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David B. Cole
October 25th 04, 10:21 PM
Just coming off my latest aero flight just over a week ago with Mr.
Stowell, I've decided that I want to take advantage of the momentum
and start a more formal course fairly soon. I think I have an
instructor nailed down. My plan is to start with a 5-10 hours course,
spread out over several months. But here are the issues.

The airport is about 70 miles away from where I live, but only about
19 miles from my girlfriend. This makes it convenient to some extent,
but her house is on the market and I want to take advantage of her
location before she sells.

I know there is a benefit to flying as much as possible to increase
tolerance, but I would like to spread it out over a few months as I
tend to retain things longer if I acquire them more slowly. But I
would also like to get as much time before the hard NJ winter arrives,
as the airport has a grass strip.

I'm thinking twice a month, with the possibility of both Saturday and
Sunday, weather and schedule permitting for the first few sessions.
Would like to hear some ideas. I would also continue to fly casually,
particularly with the goal of remaining IFR current.

Dave

Dudley Henriques
October 25th 04, 11:31 PM
"David B. Cole" > wrote in message
m...
> Just coming off my latest aero flight just over a week ago with Mr.
> Stowell, I've decided that I want to take advantage of the momentum
> and start a more formal course fairly soon. I think I have an
> instructor nailed down. My plan is to start with a 5-10 hours course,
> spread out over several months. But here are the issues.
>
> The airport is about 70 miles away from where I live, but only about
> 19 miles from my girlfriend. This makes it convenient to some extent,
> but her house is on the market and I want to take advantage of her
> location before she sells.
>
> I know there is a benefit to flying as much as possible to increase
> tolerance, but I would like to spread it out over a few months as I
> tend to retain things longer if I acquire them more slowly. But I
> would also like to get as much time before the hard NJ winter arrives,
> as the airport has a grass strip.
>
> I'm thinking twice a month, with the possibility of both Saturday and
> Sunday, weather and schedule permitting for the first few sessions.
> Would like to hear some ideas. I would also continue to fly casually,
> particularly with the goal of remaining IFR current.
>
> Dave

It's just a suggestion but you might want to rethink that "fly as much
as possible" thing just a bit.
I've had just about every kind of acro student you can possibly imagine
in my airplanes and theirs (mostly theirs) through the years, and as an
acro instructor, I came to some basic conclusions about scheduling.
Aerobatics require you as the student to think about what you are going
to do with the airplane before you do it, then execute a maneuver as a
rote function, then remember what happened with the airplane when you
did it; then "adjust" what you did to correct for any mistake you made
for the next attempt at the maneuver. It's a continuing cycle of
thinking, doing, learning and adjusting, then doing it again...and so
on.
The sessions although enjoyable, can be stressful, and like all flight
instruction, you do your REAL learning and retention BETWEEN flights.
I can't tell you how much stress I place on this "period between
flights".
In aerobatics, even more so than regular flight instruction, this
"breathing" period is absolutely vital. It gives you a chance to relax
and rethink what you did in the air. It's here that the small pieces
come together for you that make the difference between a pilot who can
perform a maneuver by rote alone, and a pilot who actually understands
what is happening to the airplane and why.
So whatever you do with your schedule, and I understand that the
distance will be a factor, try and schedule your flights with a downtime
between them. Even if it's only a matter of hours between flights; take
that time as a programmed and anticipated downtime for yourself.
Best of luck to you with your aerobatic training.
Dudley Henriques
International Fighter Pilots Fellowship
Flight Instructor/Aerobatics/Retired

nametab
October 26th 04, 02:23 AM
I suggest that when she moves, you find another girlfriend even closer to
the airport. Maybe one who owns an Edge or Extra or Yak or something nice
like that.

"David B. Cole" > wrote in message
m...
> Just coming off my latest aero flight just over a week ago with Mr.
> Stowell, I've decided that I want to take advantage of the momentum
> and start a more formal course fairly soon. I think I have an
> instructor nailed down. My plan is to start with a 5-10 hours course,
> spread out over several months. But here are the issues.
>
> The airport is about 70 miles away from where I live, but only about
> 19 miles from my girlfriend. This makes it convenient to some extent,
> but her house is on the market and I want to take advantage of her
> location before she sells.
>
> I know there is a benefit to flying as much as possible to increase
> tolerance, but I would like to spread it out over a few months as I
> tend to retain things longer if I acquire them more slowly. But I
> would also like to get as much time before the hard NJ winter arrives,
> as the airport has a grass strip.
>
> I'm thinking twice a month, with the possibility of both Saturday and
> Sunday, weather and schedule permitting for the first few sessions.
> Would like to hear some ideas. I would also continue to fly casually,
> particularly with the goal of remaining IFR current.
>
> Dave

David B. Cole
October 26th 04, 03:55 AM
Dudley,

As has been the case many times before, your post has been valuable
and is certainly appreciated. I tend to take longer to pick up things
because I over-analyze them, but I also tend to hold on to it forever
once I do get it. So I will make sure I have enough time to chair fly
and to internalize what I experience in the air.

Regards,

Dave

"Dudley Henriques" > wrote in message et>...
> "David B. Cole" > wrote in message
> m...
> > Just coming off my latest aero flight just over a week ago with Mr.
> > Stowell, I've decided that I want to take advantage of the momentum
> > and start a more formal course fairly soon. I think I have an
> > instructor nailed down. My plan is to start with a 5-10 hours course,
> > spread out over several months. But here are the issues.
> >
> > The airport is about 70 miles away from where I live, but only about
> > 19 miles from my girlfriend. This makes it convenient to some extent,
> > but her house is on the market and I want to take advantage of her
> > location before she sells.
> >
> > I know there is a benefit to flying as much as possible to increase
> > tolerance, but I would like to spread it out over a few months as I
> > tend to retain things longer if I acquire them more slowly. But I
> > would also like to get as much time before the hard NJ winter arrives,
> > as the airport has a grass strip.
> >
> > I'm thinking twice a month, with the possibility of both Saturday and
> > Sunday, weather and schedule permitting for the first few sessions.
> > Would like to hear some ideas. I would also continue to fly casually,
> > particularly with the goal of remaining IFR current.
> >
> > Dave
>
> It's just a suggestion but you might want to rethink that "fly as much
> as possible" thing just a bit.
> I've had just about every kind of acro student you can possibly imagine
> in my airplanes and theirs (mostly theirs) through the years, and as an
> acro instructor, I came to some basic conclusions about scheduling.
> Aerobatics require you as the student to think about what you are going
> to do with the airplane before you do it, then execute a maneuver as a
> rote function, then remember what happened with the airplane when you
> did it; then "adjust" what you did to correct for any mistake you made
> for the next attempt at the maneuver. It's a continuing cycle of
> thinking, doing, learning and adjusting, then doing it again...and so
> on.
> The sessions although enjoyable, can be stressful, and like all flight
> instruction, you do your REAL learning and retention BETWEEN flights.
> I can't tell you how much stress I place on this "period between
> flights".
> In aerobatics, even more so than regular flight instruction, this
> "breathing" period is absolutely vital. It gives you a chance to relax
> and rethink what you did in the air. It's here that the small pieces
> come together for you that make the difference between a pilot who can
> perform a maneuver by rote alone, and a pilot who actually understands
> what is happening to the airplane and why.
> So whatever you do with your schedule, and I understand that the
> distance will be a factor, try and schedule your flights with a downtime
> between them. Even if it's only a matter of hours between flights; take
> that time as a programmed and anticipated downtime for yourself.
> Best of luck to you with your aerobatic training.
> Dudley Henriques
> International Fighter Pilots Fellowship
> Flight Instructor/Aerobatics/Retired

