Rob Schaffer
Cleared for Takeoff
So, Monday morning arrives and it is a beautiful clear morning and much cooler with less humidity than the long weekend. It's amazing what a fontal boundry can do in just a few hours. I left the house and headed down to the airport expecting to fly some 3 point and wheel landings again in the Citabria. Last week I left my AOPA hat in the Cessna after my flight review, so I wanted to retrieve that from the plane as well,... it helps with the morning "bed head".
After getting my hat and walking back to the parking area, I saw Bruce down at the Citabria uncovering her and beginning the preflight. As I approached,... I saw....
A CHUTE! 
We talked about doing some spin training in the near future, but I didn't really expect to today. Conditions were great for a few thousand feet, great visibility, so,... we decided to go for it. He strapped the chute onto me and we discussed how to eject the door and exit the plane, how to open the chute, and that if we had to use them, we would be drinking by 10am,... Ha Ha.
This is just an emergency chute, it doesn't have directional control, so it packs really thin and feels like a seat cushion for your back. Parachutes also have repacking and inspection intervals, wheather they are used or not, which I was unaware of. I think Bruce said this pack was at 82 days or so, with the interval being 120 or 180 days ( I think the reg just changed if I recall his comments correctly) Either way, I had it strapped on now, so we are ready to put the meaning of Airbatic in Citabria.... if you haven't noticed, Citabria is Airbatic spelled backwards. Pretty cool.
So I completed my walk around and then loaded into the airplane. I stowed my iPhone and hat in the door so they wouldn't fly around the cockpit, and all the other stuff in the cockpit came out. Extra oil, cover, headsets, any little thing was removed. Bruce put on his chute as well, and then climbed into the back. Review of the door release mechanism and safety pin, seat belts and center strap clipped on and tightened down, and we are ready for start. I gave 6 short shots of primer and then engaged the starter, and she came to life.
All set, guages in the green, radio's on, I began to taxi the plane down to the runup area of 24. Run-up completed, and I announced departure on 24 to the North West, and advanced the throttle. I stayed on top of the plane today and held that centerline nicely as the tail rose off the ground and we picked up speed. Rotated, and set at 80mph for climbout. We leveled at 2500 feet for the trip up to the practice area, and then climbed to 4000 feet. Along the way, we reviewed the characteristics of the spin entry, recovery, and that we would be doing about 2 turns to the left and right, in the incipient stage of the spin.
The incipient stage is really just the beginning of the spin entry, but is also the stage that kills many pilots as then are in the pattern and start flying to slowly during their turns to base and final, causing a stall-spin scenerio. It's amazingly fast how it can happen, and you loose significant altitude quickly. We would be entering this condition and then recovering after two turns, before the fully developed spin stage occurs. Once fully developed, there can be a longer lag between the input of the corrective measures and the recovery of the plane to stop spinning.
Bruce demonstrated the first spin to the left. Power back a little, pitch up and wings level till the stick is all the way back,.. airspeed falling below 60 mph and then stomp on the left rudder. HOLY CRAP!! We flipped so fast to the left and started spinning like we were going down a roller coaster in a spiral! HOLY CRAP!
were the first words out of my mouth as we rolled into the first turn,.... he counted off "One"... "Two" and then applied hard right rudder, stopped the spin, and began the pullout through the recovery, adding back in power again to gain a positive rate of climb. WOW.... that was fun,...let's do it again!
In two turns, we went from about 4500 feet to nearly 3300-3500 feet by the time we stopped the decent. Amazing how fast we lost that altitude. We climbed back up to 4000,.. and I pitched up, decreased power, and waited for the airspeed,... stomped on the left rudder and around we went!! YIPPEEE!! ,... Bruce said right rudder, and I applied,... stopping the rotation and then neutral rudder, and pulled out. I lost more than he did in altitude, cause I didn't stop the rotation and pull out evenly, but it was good for a first time.
(This photo is from the video I have, but just as we entered the rotation down after kicking the rudder. Still at 4200 feet here and airpeed low. By recovery, airspeed will be 140+ in the middle to high yellow arc, and we'll be down another 1000+ feet!!)
Up again,.... another to the left..... climb again,... now to the right.... Wow,.. the right turn spin messed me up a little. Don't know why, but right spin had a different equilibrium effect on me. I felt fine after the left ones. We made a shallow climbing turn back up to altitude and back over the farmland while I pulled the vents and got some fresh air moving. We flew another one to the right,... and I needed another break.
After getting my hat and walking back to the parking area, I saw Bruce down at the Citabria uncovering her and beginning the preflight. As I approached,... I saw....
