Andrew,

Glad you enjoyed yourself, but sorry your nausea prevented you from
doing the extras. However, at the end of the day you did what was
most important. It's wierd, but my stomach was a little uneasy before
we took off, probably because of the anticipation. Even during the
Dutch Rolls I felt a little off, but felt fine for the duration. I
have a tendency to overanalyze things and worry too much about them,
and when I actually get around to doing whatever it is, it's never as
bad as I expected. What I found funny is that even while doing the
stalls, I was still a little concerned about getting into a spin, even
though that's the reason why I was there. I guess it came down to
mental readiness. I wanted to know exactly when the spin was going to
happen, and didn't want to get there from a botched stall, even though
I knew I would be doing spins only minutes later. Strange really. Of
course now I can probably do stalls and not even consider a wing drop.

I'm certainly considering heading out to VanSant if I can't make it
out to CA or get on Rich's schedule. Hell, I may even do both. I too
have already started looking at info for the area near Rich's airport.
I had an instrument lesson today and while I know that I'm more
confident in my flying because of the training, for some reason I
couldn't get anything right today and I left the airport in a very bad
mood. Perhaps I felt that my newfound confidence would translate to
my IR flying and I would come out of today's lesson ready for the
checkride. But I did notice that I was a lot less reluctant to muscle
the plane when necessary, especially with the turbulence we
experienced today. With regard to the rudder, I admit that my rudder
skills are a weakness as well. That's why I'm considering combining
the acro time with a tailwheel checkout after I'm done witht the IR.
Again, I don't think I could have spent the money any better than
flying with Rich.

Dave

Andrew Gideon wrote in message gonline.com...
David B. Cole wrote:

Yep, I've already checked them out. Remember I sent you their link a
few months ago when I first started to look for local aerobatic
operations?

So when can we go?

I consider myself a reasonable eloquent writer. But I find I've no way to
completely express what I felt after taking this course.

I could start with the easy stuff. I was nauseated. I'd thought I was
beyond that, as it's not occured since early in my training. But I never
did anything like this. Before I do it again, I'll be sure to have a care
and take precautions (eat some beforehand, no coffee, etc.). I broke all
those rules I'd developed for myself because I thought it didn't matter
anymore.

Ah well. That brings me to "frustrated" and "annoyed with myself". After
four spins (and the "basic flying" practiced earlier, like dutch rolls), I
decided to not risk the nice interior by continuing with a roll or a loop.

Awe is worth mentioning. My entire perspective of flying has shifted. I've
read about adverse yaw, for example, but it is so *obvious* in the Super
Decathalon! I could see that my footwork needs work; I've permitted myself
to become lazy on the rudder - assuming I was ever any better. But I
should shift the subject lest I return to "annoyed with myself".

So let's look instead at eagerness: I need to do this again. This is a
dimension to flying that I never before felt. Even things I thought I knew
are changed. I've already mentioned rudders. But I've always responded to
stalls with large movements that are apparently unnecessary and overkill.
It never occurred to me that I could take a subtle approach.

As Dave wrote at the start of this thread, I plan to do more. I've already
fired off an email to friends in the LA area asking "so, where is this
place relative to you" with regard to the airport where Rich is based.

Of course, I know that there's aero taught around here. Dave already has
something lined up, I think grin. When are we going?

Respect of the airplane also deserves mention. In this one brief flight, I
acquired a new feel for how an aircraft responds to its environment (which
includes the pilot and his/her instructions to the airplane). Part of this
was flying an aircraft far more responsive than I'd ever touched, but part
was the "view" that Rich has and explains. For example, it was easy to see
the relationship between a chandelle and a half-loop followed by a
half-roll (an immelman).

One interesting thing I noticed is that a number of the people taking the
course were students still working on their PPLs. I envy them that. This
is a terrific course, and it teaches a lot about flying. That it also
teaches hands-on responses to situations like spins is just the start.

- Andrew