Dudley Henriques
October 26th 04, 04:48 AM
Best of luck to you Dave. I think you'll like acro. If you learn
properly, and never do it again, you'll be a better pilot than you were
before you learned how to do it :-))
Dudley
"David B. Cole" > wrote in message
m...
> Dudley,
>
> As has been the case many times before, your post has been valuable
> and is certainly appreciated. I tend to take longer to pick up things
> because I over-analyze them, but I also tend to hold on to it forever
> once I do get it. So I will make sure I have enough time to chair fly
> and to internalize what I experience in the air.
>
> Regards,
>
> Dave
>
> "Dudley Henriques" > wrote in message
> et>...
>> "David B. Cole" > wrote in message
>> m...
>> > Just coming off my latest aero flight just over a week ago with Mr.
>> > Stowell, I've decided that I want to take advantage of the momentum
>> > and start a more formal course fairly soon. I think I have an
>> > instructor nailed down. My plan is to start with a 5-10 hours
>> > course,
>> > spread out over several months. But here are the issues.
>> >
>> > The airport is about 70 miles away from where I live, but only
>> > about
>> > 19 miles from my girlfriend. This makes it convenient to some
>> > extent,
>> > but her house is on the market and I want to take advantage of her
>> > location before she sells.
>> >
>> > I know there is a benefit to flying as much as possible to increase
>> > tolerance, but I would like to spread it out over a few months as I
>> > tend to retain things longer if I acquire them more slowly. But I
>> > would also like to get as much time before the hard NJ winter
>> > arrives,
>> > as the airport has a grass strip.
>> >
>> > I'm thinking twice a month, with the possibility of both Saturday
>> > and
>> > Sunday, weather and schedule permitting for the first few sessions.
>> > Would like to hear some ideas. I would also continue to fly
>> > casually,
>> > particularly with the goal of remaining IFR current.
>> >
>> > Dave
>>
>> It's just a suggestion but you might want to rethink that "fly as
>> much
>> as possible" thing just a bit.
>> I've had just about every kind of acro student you can possibly
>> imagine
>> in my airplanes and theirs (mostly theirs) through the years, and as
>> an
>> acro instructor, I came to some basic conclusions about scheduling.
>> Aerobatics require you as the student to think about what you are
>> going
>> to do with the airplane before you do it, then execute a maneuver as
>> a
>> rote function, then remember what happened with the airplane when you
>> did it; then "adjust" what you did to correct for any mistake you
>> made
>> for the next attempt at the maneuver. It's a continuing cycle of
>> thinking, doing, learning and adjusting, then doing it again...and so
>> on.
>> The sessions although enjoyable, can be stressful, and like all
>> flight
>> instruction, you do your REAL learning and retention BETWEEN flights.
>> I can't tell you how much stress I place on this "period between
>> flights".
>> In aerobatics, even more so than regular flight instruction, this
>> "breathing" period is absolutely vital. It gives you a chance to
>> relax
>> and rethink what you did in the air. It's here that the small pieces
>> come together for you that make the difference between a pilot who
>> can
>> perform a maneuver by rote alone, and a pilot who actually
>> understands
>> what is happening to the airplane and why.
>> So whatever you do with your schedule, and I understand that the
>> distance will be a factor, try and schedule your flights with a
>> downtime
>> between them. Even if it's only a matter of hours between flights;
>> take
>> that time as a programmed and anticipated downtime for yourself.
>> Best of luck to you with your aerobatic training.
>> Dudley Henriques
>> International Fighter Pilots Fellowship
>> Flight Instructor/Aerobatics/Retired

zatatime
October 26th 04, 05:50 AM
On Tue, 26 Oct 2004 03:48:26 GMT, "Dudley Henriques"
> wrote:

>. But I
>>> > would also like to get as much time before the hard NJ winter
>>> > arrives,


May I ask what field you take your lessons?

z

ShawnD2112
October 26th 04, 06:53 AM
David,

As usual, I agree with what Dudley says, but only based on my own
experience, as I'm not a flight instructor. I'll also add that I really
learned how to fly when I got hold of a Supercub one summer and was flying
several times a week. Not long flights, most of them spent in the pattern
doing every concievable kind of take off and landing combination I and my
mates could think of. There were rest periods in between, and lots of
analysis and hangar flying to boot, but there was definitely something about
frequency in there for me. This wasn't the old "get your PPL in two weeks"
kind of pressured course, it was just me flying after I got my PPL as much
as I could. Flying more often allowed me to retain more between lessons,
requiring less relearning during each. I developed a feel for the airplane
during that period that I've never matched since, simply because of how
often I was flying. I would suggest you give that some thought as a
balancing argument to having weeks beetween lessons.

Also, depending on where you live, if you schedule for every other week, in
reality you'll get weathered out at least part of the time and end up only
flying one weekend per month sometimes. Consider scheduling every weekend
and let weather and other factors give you the seperation you're talking
about needing.

Just my .02 worth,
Shawn
"Dudley Henriques" > wrote in message
ink.net...
>
> "David B. Cole" > wrote in message
> m...
>> Just coming off my latest aero flight just over a week ago with Mr.
>> Stowell, I've decided that I want to take advantage of the momentum
>> and start a more formal course fairly soon. I think I have an
>> instructor nailed down. My plan is to start with a 5-10 hours course,
>> spread out over several months. But here are the issues.
>>
>> The airport is about 70 miles away from where I live, but only about
>> 19 miles from my girlfriend. This makes it convenient to some extent,
>> but her house is on the market and I want to take advantage of her
>> location before she sells.
>>
>> I know there is a benefit to flying as much as possible to increase
>> tolerance, but I would like to spread it out over a few months as I
>> tend to retain things longer if I acquire them more slowly. But I
>> would also like to get as much time before the hard NJ winter arrives,
>> as the airport has a grass strip.
>>
>> I'm thinking twice a month, with the possibility of both Saturday and
>> Sunday, weather and schedule permitting for the first few sessions.
>> Would like to hear some ideas. I would also continue to fly casually,
>> particularly with the goal of remaining IFR current.
>>
>> Dave
>
> It's just a suggestion but you might want to rethink that "fly as much as
> possible" thing just a bit.
> I've had just about every kind of acro student you can possibly imagine in
> my airplanes and theirs (mostly theirs) through the years, and as an acro
> instructor, I came to some basic conclusions about scheduling.
> Aerobatics require you as the student to think about what you are going to
> do with the airplane before you do it, then execute a maneuver as a rote
> function, then remember what happened with the airplane when you did it;
> then "adjust" what you did to correct for any mistake you made for the
> next attempt at the maneuver. It's a continuing cycle of thinking, doing,
> learning and adjusting, then doing it again...and so on.
> The sessions although enjoyable, can be stressful, and like all flight
> instruction, you do your REAL learning and retention BETWEEN flights.
> I can't tell you how much stress I place on this "period between flights".
> In aerobatics, even more so than regular flight instruction, this
> "breathing" period is absolutely vital. It gives you a chance to relax and
> rethink what you did in the air. It's here that the small pieces come
> together for you that make the difference between a pilot who can perform
> a maneuver by rote alone, and a pilot who actually understands what is
> happening to the airplane and why.
> So whatever you do with your schedule, and I understand that the distance
> will be a factor, try and schedule your flights with a downtime between
> them. Even if it's only a matter of hours between flights; take that time
> as a programmed and anticipated downtime for yourself.
> Best of luck to you with your aerobatic training.
> Dudley Henriques
> International Fighter Pilots Fellowship
> Flight Instructor/Aerobatics/Retired
>
>

Dudley Henriques
October 26th 04, 02:16 PM
"zatatime" > wrote in message
...
> On Tue, 26 Oct 2004 03:48:26 GMT, "Dudley Henriques"
> > wrote:
>
>>. But I
>>>> > would also like to get as much time before the hard NJ winter
>>>> > arrives,
>
>
> May I ask what field you take your lessons?
>
> z

I'm a bit confused here z; not that I didn't learn something every time
I strapped on an airplane, but I'm the instructor in this equation
:-))))
Do you mean the OP perhaps?

