My Spin on Spin Training

Nathan Richards more than survived spin training over the course of a couple weeks, he relished it. On lesson number two of three, he managed to nauseate the instructor. No, not with sub-par jokes, but with spins ad nauseum. He hung in there for just shy of 1.5 hours of one, two, and three turn spins until I tapped him on the shoulder with, "lets go home, you're making me sick." Nathan, a private pilot, is a PhD researcher with Barron Associates in Charlottesville who contributes to the aeronautic brain trust of that company.

Today, lesson three of three, saw us reviewing two turn spins, then some loops in preparation for entry into inverted spins. Inverted spins were an an eye-opener (more like an eye-popper) as we pulled (or pushed) about -2.5 g's before recovering. He did excellent. After this we worked on some aileron rolls and slow rolls. We managed to carve an interesting pattern over Orange County this morning (below) as recorded by my SPOT personal locator beacon. Thanks, Nathan, it was a blast!

Give a call or drop an email, and we'll carve our own patterns during acro, spin training, unusual attitude recovery, or that tailwheel training.

See you at the airport!

Get Set Free

It's been piping hot over the past few weeks, but the hot weather hasn't kept the pilots from flying. We've been spinning, looping, recovering from unusual attitudes, and just plan dialing in those wheel landings over the first week of August. If you haven't seen the sky and earth swapping places in a while, or ever, lets set up some time to do just that. I can't stress enough how important it is to have seen and experienced the "out-of-the-box" sensations and views of the not-so-normal flight attitudes encountered during acro, spin, and unusual attitude training. Other than the plain fun of it, its utility is quickly realized if the event is ever unintentionally encountered during "normal" flight. Plus, as Sean D. Tucker says, "it sets you free" from fears and gives you a new confidence in your skills.

Ralph Boyd, finishing up his tailwheel endorsement in this most excellent landing at GVE. Ralph is moving on to some acro to become a safer pilot (and to have a wee bit of fun, too). Photo by Mike Colburn.

See you at the airport!

Oshkosh: There and Back

My first trip to Oshkosh was well worth the effort and expense. OSH is aviation Mecca the last week in July. We saw more warbirds, antiques, electric, and of course, aerobatic than you could shake a stick at. Fifi (B-29) was there, as well as Boeing's new 787 offering to mass transit.

Saw a new Light Sport, the Dallair Snap (left), in front of the IAC's pavillion. Looks like a whole heap of fun.

And ran into a very nifty little Mooney Mite (with yours truly looking like a kid in the candy store), like the one my father owned in the '50's. It's got 65 screamin' horspower, retractable gear, and fun written all over it.

If you haven't been, consider flying out and attending AirVenture. Flying out with your own airplane is very fun. However this time of year, almost plan on diversions and delays (we lost a day due to weather on the way up; however it was smooth sailing back to GVE, yesterday, 7/31).

Stay cool and see you at the airport.

Holiday and Facebook

I hope everyone has a safe, enjoyable holiday weekend. Take someone for an airplane ride if you get the chance. It may change their perspective about things.
The last few days have been excellent aviating opportunities. I flew with a couple of primary students this week. One has turned the corner in his landings, the other, with just a handful of flights definitely has the "fire in the belly" when it comes to flying. A tailwheel student will take to the skies for his first attempt at landing a conventional gear airplane tomorrow morning. We'll head to Louisa Country/Freeman Field (LKU) for some landing practice in the grass. Should be fun!

Some time ago I generated a Facebook presence for Aero Enterprises. I've totally ignored it until today, where I posted a few remarks. If you have a hankering, friend me there and post away.

Blue skies to you all, and see you at the airport.

Scheduling Help with Google Calendar

My flying schedule is reflected on Google Calendar located on this blog at the bottom of the page. If you'd like to fly, have a look at the calendar first, then email or call.

New Syllabi on the Web

Two blog posts in one day! Recently posted to the aero enterprise's web are new syllabi links for spin training, unusual attitude recovery, and basic aerobatics. When you get a minute, check 'em out.

Indecision Settled

Business has been less than stellar the past few months. Yesterday I'd decided to close my doors. Today I decided to leave them open. Insurance was a primary demotivator. I've reconciled that issue and with new vigor will promote Aero Enterprises. Please note that there's a 10% discount when you buy a 3-hour block of time, that is, instead of forking over 540 of those hard-earned greenbacks for three hours of flight time, you pay $486. Also, if you refer someone to fly with me, and they actually do fly, I'll subtract 10% from the cost of your next flight.

I'll be posting an interesting discussion on rolling G's on the blog in the not-to-distant future, stay tuned. Oh, and I still owe the blog an acro syllabus...no rest for the wicked.

Blue skies, and hope to see you at the airport.