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Seth.A

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Seth.A
I just signed on for a week of training at Patty Wagstaffs school in Florida. I've got her course from Sportys and Basic Aerobatics by Szurovy and Goulian. I have zero aerobatic, tail wheel or even HP experience. I'm looking for things I can do / read / etc. now that will help me make the most of my time in FL. I've got until mid December so plenty of time for study.

So, what resources would you recommend a newbe check out before such a course?
 
Nothing really, yet. Seriously, just show up and listen. This will be very fundamental, basic training. No need to pre-study. If you end up really stoked about continuing acro, keep getting training and pick up Alan Cassidy’s book ‘Better Aerobatics’. Bar far the best acro book available. And relax and have fun.
 
Do some pireps, I did upset training with Goulian Aviation, had a blast. Just stay relaxed, take the controls immediately when offered. While the upset training I took is not an aerobatics course, in addition to tons of spins, I got to do loops, aileron rolls, plus I had the instructor do a hammer head, he hit 6.6 g's pulling out of that in an Extra 300. It was awesome, I'm thinking doing the Wagstaff program.
 
The only thing I can think of to do would be to fly a whole bunch. Especially if you have a taildragger to fly or want to spend a lot of time working on all the kinds of stalls and steep turns. The better you have those basics down, the easier the aerobatics will come to you.
 
Seth.A said:
Roll About a Point? must be a good book at that price!
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There are always a few Amazon sellers putting absurd prices on things going to get lucky on out of print titles, but there are a couple of other deniers who have it for under $50. It is a good book, and an excellent intro to aerobatics.
 
Seth.A said:
Roll About a Point? must be a good book at that price!
Click to expand...

The old timers always mention it but it’s really just one of the first acro books laying out some fundamental concepts that don’t change and newer books fully cover. Don’t go spending a fortune for its rarity nostalgia factor. Cassidy’s book makes nearly all of them obsolete.
 
Rich Stowell has some great material: https://www.richstowell.com/

I got more out of a couple hours of stall/spin training with Rich than I had from ~15 years and several instructors before him.

My only advice is to always be aware where you looking for reference (they should teach you this). Once I got used to looking out of the airplane in directions you don't normally spend much time looking out, spins and unusual attitudes became considerably easier for me, and I became less susceptible to queasiness from spins/aerobatic maneuvers.
 
+ 1 on Szurovyi/Goulian and Alan Cassidy's books.
 
I was discussing this general subject with an ex-military pilot who does a bit of civilian instruction and he commented on the big difference - the military requires study of the aircraft systems and emergency procedures etc before they get near the airplane. I encourage that too http://ozaeros.net.au/training/ as I hate wasting my time explaining how the park brake etc works. My suggestion is to read the manuals for the airplane you will be flying.

Alan's book, Better Aerobatics, is indeed the best. Mine is just about the Super Decathlon https://www.amazon.com/Aerobatics-Down-Under-Revised-Updated/dp/0992597471

Finally, I don't like to interfere with what other flight instructors want - if Patty didn't give you reading instructions then she will take you through all that you need to know.
 
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Your instructor will teach the control inputs to fly the maneuvers. I don't think much value in trying to get a jump on that. However, reading can start you thinking about the physics and aerodynamic forces involved in various maneuvers, which may help you get more out of your limited ground instruction time. Also, once you learn the basics, a lot of your progression will be via self study, ground coaching, and trial-and-error. Having a good reference volume is useful for that process. I have both of Goulian's books and often go back to re-read areas where I might be having a bit of trouble.
 
Thanks all for the suggestions. I just finished my week with Patty (amazing experience btw) and thought I would follow up. I didn't really NEED to prepare, they will teach you everything you need to know, but here is what I used before the course and my general thoughts. I'll post a more detailed pirep about the course in another thread.

TL;DR: Most of the prep I did was overkill and not really useful. Read the POH for what you'll be flying, get some basic vocab down, and save the deep dive until you have the context of actual flying.

Here's what I used to prep:
- The POH or the Super Decathlon and the Extra 300: Absolutely worth reading before hand, but don't bother memorizing too much (ie. v speeds, entry speeds for various maneuvers, etc.) They will guide you through everything.
- Patty's basic aerobatics course on Sportys: These are fantastic videos. I'm glad I watched them all before the course primarily to establish some vocabulary and begin to understand how each maneuver is flown. Its helpful to know the names of things before you get there. The real benefit with these videos for me was as a supplement to the course itself. At the end of the day I would review the videos covering what we worked on and that really helped me consolidate what I learned.
- Basic Aerobatics by Szurovyi & Goulian: Great book, but I really think I'll get more value out of it now that I have more context. I'll be reading it again for sure.
- The Complete Taildrager Pilot by Plourde: Another great book, but more valuable now that I have some actual tailwheel time. Patty just released a tailwheel course on sportys that is probably a better primer because its short digestible chunks with lots of visuals.
- Aresti notation: Not strictly needed but like learning some vocabulary before hand it saved some time. I'm glad I got some basic familiarity with it before the course.

Thanks again for all the suggestions. I'll likely explore all of the resources suggested here because I think I've developed a bit of an addiction ;)
 
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