Dudley Henriques
International Fighter Pilots Fellowship
Flight Instructor/Aerobatics/Retired

David B. Cole
October 26th 04, 03:22 PM
Ha! Ha! Ha! Oh man I almost sprayed coffee all over my monitor.

Dave

"nametab" > wrote in message t>...
> I suggest that when she moves, you find another girlfriend even closer to
> the airport. Maybe one who owns an Edge or Extra or Yak or something nice
> like that.
>
> "David B. Cole" > wrote in message
> m...
> > Just coming off my latest aero flight just over a week ago with Mr.
> > Stowell, I've decided that I want to take advantage of the momentum
> > and start a more formal course fairly soon. I think I have an
> > instructor nailed down. My plan is to start with a 5-10 hours course,
> > spread out over several months. But here are the issues.
> >
> > The airport is about 70 miles away from where I live, but only about
> > 19 miles from my girlfriend. This makes it convenient to some extent,
> > but her house is on the market and I want to take advantage of her
> > location before she sells.
> >
> > I know there is a benefit to flying as much as possible to increase
> > tolerance, but I would like to spread it out over a few months as I
> > tend to retain things longer if I acquire them more slowly. But I
> > would also like to get as much time before the hard NJ winter arrives,
> > as the airport has a grass strip.
> >
> > I'm thinking twice a month, with the possibility of both Saturday and
> > Sunday, weather and schedule permitting for the first few sessions.
> > Would like to hear some ideas. I would also continue to fly casually,
> > particularly with the goal of remaining IFR current.
> >
> > Dave

David B. Cole
October 26th 04, 03:37 PM
Good advice Shawn. I most likely will schedule weekly in order to
hedge against the weather. And while I'm at it I'll post my most
recent aero experience below.

Dave


Last week I completed my second year of participation in the annual
spin and emergency maneuver training offered by Rich Stowell here in
NJ. But unlike last year I had to battle a number of obstacles that
didn't exist last year. The first was that I had knee surgery about a
month ago and although I'm recovering fairly well, I'd only flown once
within the last month and a half. I was also recovering from some type
of stomach virus that continues to make me somewhat queasy. In fact
this was my biggest concern as I didn't want to blemish my record of
not tossing my cookies. I also started coming down with a cold which I
fiercely fought against and won.

The weather also stood as a possible deal breaker as low ceilings on
Friday caused the six flights for that day to be rescheduled.
Fortunately the weather held up until the time we were returning to
the airport from the flight, when a light rain started. But enough of
that. I arrived at the airport, Alexandria Field, at about 1:30 where
I was greeted by Rich, the airport owner Linda Castner, and the two
other guys flying that afternoon. I happen to know one of the guys
fairly well and the other in passing, as we all had the same
instrument instructor.

We went back to the classroom where Rich discussed what we would be
doing that day. Myself and one of the other pilots had gone through
the course the prior year so Rich asked what we wanted to do. I
decided that I wanted to review spins, but to also add some control
failure exercises and unusual attitude recoveries as well. I will
admit that while I had a terrific time the previous year doing spins
and some basic aerobatic maneuvers, I was a little anxious and felt
like I was doing it again for the first time.

I was the second of the three to fly, just enough time for the jitters
to build back up. But when it was my time we strapped on the chutes,
hopped in the Super Decathlon, and were on our way. We started with
some coordination exercises, followed by a few steep turns to clear
the area and two power off stalls. Then Rich asked me if my stomach
was up for a spin, to which I agreed. As Rich prefers to allow the
student to perform the entire maneuver, I pulled the power to idle and
allowed the airspeed to bleed off. I wasn't as aggressive as I should
have been in getting the stick back, but eventually got it down to
just above stall speed and then kicked in the left rudder. While it
had been a while since I had last seen the earth from that
perspective, it seemed like a familiar friend and I didn't have to
urge to say "Oh Sh&t!", as I did with my first spin the year before.

We went on to do three more spins with the power off before moving to
control failures. These consisted of Rich first having me perform
coordinated left and right turns, then telling me whether I had an
aileron failure or rudder failure. For an aileron failure I simply put
the plane into a slip by applying opposite rudder. But in the SD with
slips at 100 kts, the degree of uncoordinated flight is so high that
it's almost uncomfortable, especially if you don't lean into it. For
rudder failures in the turn I went from aileron deflection in the
direction of turn to opposite aileron to enter the slip. In both cases
I applied enough forward pressure on the elevator to get the AOA down,
and adjusted the available control surface to maintain the heading.
The last part of this exercise was Rich blocking a control surface at
random, me figuring out what had failed, and applying the appropriate
corrections.

The last module was recovery from unusual attitudes. But these were
far more unusual than the one I experienced as a student pilot as they
all ended in spins. Rich took the controls, I put my hands in my lap,
and waited to see what was coming next. The first unusual attitude was
a steep climbing left turn into a spin. This was followed by a spin
out of a botched loop, and finally a spin out of a snap roll, which in
itself was interesting. The difference between these three spins and
those I had done before was that they all were entered with power on,
so I had to complete all the steps in the Power, Aileron, Rudder,
Elevator recovery. In fact I had to call out each action as I did it.
I was surprised that I didn't feel rushed, and the reason for the
callouts was to have me think consciously about my actions and to
assess about what I was seeing.

On the way back to the field I got to perform a loop, which I did last
year as well, in addition to a hammerhead, which was a blast. While
the experience was a tremendous benefit last year when I did it, the
components that we added this year increased my knowledge and
confidence that much more. As I plan to take between 5-10 hours of
aero before starting the commercial, this will be a good refresher
before starting.

Dave


"ShawnD2112" > wrote in message >...
> David,
>
> As usual, I agree with what Dudley says, but only based on my own
> experience, as I'm not a flight instructor. I'll also add that I really
> learned how to fly when I got hold of a Supercub one summer and was flying
> several times a week. Not long flights, most of them spent in the pattern
> doing every concievable kind of take off and landing combination I and my
> mates could think of. There were rest periods in between, and lots of
> analysis and hangar flying to boot, but there was definitely something about
> frequency in there for me. This wasn't the old "get your PPL in two weeks"
> kind of pressured course, it was just me flying after I got my PPL as much
> as I could. Flying more often allowed me to retain more between lessons,
> requiring less relearning during each. I developed a feel for the airplane
> during that period that I've never matched since, simply because of how
> often I was flying. I would suggest you give that some thought as a
> balancing argument to having weeks beetween lessons.
>
> Also, depending on where you live, if you schedule for every other week, in
> reality you'll get weathered out at least part of the time and end up only
> flying one weekend per month sometimes. Consider scheduling every weekend
> and let weather and other factors give you the seperation you're talking
> about needing.
>
> Just my .02 worth,
> Shawn
>

David B. Cole
October 26th 04, 03:38 PM
Well I haven't started yet, but the airport is named Van Sant and is
located just across the Delaware River from NJ in Pennsylvania.

