Will Aldridge
Well-Known Member
I have never read the book so I can't really follow the literary style but the comparison of my last 2 flights could read something like "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times".
Two and a half years ago the finances were barely sufficient to go flying for 1 hour. I had recently become aware of the Piper Tomahawk, a kinda sporty looking little 2 seater that was located at the airport 20 min north of where i live. So I went and got aquainted with the somewhat salty older gentleman who owned and instructed in it. After a little time going over the POH and V speeds we went flying. It was perhaps the second flight in 190 hrs that I felt sick about after it was over (emotionally not physically).
I'll say first off that I really stunk it up. I had not flown anything other than a WWII flight sim in quite awhile. While doing so I had picked up some pretty bad habits. Namely since I only had the twist grip on the stick to operate the rudders in the sim I had totally forgotten how to use my feet. For those of you unfamiliar with the Tomahawk it can be spun fairly easily and has a reputation for killing the unwary/undertrained. So you can imagine that my not using the rudder got me into trouble both with the plane and the instructor. The other bad habit i picked up was not keeping the plane nice and level when not intending to turn. For some reason I had got to the point in the flight sim where I liked to fly in a slight bank and that bad habit followed me into the real world.
As I said this instructor was somewhat salty and got fed up with me. So he put the plane into a spin. He rolled it right over on it's back and allowed it half a turn during which time he recovered. I have to admit this gentleman was a pretty dang good pilot. He handled that plane with a finesse I hadn't really experienced first hand before. But he was a first class SOB. I would have been just fine with his telling me after he put the plane in the spin that what i was doing (or in that case not doing) was going to get me killed. But he didn't say that. Instead he was disappointed that he hadn't scared the pants off of me. The moment he took the controls I knew what he was going to do and I actually enjoyed going upside down, but because of his attitude (I felt he was hoping to derive pleasure from scaring me) I left with a very sour taste in my mouth about flying.
To be fair it was only about 2% his fault. During my training my instructors had told me I was one of the better students they had taught so it was deeply disappointing to me to walk out of there with my tail between my legs. I knew i was better than that. So I got myself a set of rudder pedals for my computer and pointedly watched out for bad habits when i was flying any flight simulator be it a combat one or a more realistic one.
So the net gain from the experience was positive, but I still think that instructor is a jerk, and that he was trying to run me away from flying. I am pretty sure he has run off other less passionate people and will probably run a few more off given the chance. There are better ways of teaching hard truths. Enough of that on to the good part.
I wish i could say that it made me into a perfect pilot, but I will settle for saying that it made me a better pilot and it made the flight I took today 100 times better. One of the reasons I am writing this post is that I feel that i have had a small right of passage today. Today's flight was my first hour logged in an experimental aircraft, a CH 601 with an O-200 to be precise.
The instructor this time was also an older gentleman but a much nicer guy. I honestly don't have much of an opinion of the 601 yet simply because the air was so bumpy I was having a hard time really knowing how the plane was responding to my inputs as opposed to what the wind was doing. After not having flown in 2 and a half years final approach with a gusty crosswind(about 17-20 mph) was really making me nervous and although the plane was capable of it and so to was the instructor I know I'm going to set my own personal limits to about half what the wind was doing today until I'm more comfortable with the plane.
The instructor told me he was quite impressed with my being able to handle the plane as well as I did in those difficult conditions. I think he was buttering me up a little, but as you can imagine I was much happier leaving after that flight than I was the previous. I guess the ironic thing is that without that salty old instructor and his demanding ways I wouldn't have had the good flight I did today.
Two and a half years ago the finances were barely sufficient to go flying for 1 hour. I had recently become aware of the Piper Tomahawk, a kinda sporty looking little 2 seater that was located at the airport 20 min north of where i live. So I went and got aquainted with the somewhat salty older gentleman who owned and instructed in it. After a little time going over the POH and V speeds we went flying. It was perhaps the second flight in 190 hrs that I felt sick about after it was over (emotionally not physically).
I'll say first off that I really stunk it up. I had not flown anything other than a WWII flight sim in quite awhile. While doing so I had picked up some pretty bad habits. Namely since I only had the twist grip on the stick to operate the rudders in the sim I had totally forgotten how to use my feet. For those of you unfamiliar with the Tomahawk it can be spun fairly easily and has a reputation for killing the unwary/undertrained. So you can imagine that my not using the rudder got me into trouble both with the plane and the instructor. The other bad habit i picked up was not keeping the plane nice and level when not intending to turn. For some reason I had got to the point in the flight sim where I liked to fly in a slight bank and that bad habit followed me into the real world.
As I said this instructor was somewhat salty and got fed up with me. So he put the plane into a spin. He rolled it right over on it's back and allowed it half a turn during which time he recovered. I have to admit this gentleman was a pretty dang good pilot. He handled that plane with a finesse I hadn't really experienced first hand before. But he was a first class SOB. I would have been just fine with his telling me after he put the plane in the spin that what i was doing (or in that case not doing) was going to get me killed. But he didn't say that. Instead he was disappointed that he hadn't scared the pants off of me. The moment he took the controls I knew what he was going to do and I actually enjoyed going upside down, but because of his attitude (I felt he was hoping to derive pleasure from scaring me) I left with a very sour taste in my mouth about flying.
To be fair it was only about 2% his fault. During my training my instructors had told me I was one of the better students they had taught so it was deeply disappointing to me to walk out of there with my tail between my legs. I knew i was better than that. So I got myself a set of rudder pedals for my computer and pointedly watched out for bad habits when i was flying any flight simulator be it a combat one or a more realistic one.
So the net gain from the experience was positive, but I still think that instructor is a jerk, and that he was trying to run me away from flying. I am pretty sure he has run off other less passionate people and will probably run a few more off given the chance. There are better ways of teaching hard truths. Enough of that on to the good part.
I wish i could say that it made me into a perfect pilot, but I will settle for saying that it made me a better pilot and it made the flight I took today 100 times better. One of the reasons I am writing this post is that I feel that i have had a small right of passage today. Today's flight was my first hour logged in an experimental aircraft, a CH 601 with an O-200 to be precise.
The instructor this time was also an older gentleman but a much nicer guy. I honestly don't have much of an opinion of the 601 yet simply because the air was so bumpy I was having a hard time really knowing how the plane was responding to my inputs as opposed to what the wind was doing. After not having flown in 2 and a half years final approach with a gusty crosswind(about 17-20 mph) was really making me nervous and although the plane was capable of it and so to was the instructor I know I'm going to set my own personal limits to about half what the wind was doing today until I'm more comfortable with the plane.
The instructor told me he was quite impressed with my being able to handle the plane as well as I did in those difficult conditions. I think he was buttering me up a little, but as you can imagine I was much happier leaving after that flight than I was the previous. I guess the ironic thing is that without that salty old instructor and his demanding ways I wouldn't have had the good flight I did today.
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