at least) to a more observational/visual approach and get comfortable just doing whatever it takes to make the nose do what I want it to do, as smoothly and simultaneously as possible.

As dumb as it might sound, it took my coach saying just that, for me to 'get it', that this is a primarily visual undertaking to a greater extent than I initially realized. Again, the Extra made so much of this easy by comparison that I did not 'have' to focus on making it do things to such an extent.

2nd mini-camp with coach is Sunday weather permitting at Borrego.

Next month my schedule lets me switch to Saturday's and I get to practice in the marked box (box waiver prohibits use on Sundays and holidays).

'Gimp

 

[Jimmy cooper]

That looks like a well maintained Citabria! Very nice. The only one I've flown. ( quite a bit) is a GCBC which I think is a lot of fun. I'm not a acrobatic pilot, a loop and a spin pretty well covers it. I just really enjoy the way it handles and responds in landings and climbs. Sounds like your really enjoying it and that's just great! Press on!