Dave
zatatime > wrote in message >...
> On Tue, 26 Oct 2004 03:48:26 GMT, "Dudley Henriques"
> > wrote:
>
> >. But I
> >>> > would also like to get as much time before the hard NJ winter
> >>> > arrives,
>
>
> May I ask what field you take your lessons?
>
> z

ShawnD2112
October 26th 04, 11:06 PM
Sounds like a valuable day spent. I've never met Rich but I've heard good
things about him. Well done for recognizing the value in that kind of
training and seeking it out.

Once you start flying aeros you'll find that some of the unusual attitude
training you did isn't just an academic exercise. I've never actually spun
out of the top of a botched loop but that's only because I've recognized
what was coming, cut the power, and just let the aircraft have it's head and
find it's own way out. But blowing it at the top of a loop and having to
recover from the hihg-AOA, high-power, low-energy state is a fairly common
occurance when starting. Actually, I performed the loveliest slow half snap
roll from inverted to erect at the top of a botched loop. Still not sure
what happened but I know it had nothing to do with me! Still, it was lots
of fun, very gentle, and looked fantastic. I just wish I could do it on
purpose now! I eventually learned not to float them quite so much at the
top. I was easing the back pressure off too early which kept the nose up
too high and bled speed off which, with full power and high alpha is the
making of a spin.

If you take up aeros on a regular basis, for my money, spin recovery is
about the most valuable skill you can learn. I reckon, and I hope Dudley
will correct me if I'm wrong, that nearly any maneuver I screw up is going
to end up in a spin as a worst case scenario. This assumes no serious gyro
maneuvers as I'm not up to them yet. So, I reckon if I can recover from
developed or insipient spins pretty well, it's like an insurance policy,
protecting me from my own hamhandedness.

At any rate, keep up the training, keep pushing your limits just a bit, do
it all way up high, and have loads of fun with it!

Shawn
Pitts S-1D, G-BKVP
"David B. Cole" > wrote in message
m...
> Good advice Shawn. I most likely will schedule weekly in order to
> hedge against the weather. And while I'm at it I'll post my most
> recent aero experience below.
>
> Dave
>
>
> Last week I completed my second year of participation in the annual
> spin and emergency maneuver training offered by Rich Stowell here in
> NJ. But unlike last year I had to battle a number of obstacles that
> didn't exist last year. The first was that I had knee surgery about a
> month ago and although I'm recovering fairly well, I'd only flown once
> within the last month and a half. I was also recovering from some type
> of stomach virus that continues to make me somewhat queasy. In fact
> this was my biggest concern as I didn't want to blemish my record of
> not tossing my cookies. I also started coming down with a cold which I
> fiercely fought against and won.
>
> The weather also stood as a possible deal breaker as low ceilings on
> Friday caused the six flights for that day to be rescheduled.
> Fortunately the weather held up until the time we were returning to
> the airport from the flight, when a light rain started. But enough of
> that. I arrived at the airport, Alexandria Field, at about 1:30 where
> I was greeted by Rich, the airport owner Linda Castner, and the two
> other guys flying that afternoon. I happen to know one of the guys
> fairly well and the other in passing, as we all had the same
> instrument instructor.
>
> We went back to the classroom where Rich discussed what we would be
> doing that day. Myself and one of the other pilots had gone through
> the course the prior year so Rich asked what we wanted to do. I
> decided that I wanted to review spins, but to also add some control
> failure exercises and unusual attitude recoveries as well. I will
> admit that while I had a terrific time the previous year doing spins
> and some basic aerobatic maneuvers, I was a little anxious and felt
> like I was doing it again for the first time.
>
> I was the second of the three to fly, just enough time for the jitters
> to build back up. But when it was my time we strapped on the chutes,
> hopped in the Super Decathlon, and were on our way. We started with
> some coordination exercises, followed by a few steep turns to clear
> the area and two power off stalls. Then Rich asked me if my stomach
> was up for a spin, to which I agreed. As Rich prefers to allow the
> student to perform the entire maneuver, I pulled the power to idle and
> allowed the airspeed to bleed off. I wasn't as aggressive as I should
> have been in getting the stick back, but eventually got it down to
> just above stall speed and then kicked in the left rudder. While it
> had been a while since I had last seen the earth from that
> perspective, it seemed like a familiar friend and I didn't have to
> urge to say "Oh Sh&t!", as I did with my first spin the year before.
>
> We went on to do three more spins with the power off before moving to
> control failures. These consisted of Rich first having me perform
> coordinated left and right turns, then telling me whether I had an
> aileron failure or rudder failure. For an aileron failure I simply put
> the plane into a slip by applying opposite rudder. But in the SD with
> slips at 100 kts, the degree of uncoordinated flight is so high that
> it's almost uncomfortable, especially if you don't lean into it. For
> rudder failures in the turn I went from aileron deflection in the
> direction of turn to opposite aileron to enter the slip. In both cases
> I applied enough forward pressure on the elevator to get the AOA down,
> and adjusted the available control surface to maintain the heading.
> The last part of this exercise was Rich blocking a control surface at
> random, me figuring out what had failed, and applying the appropriate
> corrections.
>
> The last module was recovery from unusual attitudes. But these were
> far more unusual than the one I experienced as a student pilot as they
> all ended in spins. Rich took the controls, I put my hands in my lap,
> and waited to see what was coming next. The first unusual attitude was
> a steep climbing left turn into a spin. This was followed by a spin
> out of a botched loop, and finally a spin out of a snap roll, which in
> itself was interesting. The difference between these three spins and
> those I had done before was that they all were entered with power on,
> so I had to complete all the steps in the Power, Aileron, Rudder,
> Elevator recovery. In fact I had to call out each action as I did it.
> I was surprised that I didn't feel rushed, and the reason for the
> callouts was to have me think consciously about my actions and to
> assess about what I was seeing.
>
> On the way back to the field I got to perform a loop, which I did last
> year as well, in addition to a hammerhead, which was a blast. While
> the experience was a tremendous benefit last year when I did it, the
> components that we added this year increased my knowledge and
> confidence that much more. As I plan to take between 5-10 hours of
> aero before starting the commercial, this will be a good refresher
> before starting.
>
> Dave
>
>
> "ShawnD2112" > wrote in message
> >...
>> David,
>>
>> As usual, I agree with what Dudley says, but only based on my own
>> experience, as I'm not a flight instructor. I'll also add that I really
>> learned how to fly when I got hold of a Supercub one summer and was
>> flying
>> several times a week. Not long flights, most of them spent in the
>> pattern
>> doing every concievable kind of take off and landing combination I and my
>> mates could think of. There were rest periods in between, and lots of
>> analysis and hangar flying to boot, but there was definitely something
>> about
>> frequency in there for me. This wasn't the old "get your PPL in two
>> weeks"
>> kind of pressured course, it was just me flying after I got my PPL as
>> much
>> as I could. Flying more often allowed me to retain more between lessons,
>> requiring less relearning during each. I developed a feel for the
>> airplane
>> during that period that I've never matched since, simply because of how
>> often I was flying. I would suggest you give that some thought as a
>> balancing argument to having weeks beetween lessons.
>>
>> Also, depending on where you live, if you schedule for every other week,
>> in
>> reality you'll get weathered out at least part of the time and end up
>> only
>> flying one weekend per month sometimes. Consider scheduling every
>> weekend
>> and let weather and other factors give you the seperation you're talking
>> about needing.
>>
>> Just my .02 worth,
>> Shawn
>>

zatatime
October 26th 04, 11:06 PM
On Tue, 26 Oct 2004 13:16:24 GMT, "Dudley Henriques"
> wrote:

