Everskyward
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- Mar 19, 2005
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Everskyward
Diana suggested I write something about my experiences and observations regarding my recent upside-down adventures. I’m not sure that they will be very relevant or interesting, but I couldn't say no to Diana. 
Coincidentally my aerobatics instructor is someone she knows and has flown with out here in Colorado. John is an easygoing, laid back sort which is a good match for me.
My first hurdle to overcome was the fact that I have virtually no time in single engine airplanes in the past eight years. My day (and sometimes night) job is flying a couple different types of business jets. Before that I flew King Airs. Before that I did photogrammetric mapping in a Cessna 206 and a Cessna 320, neither of which you would describe as light on the controls. I have to go back to a time which I barely remember to the last time I flew something the size of a Super Decathlon.
Then there was the panel. There’s no attitude indicator, no DG and no nav radios of any kind. I was surprised that I didn’t miss any of these instruments. I’ve always been visually oriented though, and even though I spend virtually all my time on instrument flight plans these days it wasn’t hard to make the transition back. So far I’ve managed to take off and land the Decathlon without incident although our focus has been on the aerobatics part, not takeoffs and landings. I have to remind myself to slow down to an appropriate approach speed, and to make Decathlon-sized patterns. I also have some nasty nosewheel habits which are hard for me to break. For one thing I’m not used to landing with the nose so high and the stick all the way back. I also have not quite gotten the rudder pedal technique down for the ground portion of takeoffs and landings. Apparently you do not hold rudder like I’m used to doing, you just take little stabs at it to keep the nose straight.
The first lesson we went out and did steep turns and wingovers to warm up. Then he showed me how to do aileron rolls and loops which are probably the two easiest maneuvers to learn, although you wouldn't know it by the way I did them at first. At the end of the lesson he demonstrated a little inverted flight which seemed very strange and somewhat uncomfortable. The second lesson he introduced slow rolls and spins. The control deflections used for a slow roll, especially the rudder work, is not very intuitive to me and I have to really think about what I am doing. The controls are used in a definitely uncoordinated manner. I can occasionally do one more or less reasonably now after a couple more lessons. He introduced hammerheads on the third lesson which is another one of the maneuvers where it seems odd to be doing what you need to be doing with the stick. I can understand intellectually the reason for the control deflections but doing different things with your hands and your feet is like walking and chewing gum at the same time. The fourth lesson he introduced half cuban 8s and reverse half cuban 8s. My cuban 8 probably looked like a cuban 1 after I ended up falling out of it. I instinctively put in the wrong rudder when rolling upright from inverted. For those who have not tried this, when you are inverted, you have to cross control to be coordinated. For example, you need to use right rudder when rolling left to counteract adverse yaw.
After my fourth lesson, John suggested that I might want to try the Pitts. That sounded like fun! He told me that many of the maneuvers would be easier and the control forces lighter than in the Decathlon. I thought that was true, especially with rolls, half cubans and reverse half cubans. I found hammerheads to be a little harder though because the upline takes so long that there is plenty of time for me to get twisted or out of vertical. The engine of the Pitts has more torque than the Decathlon’s engine which contributes to the twisting effect. He also introduced immelmans, which I thought were cool. At the end of the lesson he had me intentionally use the wrong rudder when rolling upright from inverted. The airplane would hesitate for a second as if to say, “What did you just do to me?” Then it would fall into a spin from which I had to recover. That was pretty interesting.
I don’t know where I’m going with this in the future. For now I’m going to continue taking lessons. It has been an interesting and educational experience and I wish I had done it a lot sooner. I find that even after only a few lessons, being in all sorts of unusual attitudes doesn't seem so... unusual. Then there is the satisfaction of having a maneuver turn out correctly after botching it many times. I was reluctant to take up a flying hobby because I fly all week and sometimes the thought of getting into an airplane on my days off is a little daunting. However, now that I’ve done it I can say that I honestly can’t relate this kind of flying with what I do for a job in any way. I also don’t think that the fact that I have a lot of time in airplanes helps me very much other than the fact that I am generally comfortable with being in the air. I think that someone with 100 hours could do as well at this as someone with 10,000.
I would encourage people who think they are interested in aerobatics to take a lesson or two or three. I think it takes at least a few lessons to get a feel for it, or maybe I am just slow. However I am living proof that you can teach old cats new tricks... or at least attempt to teach old cats new tricks.
