Hey, all,
Logged 0.8 yesterday in a Decathlon! Tailwheel intro, aerobatic intro, constant-speed prop intro. Lots of "intros". Lots of new things for me. Very cool.
I rented a 152 and flew down to HWV to say hi to Toby. She had an aerobatics lesson in the morning, and I had asked if I could get one too while I was down there.
We didn't have time for a lot of aerobatics, per se. I lasted for about 10 ballistic rolls (a bunch to the left... a bunch to the right...) before I started feeling the little stomach-twinge that says "you're done." So no time for any loops or crazier things. But I'd never landed (or taken off) a taildragger before. Since I'm moving to Alaska soon, taildraggers may feature prominently in my future, so I figured I'd better start wrapping my brain around this idea. I'm an amateur at this of course... spoiled by docile 172's. "Keep it straight" warns the instructor on final... like any good pilot I land it reasonably straight and hold it that way for a couple of seconds, but like a spoiled nosewheeler, I relax everything once I know that all three are on the ground... and immediately the plane starts heading for the grass.
Yikes!
I just love the castoring-tailwheel swivel trick. It feels as cool as I bet it probably looks.
--Kath
Logged 0.8 yesterday in a Decathlon! Tailwheel intro, aerobatic intro, constant-speed prop intro. Lots of "intros". Lots of new things for me. Very cool.
I rented a 152 and flew down to HWV to say hi to Toby. She had an aerobatics lesson in the morning, and I had asked if I could get one too while I was down there.
We didn't have time for a lot of aerobatics, per se. I lasted for about 10 ballistic rolls (a bunch to the left... a bunch to the right...) before I started feeling the little stomach-twinge that says "you're done." So no time for any loops or crazier things. But I'd never landed (or taken off) a taildragger before. Since I'm moving to Alaska soon, taildraggers may feature prominently in my future, so I figured I'd better start wrapping my brain around this idea. I'm an amateur at this of course... spoiled by docile 172's. "Keep it straight" warns the instructor on final... like any good pilot I land it reasonably straight and hold it that way for a couple of seconds, but like a spoiled nosewheeler, I relax everything once I know that all three are on the ground... and immediately the plane starts heading for the grass.
Yikes!I just love the castoring-tailwheel swivel trick. It feels as cool as I bet it probably looks.
--Kath