We talked about doing some spin training in the near future, but I didn't really expect to today. Conditions were great for a few thousand feet, great visibility, so,... we decided to go for it. He strapped the chute onto me and we discussed how to eject the door and exit the plane, how to open the chute, and that if we had to use them, we would be drinking by 10am,... Ha Ha.This is just an emergency chute, it doesn't have directional control, so it packs really thin and feels like a seat cushion for your back. Parachutes also have repacking and inspection intervals, wheather they are used or not, which I was unaware of. I think Bruce said this pack was at 82 days or so, with the interval being 120 or 180 days ( I think the reg just changed if I recall his comments correctly) Either way, I had it strapped on now, so we are ready to put the meaning of Airbatic in Citabria.... if you haven't noticed, Citabria is Airbatic spelled backwards. Pretty cool.
So I completed my walk around and then loaded into the airplane. I stowed my iPhone and hat in the door so they wouldn't fly around the cockpit, and all the other stuff in the cockpit came out. Extra oil, cover, headsets, any little thing was removed. Bruce put on his chute as well, and then climbed into the back. Review of the door release mechanism and safety pin, seat belts and center strap clipped on and tightened down, and we are ready for start. I gave 6 short shots of primer and then engaged the starter, and she came to life.
The incipient stage is really just the beginning of the spin entry, but is also the stage that kills many pilots as then are in the pattern and start flying to slowly during their turns to base and final, causing a stall-spin scenerio. It's amazingly fast how it can happen, and you loose significant altitude quickly. We would be entering this condition and then recovering after two turns, before the fully developed spin stage occurs. Once fully developed, there can be a longer lag between the input of the corrective measures and the recovery of the plane to stop spinning.
Bruce demonstrated the first spin to the left. Power back a little, pitch up and wings level till the stick is all the way back,.. airspeed falling below 60 mph and then stomp on the left rudder. HOLY CRAP!! We flipped so fast to the left and started spinning like we were going down a roller coaster in a spiral! HOLY CRAP!
were the first words out of my mouth as we rolled into the first turn,.... he counted off "One"... "Two" and then applied hard right rudder, stopped the spin, and began the pullout through the recovery, adding back in power again to gain a positive rate of climb. WOW.... that was fun,...let's do it again!In two turns, we went from about 4500 feet to nearly 3300-3500 feet by the time we stopped the decent. Amazing how fast we lost that altitude. We climbed back up to 4000,.. and I pitched up, decreased power, and waited for the airspeed,... stomped on the left rudder and around we went!! YIPPEEE!! ,... Bruce said right rudder, and I applied,... stopping the rotation and then neutral rudder, and pulled out. I lost more than he did in altitude, cause I didn't stop the rotation and pull out evenly, but it was good for a first time.
(This photo is from the video I have, but just as we entered the rotation down after kicking the rudder. Still at 4200 feet here and airpeed low. By recovery, airspeed will be 140+ in the middle to high yellow arc, and we'll be down another 1000+ feet!!)
Up again,.... another to the left..... climb again,... now to the right.... Wow,.. the right turn spin messed me up a little. Don't know why, but right spin had a different equilibrium effect on me. I felt fine after the left ones. We made a shallow climbing turn back up to altitude and back over the farmland while I pulled the vents and got some fresh air moving. We flew another one to the right,... and I needed another break.
So,.. before I left for the day, I asked Bruce to fly another LEFT spin, since i felt better with those and if I could video on my iPhone. Sure, he said, so we went for it. The spin was fine and it's cool to watch even though it doesn't give you an ounce of what you actually experience on your body and in the plane. After the spin,.. I asked if we could loop before heading back... so Bruce through in a loop. I was fine 3/4 of the way through, but then coming down the backside and entering the bottom of the loop the G-forces and my stomach weren't agreeing anymore. He leveled off, and I was done. Took a few minutes for me to relax,.. smooth breathing, air vents open, and I still couldnt' stop it,.. so I grabbed my AOPA hat cause that's all I had,.. and yup,.. just a little, but enough not to worry about washing the hat. YUK. After that though, I felt much better and flew us home to Wings. Smooth and level, not making anything agressive, I entered the pattern for RY 6 as a light wind had developed. I turned a little high, and my reactions seemed to be lagging my mind. Bruce was aware of it, and even though I called for a Go-Around as we passed the half-way point of the runway, he said we had plenty and we would land. Good he was on the stick and pedals with me. If just me, I would have went around again and maybe even flew the full pattern once. I was fine while we were moving, but still messed up once I put my feet back on terra firma. It was a blast though, and I'd really like to do the spin part again and get into a developed spin condition. We'll have to wait and see on that though, I need to buy a new hat.