>
>"zatatime" > wrote in message
...
>> On Tue, 26 Oct 2004 03:48:26 GMT, "Dudley Henriques"
>> > wrote:
>>
>>>. But I
>>>>> > would also like to get as much time before the hard NJ winter
>>>>> > arrives,
>>
>>
>> May I ask what field you take your lessons?
>>
>> z
>
>I'm a bit confused here z; not that I didn't learn something every time
>I strapped on an airplane, but I'm the instructor in this equation
>:-))))
>Do you mean the OP perhaps?
>
>Dudley Henriques
>International Fighter Pilots Fellowship
>Flight Instructor/Aerobatics/Retired
>


L O L ! Yes, I meant the OP. Tried to be clear by snipping one of
the lines from his post, altough I did send the response out of your
reply.

Sorry for the confusion.
z

zatatime
October 26th 04, 11:08 PM
On 26 Oct 2004 07:38:28 -0700, (David B. Cole)
wrote:

>Van Sant

Thanks. I didn't know they did aero out of there. Thought it was
mostly gliders.

z

Dudley Henriques
October 26th 04, 11:44 PM
You hit it right on the nose. :-)
Dudley

"ShawnD2112" > wrote in message
.uk...
> Sounds like a valuable day spent. I've never met Rich but I've heard
> good things about him. Well done for recognizing the value in that
> kind of training and seeking it out.
>
> Once you start flying aeros you'll find that some of the unusual
> attitude training you did isn't just an academic exercise. I've never
> actually spun out of the top of a botched loop but that's only because
> I've recognized what was coming, cut the power, and just let the
> aircraft have it's head and find it's own way out. But blowing it at
> the top of a loop and having to recover from the hihg-AOA, high-power,
> low-energy state is a fairly common occurance when starting.
> Actually, I performed the loveliest slow half snap roll from inverted
> to erect at the top of a botched loop. Still not sure what happened
> but I know it had nothing to do with me! Still, it was lots of fun,
> very gentle, and looked fantastic. I just wish I could do it on
> purpose now! I eventually learned not to float them quite so much at
> the top. I was easing the back pressure off too early which kept the
> nose up too high and bled speed off which, with full power and high
> alpha is the making of a spin.
>
> If you take up aeros on a regular basis, for my money, spin recovery
> is about the most valuable skill you can learn. I reckon, and I hope
> Dudley will correct me if I'm wrong, that nearly any maneuver I screw
> up is going to end up in a spin as a worst case scenario. This
> assumes no serious gyro maneuvers as I'm not up to them yet. So, I
> reckon if I can recover from developed or insipient spins pretty well,
> it's like an insurance policy, protecting me from my own
> hamhandedness.
>
> At any rate, keep up the training, keep pushing your limits just a
> bit, do it all way up high, and have loads of fun with it!
>
> Shawn
> Pitts S-1D, G-BKVP
> "David B. Cole" > wrote in message
> m...
>> Good advice Shawn. I most likely will schedule weekly in order to
>> hedge against the weather. And while I'm at it I'll post my most
>> recent aero experience below.
>>
>> Dave
>>
>>
>> Last week I completed my second year of participation in the annual
>> spin and emergency maneuver training offered by Rich Stowell here in
>> NJ. But unlike last year I had to battle a number of obstacles that
>> didn't exist last year. The first was that I had knee surgery about a
>> month ago and although I'm recovering fairly well, I'd only flown
>> once
>> within the last month and a half. I was also recovering from some
>> type
>> of stomach virus that continues to make me somewhat queasy. In fact
>> this was my biggest concern as I didn't want to blemish my record of
>> not tossing my cookies. I also started coming down with a cold which
>> I
>> fiercely fought against and won.
>>
>> The weather also stood as a possible deal breaker as low ceilings on
>> Friday caused the six flights for that day to be rescheduled.
>> Fortunately the weather held up until the time we were returning to
>> the airport from the flight, when a light rain started. But enough of
>> that. I arrived at the airport, Alexandria Field, at about 1:30 where
>> I was greeted by Rich, the airport owner Linda Castner, and the two
>> other guys flying that afternoon. I happen to know one of the guys
>> fairly well and the other in passing, as we all had the same
>> instrument instructor.
>>
>> We went back to the classroom where Rich discussed what we would be
>> doing that day. Myself and one of the other pilots had gone through
>> the course the prior year so Rich asked what we wanted to do. I
>> decided that I wanted to review spins, but to also add some control
>> failure exercises and unusual attitude recoveries as well. I will
>> admit that while I had a terrific time the previous year doing spins
>> and some basic aerobatic maneuvers, I was a little anxious and felt
>> like I was doing it again for the first time.
>>
>> I was the second of the three to fly, just enough time for the
>> jitters
>> to build back up. But when it was my time we strapped on the chutes,
>> hopped in the Super Decathlon, and were on our way. We started with
>> some coordination exercises, followed by a few steep turns to clear
>> the area and two power off stalls. Then Rich asked me if my stomach
>> was up for a spin, to which I agreed. As Rich prefers to allow the
>> student to perform the entire maneuver, I pulled the power to idle
>> and
>> allowed the airspeed to bleed off. I wasn't as aggressive as I should
>> have been in getting the stick back, but eventually got it down to
>> just above stall speed and then kicked in the left rudder. While it
>> had been a while since I had last seen the earth from that
>> perspective, it seemed like a familiar friend and I didn't have to
>> urge to say "Oh Sh&t!", as I did with my first spin the year before.
>>
>> We went on to do three more spins with the power off before moving to
>> control failures. These consisted of Rich first having me perform
>> coordinated left and right turns, then telling me whether I had an
>> aileron failure or rudder failure. For an aileron failure I simply
>> put
>> the plane into a slip by applying opposite rudder. But in the SD with
>> slips at 100 kts, the degree of uncoordinated flight is so high that
>> it's almost uncomfortable, especially if you don't lean into it. For
>> rudder failures in the turn I went from aileron deflection in the
>> direction of turn to opposite aileron to enter the slip. In both
>> cases
>> I applied enough forward pressure on the elevator to get the AOA
>> down,
>> and adjusted the available control surface to maintain the heading.
>> The last part of this exercise was Rich blocking a control surface at
>> random, me figuring out what had failed, and applying the appropriate
>> corrections.
>>
>> The last module was recovery from unusual attitudes. But these were
>> far more unusual than the one I experienced as a student pilot as
>> they
>> all ended in spins. Rich took the controls, I put my hands in my lap,
>> and waited to see what was coming next. The first unusual attitude
>> was
>> a steep climbing left turn into a spin. This was followed by a spin
>> out of a botched loop, and finally a spin out of a snap roll, which
>> in
>> itself was interesting. The difference between these three spins and
>> those I had done before was that they all were entered with power on,
>> so I had to complete all the steps in the Power, Aileron, Rudder,
>> Elevator recovery. In fact I had to call out each action as I did it.
>> I was surprised that I didn't feel rushed, and the reason for the
>> callouts was to have me think consciously about my actions and to
>> assess about what I was seeing.
>>
>> On the way back to the field I got to perform a loop, which I did
>> last
>> year as well, in addition to a hammerhead, which was a blast. While
>> the experience was a tremendous benefit last year when I did it, the
>> components that we added this year increased my knowledge and
>> confidence that much more. As I plan to take between 5-10 hours of
>> aero before starting the commercial, this will be a good refresher
>> before starting.
>>
>> Dave
>>
>>
>> "ShawnD2112" > wrote in message
>> >...
>>> David,
>>>
>>> As usual, I agree with what Dudley says, but only based on my own
>>> experience, as I'm not a flight instructor. I'll also add that I
>>> really
>>> learned how to fly when I got hold of a Supercub one summer and was
>>> flying
>>> several times a week. Not long flights, most of them spent in the
>>> pattern
>>> doing every concievable kind of take off and landing combination I
>>> and my
>>> mates could think of. There were rest periods in between, and lots
>>> of
>>> analysis and hangar flying to boot, but there was definitely
>>> something about
>>> frequency in there for me. This wasn't the old "get your PPL in two
>>> weeks"
>>> kind of pressured course, it was just me flying after I got my PPL
>>> as much
>>> as I could. Flying more often allowed me to retain more between
>>> lessons,
>>> requiring less relearning during each. I developed a feel for the
>>> airplane
>>> during that period that I've never matched since, simply because of
>>> how
>>> often I was flying. I would suggest you give that some thought as a
>>> balancing argument to having weeks beetween lessons.
>>>
>>> Also, depending on where you live, if you schedule for every other
>>> week, in
>>> reality you'll get weathered out at least part of the time and end
>>> up only
>>> flying one weekend per month sometimes. Consider scheduling every
>>> weekend
>>> and let weather and other factors give you the seperation you're
>>> talking
>>> about needing.
>>>
>>> Just my .02 worth,
>>> Shawn
>>>
>
>

