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You mentioned Big Q aviation. There is one instructor there (Pete) with decent contest experience through Sportsman. Have you flown with him? What was your experience? Any good instructor will have references. But don't sweat it too much. You're never locked into one operation. You can...

That's about right Jim. I've flown six S-1 Pitts', both with the bungee and rod gear. All but mine had API tailwheels. The rod gear is about as easy as an RV to land and control on the ground. Never flown one with a locking tailwheel, but combined with the rod gear, it must be a real no brainer...

Yep, lots of rudder! Went through a rough section after passing through inverted in trying to maintain a constant roll rate. The roll rate will naturally increase as you switch rudders after passing through inverted, which you must manage by reducing (an already miniscule) aileron input. Lots of...

For fun, I tried the 'super slow roll challenge' yesterday. Objective is to roll as slow as possible while maintaining a constant roll rate, heading, and altitude. Not perfect and not easy!

It's all relative to your ignorance level. My wife rides and x-country jumps horses, and I fly. The average person thinks flying a little airplane is way more dangerous than what she does. It's actually backwards. And you might guess what the average pilot thinks of the competition acro that I...

Well it's MY favorite. :) But seriously, the only "best" technique is what's best for you, your airplane, the conditions, and what you're trying to accomplish. For me, I'm mostly trying to accomplish some fun and proficiency. It doesn't cost me anything.

In aerobatic airplanes, it's a spin that's deliberately flattened by adding three flattening forces - outspin aileron, propwash over the elevator, and some gyroscopic precession of the propeller. They are done at high power and easily recoverable in pretty much all aerobatic airplanes. Some...

Told me the same thing. All I can figure with the metal prop is that since it produces more gyro effect, the right yaw associated with a pitch toward the canopy helps sustain the right snap. I can get 5 Avalanche snaps to the right, but never tried to see how many I can get on a down line. I...

Would go even flatter with a metal prop. :)

Wood/fabric is the most successfully proven design for aerobatic wings. Why do you have reservations? I know of a whole lot more failures of metal aerobatic wings than wood/fabric. Actually, I don't know of any failures of wood/fabric aerobatic wings. There are good reasons serious aerobatic...

Plenty of pilots could afford a dirt simple $20K O-320-powered Acro Sport bipe that could sit in the back corner of their hangar for some cheap fun...if they really wanted to. You don't need to buy a brand-new $500K Extra 330. I know plenty of pilots with two (or more) airplanes. It comes down...

Adrenaline clouds judgment and motor skills, and disappears very quickly with experience. The uninitiated think it's about adrenaline. Aerobatic pilots know it's about complete aircraft control across the entire envelope. It's about the satisfaction in learning and mastering the techniques...

I'm 6'-4" and I flew an RV-3 for 5 years. I fit OK, but with no extra room...but at 6'-4" that's most airplanes. It can be made to work for tall folks, but if you are a "wide" person, that'll be the main issue. The single seat acro bipes (Pitts, Acro Sport) actually have more cockpit room.

I haven't noticed that and I'd bet I know just a few more acro pilots than you. You can remove "acro" and insert warbird, RV, Cirrus, jet, etc. and find others who would think the same thing. You'll find a small percentage of jerks no matter what activity in life you're into. Pilots are all...

Bill Finagin is excellent, but if you've never done aerobatics before, paying $400-500/hr to fly a Pitts may not be the best value, since you're paying for aircraft performance that you won't come close to being able to fully utilize for intro acro instruction. If you just want to fly a Pitts...

Quintuple. :) It'll keep going beyond that, but then it's just vertical down snaps, and I don't think those count for snaps on top of a loop. ;)

Finally got back up after being down for 3 weeks due to the east coast monsoons. It occurred to me I'd never tried to see how many snaps I could get on top of a loop. Got four. Not sure my Pitts will do five- we'll see. For anyone not familiar, 'avalanche' is what a loop with a snap on top is...

Tucker's school is largely namesake, but he has some excellent instructors working for him, namely Ken Erickson, who's a very highly regarded 'non-famous' acro instructor. Ben Freelove as well. Ben is on the US Unlimited Team. I don't know anyone who's flown with Patty.

Well sure, but the OP was asking about CP Aviation vs. Sunrise, not some random guy with a Pitts. Both operations are highly reputable in the aerobatic community. When I say some of the best aerobatic instructors are little-known names, I mean they are little-known to the GA public. Inside the...

I will mention that a famous school owner (or instructor) means almost nothing when it comes to providing quality basic aerobatic instruction. Good instruction is all that matters. Some of the best instructors out there are little-known names. Unless you have references for a particular...