CC268
Final Approach
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CC268
***Long read, but worth it I think.
Well, today marked my last aerobatic flight in the Great Lakes 2T-1A-2. It also marks my 80th hour of flight time (I know...I am a newb). I did 6 flights, all about 1 hour each. What an incredible and life changing experience. In the past few months I have had some great flying experiences with flying the Great Lakes, flying my Cherokee 140, and also getting to fly with a 20 year F-16 pilot in his RV-8.
I got my PPL last year, but I didn't fly for several months after getting my ticket (it was middle of summer and my dad and I were searching for an airplane). In October we picked up a beautiful 1965 Cherokee 140. However, in those past few months I had really lost my confidence. Despite being - what I think anyways - a fairly competent pilot (albeit "green"), I just didn't feel completely comfortable flying. I felt like my Private Pilot training had left a lot to be desired in terms of experiencing the full flight envelope of an aircraft. They say you only see about 5% of an aircraft's flight envelope during your PPL, about 11% after your commercial (correct me if this is wrong). That is a lot of unknown territory that you haven't seen as a pilot.
I had always been pretty uncomfortable with power on stalls and unusual attitudes during my PPL training. I was competent enough to do them and demonstrate them on the check ride, but they were truly nerve racking at the time. I had never seen a spin, but the stories of pilots killing themselves on base to final had really made me nervous. What would I do if I got into an unusual attitude? A spin? A situation I had never seen before? Looking back I realize being so nervous about stalls and spins was simply a lack of experience. Falling leaf stalls - I don't know why every instructor doesn't teach this. What an incredible and informative exercise.
I posted on here a while back about possibly doing the aerobatic training - the peanut gallery on PoA had mixed opinions about what it would do for my flying. "Flying an aerobatic plane won't do anything for you right now", "Dude you should give up flying, it isn't for you", "You should be flying straight and level, never exceed a bank of 2.56 degrees" (no one actually said that one)...you get the point.
I started this course to change those feelings of nervousness into confidence. It truly transformed my flying and made me a more confident and competent pilot. My day to day flying in the Cherokee has changed tremendously. I have learned to be assertive with the airplane. Fly the airplane. Look outside. The front seat of these Great Lakes has an airspeed indicator, an altimeter, vertical speed indicator, and an oil pressure gauge. That's it. You learn to fly the airplane by feel and by looking outside. I found myself looking inside the cockpit more than I should have when I was doing my PPL - I think this is fairly common habit for most new pilots. Although I won't be doing any aerobatics in my Cherokee (haha), I have found my patterns to be much tighter/cleaner. I'm not afraid to bank more than 10 degrees in the pattern anymore. I had always been really timid in the pattern, because I didn't want to be the guy who spun his airplane into the ground on base to final. Turns out my lack of understanding was causing this fear.
I wasn't going to post this on here, as I am sure members of the peanut gallery will be here soon with something negative to say, but if your a new pilot, struggling to find complete confidence in your flying, I highly recommend you take an aerobatic course. It transformed my understanding, confidence, and abilities in many ways. Most importantly I am always learning. It is a lot of fun.
One thing is for sure, this won't be my last aerobatic rodeo. I will go back for more training - maybe some day own an aerobatic airplane. Who knows, maybe some day fly some competitive aerobatics for fun?
Wish I had some video, but photos will have to do!
Here is a list of all the maneuvers we did:
Stalls, turning stalls, steep turns, slow flight, dutch rolls, aileron rolls, loops, spins, accelerated spins, spin reversals, loops, hammerheads, snap rolls, slow rolls, half cuban eight, falling leaf stalls, hands off spin recoveries, inverted flight, vertical rolls, split-s, clover leaf loops, immelman variation (not exactly sure what to call it), simulated skidding turn base to final into a spin (this is actually really difficult to get the Great Lakes into). I am sure I am missing a few things from the list.
If anyone has any questions, let me know! Onto my tailwheel endorsement and instrument rating!