dave
October 27th 04, 01:44 PM
David,
That's where I got my private in 1992. Are going with Azher? He's a
great instructor. I'm trying to schedule some time with him in my
citabria, 7ECA. We did about an hour of acro last year but I have been
too busy to dedicate time to acro. I've just bought a new chute and
hope to get with Azher soon.

Will you be using the Decathalon?

Good luck - you've picked a great place to learn.

Dave
68 7ECA

David B. Cole wrote:
> Well I haven't started yet, but the airport is named Van Sant and is
> located just across the Delaware River from NJ in Pennsylvania.
>
> Dave
> zatatime > wrote in message >...
>
>>On Tue, 26 Oct 2004 03:48:26 GMT, "Dudley Henriques"
> wrote:
>>
>>
>>>. But I
>>>
>>>>>>would also like to get as much time before the hard NJ winter
>>>>>>arrives,
>>
>>
>>May I ask what field you take your lessons?
>>
>>z

ShawnD2112
October 27th 04, 07:44 PM
Thanks, Dudley. I take those seven words as high praise coming from you...
:-)

Shawn
"Dudley Henriques" > wrote in message
link.net...
> You hit it right on the nose. :-)
> Dudley
>
> "ShawnD2112" > wrote in message
> .uk...
>> Sounds like a valuable day spent. I've never met Rich but I've heard
>> good things about him. Well done for recognizing the value in that kind
>> of training and seeking it out.
>>
>> Once you start flying aeros you'll find that some of the unusual attitude
>> training you did isn't just an academic exercise. I've never actually
>> spun out of the top of a botched loop but that's only because I've
>> recognized what was coming, cut the power, and just let the aircraft have
>> it's head and find it's own way out. But blowing it at the top of a loop
>> and having to recover from the hihg-AOA, high-power, low-energy state is
>> a fairly common occurance when starting. Actually, I performed the
>> loveliest slow half snap roll from inverted to erect at the top of a
>> botched loop. Still not sure what happened but I know it had nothing to
>> do with me! Still, it was lots of fun, very gentle, and looked
>> fantastic. I just wish I could do it on purpose now! I eventually
>> learned not to float them quite so much at the top. I was easing the
>> back pressure off too early which kept the nose up too high and bled
>> speed off which, with full power and high alpha is the making of a spin.
>>
>> If you take up aeros on a regular basis, for my money, spin recovery is
>> about the most valuable skill you can learn. I reckon, and I hope Dudley
>> will correct me if I'm wrong, that nearly any maneuver I screw up is
>> going to end up in a spin as a worst case scenario. This assumes no
>> serious gyro maneuvers as I'm not up to them yet. So, I reckon if I can
>> recover from developed or insipient spins pretty well, it's like an
>> insurance policy, protecting me from my own hamhandedness.
>>
>> At any rate, keep up the training, keep pushing your limits just a bit,
>> do it all way up high, and have loads of fun with it!
>>
>> Shawn
>> Pitts S-1D, G-BKVP
>> "David B. Cole" > wrote in message
>> m...
>>> Good advice Shawn. I most likely will schedule weekly in order to
>>> hedge against the weather. And while I'm at it I'll post my most
>>> recent aero experience below.
>>>
>>> Dave
>>>
>>>
>>> Last week I completed my second year of participation in the annual
>>> spin and emergency maneuver training offered by Rich Stowell here in
>>> NJ. But unlike last year I had to battle a number of obstacles that
>>> didn't exist last year. The first was that I had knee surgery about a
>>> month ago and although I'm recovering fairly well, I'd only flown once
>>> within the last month and a half. I was also recovering from some type
>>> of stomach virus that continues to make me somewhat queasy. In fact
>>> this was my biggest concern as I didn't want to blemish my record of
>>> not tossing my cookies. I also started coming down with a cold which I
>>> fiercely fought against and won.
>>>
>>> The weather also stood as a possible deal breaker as low ceilings on
>>> Friday caused the six flights for that day to be rescheduled.
>>> Fortunately the weather held up until the time we were returning to
>>> the airport from the flight, when a light rain started. But enough of
>>> that. I arrived at the airport, Alexandria Field, at about 1:30 where
>>> I was greeted by Rich, the airport owner Linda Castner, and the two
>>> other guys flying that afternoon. I happen to know one of the guys
>>> fairly well and the other in passing, as we all had the same
>>> instrument instructor.
>>>
>>> We went back to the classroom where Rich discussed what we would be
>>> doing that day. Myself and one of the other pilots had gone through
>>> the course the prior year so Rich asked what we wanted to do. I
>>> decided that I wanted to review spins, but to also add some control
>>> failure exercises and unusual attitude recoveries as well. I will
>>> admit that while I had a terrific time the previous year doing spins
>>> and some basic aerobatic maneuvers, I was a little anxious and felt
>>> like I was doing it again for the first time.
>>>
>>> I was the second of the three to fly, just enough time for the jitters
>>> to build back up. But when it was my time we strapped on the chutes,
>>> hopped in the Super Decathlon, and were on our way. We started with
>>> some coordination exercises, followed by a few steep turns to clear
>>> the area and two power off stalls. Then Rich asked me if my stomach
>>> was up for a spin, to which I agreed. As Rich prefers to allow the
>>> student to perform the entire maneuver, I pulled the power to idle and
