Woohoo! Flew the Pitts...

[John Harper]

My first flight in a Pitts today (S2B). Now that was quite a flight! We did
all the usual stff, rolls, loops, some vertical stuff. Rolling was amazing.
It took me a while to get loops to come out OK, for some reason I kept
relaxing the stick after the initial pull and running out of energy. The
view is fantastic, at least except straight out the front, which is
terrible. I didn't try to land or takeoff, maybe next time. My instructor
said the only thing harder to land than a Pitts is a U2 (yes, he has flown
one, but he doesn't have one on the line).

We did a couple of vertical rolls, his was a lot better than mine, I suppose
he's done it before. And a thing called a "zwiebelturm" (sp... I think that
means "onion tower", which doesn't make a lot of sense to me!). Anyway
everything goes round very fast in all directions, and at some point you're
looking at the ground in an incipient spin. Apparently if it's done right
you end up in an inverted flat spin going upwards. We did flat spins too,
which were cool, kind of relaxing as you twirl around almost horizontal.

Can't wait for the next session...

John

[Andrew Boyd]

John Harper > wrote:

> My first flight in a Pitts today (S2B). Now that was quite a flight!
>
> My instructor said the only thing harder to land than a Pitts is a U2

Tell Rich at Attitude that Andrew Boyd says "hi"!

> Apparently if it's done right you end up in an inverted flat spin
> going upwards.

You can spend hours and hours practicing tumbles, trying
all the possible combinations of entries, and how to reproduce
the coolest ones :-)

> Can't wait for the next session...

Welcome to the cult! :-)

--
aboyd ATP http://www.pittspecials.com/images/3pvic.jpg

[Elise Mason]

Hi,

I think its called a Spiral Tower :-)


Elise



"John Harper" > wrote in message
news:1087791210.58321@sj-nntpcache-3...
> My first flight in a Pitts today (S2B). Now that was quite a flight! We
did
> all the usual stff, rolls, loops, some vertical stuff. Rolling was
amazing.
> It took me a while to get loops to come out OK, for some reason I kept
> relaxing the stick after the initial pull and running out of energy. The
> view is fantastic, at least except straight out the front, which is
> terrible. I didn't try to land or takeoff, maybe next time. My instructor
> said the only thing harder to land than a Pitts is a U2 (yes, he has flown
> one, but he doesn't have one on the line).
>
> We did a couple of vertical rolls, his was a lot better than mine, I
suppose
> he's done it before. And a thing called a "zwiebelturm" (sp... I think
that
> means "onion tower", which doesn't make a lot of sense to me!). Anyway
> everything goes round very fast in all directions, and at some point
you're
> looking at the ground in an incipient spin. Apparently if it's done right
> you end up in an inverted flat spin going upwards. We did flat spins too,
> which were cool, kind of relaxing as you twirl around almost horizontal.
>
> Can't wait for the next session...
>
> John
>
>

[Smutny]

Zweibel Turm translated directly does mean Onion Tower. It referes to
the shape of the church spires commonly found in Alpine villages. For
example see this pic:

http://www.randykerr.com/full.asp?id=199

When you watch the flight path of a plane doing the maneuver, you can
see how it forms a similar shape.

-j-

On Fri, 25 Jun 2004 18:52:09 +0000 (UTC), "Elise Mason"
> wrote:

>Hi,
>
>I think its called a Spiral Tower :-)
>
>
>Elise
>
>
>
>"John Harper" > wrote in message
>news:1087791210.58321@sj-nntpcache-3...
>> My first flight in a Pitts today (S2B). Now that was quite a flight! We
>did
>> all the usual stff, rolls, loops, some vertical stuff. Rolling was
>amazing.
>> It took me a while to get loops to come out OK, for some reason I kept
>> relaxing the stick after the initial pull and running out of energy. The
>> view is fantastic, at least except straight out the front, which is
>> terrible. I didn't try to land or takeoff, maybe next time. My instructor
>> said the only thing harder to land than a Pitts is a U2 (yes, he has flown
>> one, but he doesn't have one on the line).
>>
>> We did a couple of vertical rolls, his was a lot better than mine, I
>suppose
>> he's done it before. And a thing called a "zwiebelturm" (sp... I think
>that
>> means "onion tower", which doesn't make a lot of sense to me!). Anyway
>> everything goes round very fast in all directions, and at some point
>you're
>> looking at the ground in an incipient spin. Apparently if it's done right
>> you end up in an inverted flat spin going upwards. We did flat spins too,
>> which were cool, kind of relaxing as you twirl around almost horizontal.
>>
>> Can't wait for the next session...
>>
>> John
>>
>>
>