Well, today marked my last aerobatic flight in the Great Lakes 2T-1A-2. It also marks my 80th hour of flight time (I know...I am a newb). I did 6 flights, all about 1 hour each. What an incredible and life changing experience. In the past few months I have had some great flying experiences with flying the Great Lakes, flying my Cherokee 140, and also getting to fly with a 20 year F-16 pilot in his RV-8.
I got my PPL last year, but I didn't fly for several months after getting my ticket (it was middle of summer and my dad and I were searching for an airplane). In October we picked up a beautiful 1965 Cherokee 140. However, in those past few months I had really lost my confidence. Despite being - what I think anyways - a fairly competent pilot (albeit "green"), I just didn't feel completely comfortable flying. I felt like my Private Pilot training had left a lot to be desired in terms of experiencing the full flight envelope of an aircraft. They say you only see about 5% of an aircraft's flight envelope during your PPL, about 11% after your commercial (correct me if this is wrong). That is a lot of unknown territory that you haven't seen as a pilot.
I had always been pretty uncomfortable with power on stalls and unusual attitudes during my PPL training. I was competent enough to do them and demonstrate them on the check ride, but they were truly nerve racking at the time. I had never seen a spin, but the stories of pilots killing themselves on base to final had really made me nervous. What would I do if I got into an unusual attitude? A spin? A situation I had never seen before? Looking back I realize being so nervous about stalls and spins was simply a lack of experience. Falling leaf stalls - I don't know why every instructor doesn't teach this. What an incredible and informative exercise.
I posted on here a while back about possibly doing the aerobatic training - the peanut gallery on PoA had mixed opinions about what it would do for my flying. "Flying an aerobatic plane won't do anything for you right now", "Dude you should give up flying, it isn't for you", "You should be flying straight and level, never exceed a bank of 2.56 degrees" (no one actually said that one)...you get the point.
I started this course to change those feelings of nervousness into confidence. It truly transformed my flying and made me a more confident and competent pilot. My day to day flying in the Cherokee has changed tremendously. I have learned to be assertive with the airplane. Fly the airplane. Look outside. The front seat of these Great Lakes has an airspeed indicator, an altimeter, vertical speed indicator, and an oil pressure gauge. That's it. You learn to fly the airplane by feel and by looking outside. I found myself looking inside the cockpit more than I should have when I was doing my PPL - I think this is fairly common habit for most new pilots. Although I won't be doing any aerobatics in my Cherokee (haha), I have found my patterns to be much tighter/cleaner. I'm not afraid to bank more than 10 degrees in the pattern anymore. I had always been really timid in the pattern, because I didn't want to be the guy who spun his airplane into the ground on base to final. Turns out my lack of understanding was causing this fear.
I wasn't going to post this on here, as I am sure members of the peanut gallery will be here soon with something negative to say, but if your a new pilot, struggling to find complete confidence in your flying, I highly recommend you take an aerobatic course. It transformed my understanding, confidence, and abilities in many ways. Most importantly I am always learning. It is a lot of fun.
One thing is for sure, this won't be my last aerobatic rodeo. I will go back for more training - maybe some day own an aerobatic airplane. Who knows, maybe some day fly some competitive aerobatics for fun?
Wish I had some video, but photos will have to do!
Here is a list of all the maneuvers we did:
Stalls, turning stalls, steep turns, slow flight, dutch rolls, aileron rolls, loops, spins, accelerated spins, spin reversals, loops, hammerheads, snap rolls, slow rolls, half cuban eight, falling leaf stalls, hands off spin recoveries, inverted flight, vertical rolls, split-s, clover leaf loops, immelman variation (not exactly sure what to call it), simulated skidding turn base to final into a spin (this is actually really difficult to get the Great Lakes into). I am sure I am missing a few things from the list.
If anyone has any questions, let me know! Onto my tailwheel endorsement and instrument rating!
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