>>> allowed the airspeed to bleed off. I wasn't as aggressive as I should
>>> have been in getting the stick back, but eventually got it down to
>>> just above stall speed and then kicked in the left rudder. While it
>>> had been a while since I had last seen the earth from that
>>> perspective, it seemed like a familiar friend and I didn't have to
>>> urge to say "Oh Sh&t!", as I did with my first spin the year before.
>>>
>>> We went on to do three more spins with the power off before moving to
>>> control failures. These consisted of Rich first having me perform
>>> coordinated left and right turns, then telling me whether I had an
>>> aileron failure or rudder failure. For an aileron failure I simply put
>>> the plane into a slip by applying opposite rudder. But in the SD with
>>> slips at 100 kts, the degree of uncoordinated flight is so high that
>>> it's almost uncomfortable, especially if you don't lean into it. For
>>> rudder failures in the turn I went from aileron deflection in the
>>> direction of turn to opposite aileron to enter the slip. In both cases
>>> I applied enough forward pressure on the elevator to get the AOA down,
>>> and adjusted the available control surface to maintain the heading.
>>> The last part of this exercise was Rich blocking a control surface at
>>> random, me figuring out what had failed, and applying the appropriate
>>> corrections.
>>>
>>> The last module was recovery from unusual attitudes. But these were
>>> far more unusual than the one I experienced as a student pilot as they
>>> all ended in spins. Rich took the controls, I put my hands in my lap,
>>> and waited to see what was coming next. The first unusual attitude was
>>> a steep climbing left turn into a spin. This was followed by a spin
>>> out of a botched loop, and finally a spin out of a snap roll, which in
>>> itself was interesting. The difference between these three spins and
>>> those I had done before was that they all were entered with power on,
>>> so I had to complete all the steps in the Power, Aileron, Rudder,
>>> Elevator recovery. In fact I had to call out each action as I did it.
>>> I was surprised that I didn't feel rushed, and the reason for the
>>> callouts was to have me think consciously about my actions and to
>>> assess about what I was seeing.
>>>
>>> On the way back to the field I got to perform a loop, which I did last
>>> year as well, in addition to a hammerhead, which was a blast. While
>>> the experience was a tremendous benefit last year when I did it, the
>>> components that we added this year increased my knowledge and
>>> confidence that much more. As I plan to take between 5-10 hours of
>>> aero before starting the commercial, this will be a good refresher
>>> before starting.
>>>
>>> Dave
>>>
>>>
>>> "ShawnD2112" > wrote in message
>>> >...
>>>> David,
>>>>
>>>> As usual, I agree with what Dudley says, but only based on my own
>>>> experience, as I'm not a flight instructor. I'll also add that I
>>>> really
>>>> learned how to fly when I got hold of a Supercub one summer and was
>>>> flying
>>>> several times a week. Not long flights, most of them spent in the
>>>> pattern
>>>> doing every concievable kind of take off and landing combination I and
>>>> my
>>>> mates could think of. There were rest periods in between, and lots of
>>>> analysis and hangar flying to boot, but there was definitely something
>>>> about
>>>> frequency in there for me. This wasn't the old "get your PPL in two
>>>> weeks"
>>>> kind of pressured course, it was just me flying after I got my PPL as
>>>> much
>>>> as I could. Flying more often allowed me to retain more between
>>>> lessons,
>>>> requiring less relearning during each. I developed a feel for the
>>>> airplane
>>>> during that period that I've never matched since, simply because of how
>>>> often I was flying. I would suggest you give that some thought as a
>>>> balancing argument to having weeks beetween lessons.
>>>>
>>>> Also, depending on where you live, if you schedule for every other
>>>> week, in
>>>> reality you'll get weathered out at least part of the time and end up
>>>> only
>>>> flying one weekend per month sometimes. Consider scheduling every
>>>> weekend
>>>> and let weather and other factors give you the seperation you're
>>>> talking
>>>> about needing.
>>>>
>>>> Just my .02 worth,
>>>> Shawn
>>>>
>>
>>
>
>

David B. Cole
October 27th 04, 10:27 PM
Dave,

I will be flying with Ahzer in the SD. I've heard from several people
that he's a good instructor, but it's always good to hear from one
more person.

Dave

dave > wrote in message >...
> David,
> That's where I got my private in 1992. Are going with Azher? He's a
> great instructor. I'm trying to schedule some time with him in my
> citabria, 7ECA. We did about an hour of acro last year but I have been
> too busy to dedicate time to acro. I've just bought a new chute and
> hope to get with Azher soon.
>
> Will you be using the Decathalon?
>
> Good luck - you've picked a great place to learn.
>
> Dave
> 68 7ECA
>
> David B. Cole wrote:
> > Well I haven't started yet, but the airport is named Van Sant and is
> > located just across the Delaware River from NJ in Pennsylvania.
> >
> > Dave
> > zatatime > wrote in message >...
> >
> >>On Tue, 26 Oct 2004 03:48:26 GMT, "Dudley Henriques"
> > wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >>>. But I
> >>>
> >>>>>>would also like to get as much time before the hard NJ winter
> >>>>>>arrives,
> >>
> >>
> >>May I ask what field you take your lessons?
> >>
> >>z