Coincidentally my aerobatics instructor is someone she knows and has flown with out here in Colorado. John is an easygoing, laid back sort which is a good match for me.My first hurdle to overcome was the fact that I have virtually no time in single engine airplanes in the past eight years. My day (and sometimes night) job is flying a couple different types of business jets. Before that I flew King Airs. Before that I did photogrammetric mapping in a Cessna 206 and a Cessna 320, neither of which you would describe as light on the controls. I have to go back to a time which I barely remember to the last time I flew something the size of a Super Decathlon.
Then there was the panel. There’s no attitude indicator, no DG and no nav radios of any kind. I was surprised that I didn’t miss any of these instruments. I’ve always been visually oriented though, and even though I spend virtually all my time on instrument flight plans these days it wasn’t hard to make the transition back. So far I’ve managed to take off and land the Decathlon without incident although our focus has been on the aerobatics part, not takeoffs and landings. I have to remind myself to slow down to an appropriate approach speed, and to make Decathlon-sized patterns. I also have some nasty nosewheel habits which are hard for me to break. For one thing I’m not used to landing with the nose so high and the stick all the way back. I also have not quite gotten the rudder pedal technique down for the ground portion of takeoffs and landings. Apparently you do not hold rudder like I’m used to doing, you just take little stabs at it to keep the nose straight.
The first lesson we went out and did steep turns and wingovers to warm up. Then he showed me how to do aileron rolls and loops which are probably the two easiest maneuvers to learn, although you wouldn't know it by the way I did them at first. At the end of the lesson he demonstrated a little inverted flight which seemed very strange and somewhat uncomfortable. The second lesson he introduced slow rolls and spins. The control deflections used for a slow roll, especially the rudder work, is not very intuitive to me and I have to really think about what I am doing. The controls are used in a definitely uncoordinated manner. I can occasionally do one more or less reasonably now after a couple more lessons. He introduced hammerheads on the third lesson which is another one of the maneuvers where it seems odd to be doing what you need to be doing with the stick. I can understand intellectually the reason for the control deflections but doing different things with your hands and your feet is like walking and chewing gum at the same time. The fourth lesson he introduced half cuban 8s and reverse half cuban 8s. My cuban 8 probably looked like a cuban 1 after I ended up falling out of it. I instinctively put in the wrong rudder when rolling upright from inverted. For those who have not tried this, when you are inverted, you have to cross control to be coordinated. For example, you need to use right rudder when rolling left to counteract adverse yaw.
After my fourth lesson, John suggested that I might want to try the Pitts. That sounded like fun! He told me that many of the maneuvers would be easier and the control forces lighter than in the Decathlon. I thought that was true, especially with rolls, half cubans and reverse half cubans. I found hammerheads to be a little harder though because the upline takes so long that there is plenty of time for me to get twisted or out of vertical. The engine of the Pitts has more torque than the Decathlon’s engine which contributes to the twisting effect. He also introduced immelmans, which I thought were cool. At the end of the lesson he had me intentionally use the wrong rudder when rolling upright from inverted. The airplane would hesitate for a second as if to say, “What did you just do to me?” Then it would fall into a spin from which I had to recover. That was pretty interesting.
I don’t know where I’m going with this in the future. For now I’m going to continue taking lessons. It has been an interesting and educational experience and I wish I had done it a lot sooner. I find that even after only a few lessons, being in all sorts of unusual attitudes doesn't seem so... unusual. Then there is the satisfaction of having a maneuver turn out correctly after botching it many times. I was reluctant to take up a flying hobby because I fly all week and sometimes the thought of getting into an airplane on my days off is a little daunting. However, now that I’ve done it I can say that I honestly can’t relate this kind of flying with what I do for a job in any way. I also don’t think that the fact that I have a lot of time in airplanes helps me very much other than the fact that I am generally comfortable with being in the air. I think that someone with 100 hours could do as well at this as someone with 10,000.
I would encourage people who think they are interested in aerobatics to take a lesson or two or three. I think it takes at least a few lessons to get a feel for it, or maybe I am just slow. However I am living proof that you can teach old cats new tricks... or at least attempt to teach old cats new tricks.
