kimberlyanne546
Final Approach
So I am going for an "intro" flight of sorts:
I found an airport which has a Citabria (with apparently no flaps!). Not only a Citabria, but a grass strip, a short runway which is paved and narrow (with obstacles on both ends and crosswinds to boot).
The instructor who will train me answered the phone and spoke with me at length about what is involved. He estimates spending almost 50 hours a month in the Citabria, and though he told me "all the other instructors" at the flight school were great, he is the one who normally gives pilots their TW sign off.
My lesson starts next Saturday at 1pm (weather permitting). We will fly for one hour and supposedly I will only be charged for that plus 1.5 hours of CFI time - very affordable.
I asked if there is anything I could read and he suggested "Stick and Rudder" as well as this 5-page handout "Taming the Taildragger Pilot":
http://ehfc.net/Taming.pdf
Here are some pictures of their plane:
And here is a description of why they call it "the right airport" to get your tailwheel endorsement:
Skypark airport provides an ideal learning environment. Start off easy in the cool, calm mornings with forgiving grass to land on, then move up to the 2480’x40’ runway with trees on either end and a reliable afternoon crosswind to test your new skills. Even better, you’ll have 4 other airports within 10 miles for a variety of training opportunities. You could get an easy start at Petaluma, land by the jets on the 5000’ runway at Napa, master the challenging crosswinds at Gnoss Field and glide it on over the water to land at Schellville. You and your instructor will be able to design lessons to meet any goal you have. With some ground instruction, you could even turn a lesson into that Flight Review you need!
I found an airport which has a Citabria (with apparently no flaps!). Not only a Citabria, but a grass strip, a short runway which is paved and narrow (with obstacles on both ends and crosswinds to boot).
The instructor who will train me answered the phone and spoke with me at length about what is involved. He estimates spending almost 50 hours a month in the Citabria, and though he told me "all the other instructors" at the flight school were great, he is the one who normally gives pilots their TW sign off.
My lesson starts next Saturday at 1pm (weather permitting). We will fly for one hour and supposedly I will only be charged for that plus 1.5 hours of CFI time - very affordable.
I asked if there is anything I could read and he suggested "Stick and Rudder" as well as this 5-page handout "Taming the Taildragger Pilot":
http://ehfc.net/Taming.pdf
Here are some pictures of their plane:
And here is a description of why they call it "the right airport" to get your tailwheel endorsement:
Skypark airport provides an ideal learning environment. Start off easy in the cool, calm mornings with forgiving grass to land on, then move up to the 2480’x40’ runway with trees on either end and a reliable afternoon crosswind to test your new skills. Even better, you’ll have 4 other airports within 10 miles for a variety of training opportunities. You could get an easy start at Petaluma, land by the jets on the 5000’ runway at Napa, master the challenging crosswinds at Gnoss Field and glide it on over the water to land at Schellville. You and your instructor will be able to design lessons to meet any goal you have. With some ground instruction, you could even turn a lesson into that Flight Review you need!