Dudley Henriques
October 28th 04, 12:50 AM
Why thank you sir. I deeply appreciate that, and the respect is mutual.
D
"ShawnD2112" > wrote in message
.uk...
> Thanks, Dudley. I take those seven words as high praise coming from
> you... :-)
>
> Shawn
> "Dudley Henriques" > wrote in message
> link.net...
>> You hit it right on the nose. :-)
>> Dudley
>>
>> "ShawnD2112" > wrote in message
>> .uk...
>>> Sounds like a valuable day spent. I've never met Rich but I've
>>> heard good things about him. Well done for recognizing the value in
>>> that kind of training and seeking it out.
>>>
>>> Once you start flying aeros you'll find that some of the unusual
>>> attitude training you did isn't just an academic exercise. I've
>>> never actually spun out of the top of a botched loop but that's only
>>> because I've recognized what was coming, cut the power, and just let
>>> the aircraft have it's head and find it's own way out. But blowing
>>> it at the top of a loop and having to recover from the hihg-AOA,
>>> high-power, low-energy state is a fairly common occurance when
>>> starting. Actually, I performed the loveliest slow half snap roll
>>> from inverted to erect at the top of a botched loop. Still not sure
>>> what happened but I know it had nothing to do with me! Still, it
>>> was lots of fun, very gentle, and looked fantastic. I just wish I
>>> could do it on purpose now! I eventually learned not to float them
>>> quite so much at the top. I was easing the back pressure off too
>>> early which kept the nose up too high and bled speed off which, with
>>> full power and high alpha is the making of a spin.
>>>
>>> If you take up aeros on a regular basis, for my money, spin recovery
>>> is about the most valuable skill you can learn. I reckon, and I
>>> hope Dudley will correct me if I'm wrong, that nearly any maneuver I
>>> screw up is going to end up in a spin as a worst case scenario.
>>> This assumes no serious gyro maneuvers as I'm not up to them yet.
>>> So, I reckon if I can recover from developed or insipient spins
>>> pretty well, it's like an insurance policy, protecting me from my
>>> own hamhandedness.
>>>
>>> At any rate, keep up the training, keep pushing your limits just a
>>> bit, do it all way up high, and have loads of fun with it!
>>>
>>> Shawn
>>> Pitts S-1D, G-BKVP
>>> "David B. Cole" > wrote in message
>>> m...
>>>> Good advice Shawn. I most likely will schedule weekly in order to
>>>> hedge against the weather. And while I'm at it I'll post my most
>>>> recent aero experience below.
>>>>
>>>> Dave
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Last week I completed my second year of participation in the annual
>>>> spin and emergency maneuver training offered by Rich Stowell here
>>>> in
>>>> NJ. But unlike last year I had to battle a number of obstacles that
>>>> didn't exist last year. The first was that I had knee surgery about
>>>> a
>>>> month ago and although I'm recovering fairly well, I'd only flown
>>>> once
>>>> within the last month and a half. I was also recovering from some
>>>> type
>>>> of stomach virus that continues to make me somewhat queasy. In fact
>>>> this was my biggest concern as I didn't want to blemish my record
>>>> of
>>>> not tossing my cookies. I also started coming down with a cold
>>>> which I
>>>> fiercely fought against and won.
>>>>
>>>> The weather also stood as a possible deal breaker as low ceilings
>>>> on
>>>> Friday caused the six flights for that day to be rescheduled.
>>>> Fortunately the weather held up until the time we were returning to
>>>> the airport from the flight, when a light rain started. But enough
>>>> of
>>>> that. I arrived at the airport, Alexandria Field, at about 1:30
>>>> where
>>>> I was greeted by Rich, the airport owner Linda Castner, and the two
>>>> other guys flying that afternoon. I happen to know one of the guys
>>>> fairly well and the other in passing, as we all had the same
>>>> instrument instructor.
>>>>
>>>> We went back to the classroom where Rich discussed what we would be
>>>> doing that day. Myself and one of the other pilots had gone through
>>>> the course the prior year so Rich asked what we wanted to do. I
>>>> decided that I wanted to review spins, but to also add some control
>>>> failure exercises and unusual attitude recoveries as well. I will
>>>> admit that while I had a terrific time the previous year doing
>>>> spins
>>>> and some basic aerobatic maneuvers, I was a little anxious and felt
>>>> like I was doing it again for the first time.
>>>>
>>>> I was the second of the three to fly, just enough time for the
>>>> jitters
>>>> to build back up. But when it was my time we strapped on the
>>>> chutes,
>>>> hopped in the Super Decathlon, and were on our way. We started with
>>>> some coordination exercises, followed by a few steep turns to clear
>>>> the area and two power off stalls. Then Rich asked me if my stomach
>>>> was up for a spin, to which I agreed. As Rich prefers to allow the
>>>> student to perform the entire maneuver, I pulled the power to idle
>>>> and
>>>> allowed the airspeed to bleed off. I wasn't as aggressive as I
>>>> should
>>>> have been in getting the stick back, but eventually got it down to
>>>> just above stall speed and then kicked in the left rudder. While it
>>>> had been a while since I had last seen the earth from that
>>>> perspective, it seemed like a familiar friend and I didn't have to
>>>> urge to say "Oh Sh&t!", as I did with my first spin the year
>>>> before.
>>>>
>>>> We went on to do three more spins with the power off before moving
>>>> to
>>>> control failures. These consisted of Rich first having me perform
>>>> coordinated left and right turns, then telling me whether I had an
>>>> aileron failure or rudder failure. For an aileron failure I simply
>>>> put
>>>> the plane into a slip by applying opposite rudder. But in the SD
>>>> with
>>>> slips at 100 kts, the degree of uncoordinated flight is so high
>>>> that
>>>> it's almost uncomfortable, especially if you don't lean into it.
>>>> For
>>>> rudder failures in the turn I went from aileron deflection in the
>>>> direction of turn to opposite aileron to enter the slip. In both
>>>> cases
>>>> I applied enough forward pressure on the elevator to get the AOA
>>>> down,
>>>> and adjusted the available control surface to maintain the heading.
>>>> The last part of this exercise was Rich blocking a control surface
>>>> at
>>>> random, me figuring out what had failed, and applying the
>>>> appropriate
>>>> corrections.
>>>>
>>>> The last module was recovery from unusual attitudes. But these were
>>>> far more unusual than the one I experienced as a student pilot as
>>>> they
>>>> all ended in spins. Rich took the controls, I put my hands in my
>>>> lap,
>>>> and waited to see what was coming next. The first unusual attitude
>>>> was
>>>> a steep climbing left turn into a spin. This was followed by a spin
>>>> out of a botched loop, and finally a spin out of a snap roll, which
>>>> in
>>>> itself was interesting. The difference between these three spins
>>>> and
>>>> those I had done before was that they all were entered with power
>>>> on,
>>>> so I had to complete all the steps in the Power, Aileron, Rudder,
>>>> Elevator recovery. In fact I had to call out each action as I did
>>>> it.
>>>> I was surprised that I didn't feel rushed, and the reason for the
>>>> callouts was to have me think consciously about my actions and to
>>>> assess about what I was seeing.
>>>>
>>>> On the way back to the field I got to perform a loop, which I did
>>>> last
>>>> year as well, in addition to a hammerhead, which was a blast. While
>>>> the experience was a tremendous benefit last year when I did it,
>>>> the
>>>> components that we added this year increased my knowledge and
>>>> confidence that much more. As I plan to take between 5-10 hours of
>>>> aero before starting the commercial, this will be a good refresher
>>>> before starting.
>>>>
>>>> Dave
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> "ShawnD2112" > wrote in message
>>>> >...
>>>>> David,
>>>>>
>>>>> As usual, I agree with what Dudley says, but only based on my own
>>>>> experience, as I'm not a flight instructor. I'll also add that I
>>>>> really
>>>>> learned how to fly when I got hold of a Supercub one summer and
>>>>> was flying
>>>>> several times a week. Not long flights, most of them spent in the
>>>>> pattern
>>>>> doing every concievable kind of take off and landing combination I
>>>>> and my
>>>>> mates could think of. There were rest periods in between, and
>>>>> lots of
>>>>> analysis and hangar flying to boot, but there was definitely
>>>>> something about
>>>>> frequency in there for me. This wasn't the old "get your PPL in
>>>>> two weeks"
>>>>> kind of pressured course, it was just me flying after I got my PPL
>>>>> as much
>>>>> as I could. Flying more often allowed me to retain more between
>>>>> lessons,
>>>>> requiring less relearning during each. I developed a feel for the
>>>>> airplane
>>>>> during that period that I've never matched since, simply because
>>>>> of how
>>>>> often I was flying. I would suggest you give that some thought as
>>>>> a
>>>>> balancing argument to having weeks beetween lessons.
>>>>>
>>>>> Also, depending on where you live, if you schedule for every other
>>>>> week, in
>>>>> reality you'll get weathered out at least part of the time and end
>>>>> up only
>>>>> flying one weekend per month sometimes. Consider scheduling every
>>>>> weekend
>>>>> and let weather and other factors give you the seperation you're
>>>>> talking
>>>>> about needing.
>>>>>
>>>>> Just my .02 worth,
>>>>> Shawn
>>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
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