You bet, Dudley, on both counts.

To date all we've really done is trade lead and wing, mostly echelon right,
practicing straight and level station-keeping, gentle turns left/right,
gentle climbs and decents. It's still hard enough keeping in some kind of
reasonable position that anything more challenging is still for the future.
We still fall out of turns once in a while, as you'd imagine.

Just out of curiousity, do you have any formation time in Pitts Specials?
If so, what do you use as visual references in echelon to keep your
position? We've gotten some conflicting advice about the best position.

Shawn
"Dudley Henriques" wrote in message
hlink.net...
Best of luck down there and have a great time. Hope all goes well with
what
you're planning for 05.
One thing though Shawn; don't get too close to those Cape Buffs down
there.
I understand that if they get mad at you for some reason or other, they
can
take do great harm to a Pitts!!! :-))
Have fun and let me know how you make out with your show will you?
All the best as always,
Dudley


"ShawnD2112" wrote in message
...
Thanks for the heads up on this one, Dudley.

Oddly enough, am going on vacation to Capetown on Sat for two weeks.
Have
asked about two copies being sent to my hotel, one for me, one for my
flying
partner. We're just starting out on some basic station keeping
formation
and hope to be able to put together a small show routine for Summer 05
or
so. Lots of work and lots to learn in the meantime, but we've had a
blast
doing what little we've done so far.

Shawn
Pitts S-1D G-BKVP
"Dudley Henriques" wrote in message
news

"Snowbird" wrote in message
om...
"Dudley Henriques" wrote in message
thlink.net...
For those of you interested in air shows, both military and
civilian,
,
and
whose interest goes WAY beyond the norm and into the very guts of
the
subject; I'd like to announce that the consummate book on this
subject
"Zero
Error Margin; Airshow Display Flying Analyzed " has just been
released
and
is now available. ...

Wow, this is saying a lot, coming from you. Is it anything the
'lay pilot' could appreciate, or do you think one has to be
an aerobatic pilot or an airshow performer to appreciate it?

Cheers,
Sydney

The book will probably end up being the finest piece ever done on this
subject. In fact, considering it's scope, it should stand alone now as
unique. It will easily qualify as legally acceptable reference
material
when
expert opinion has to be verified concerning the issues dealt with in
the
book.
I will have the finished book in my hands next week. As of now, I only
have
the material that I've been working on with Col Barker over the past
two
years, and individual chapters sent to me to be proofed, but from what
I've
seen so far, for anyone having any interest at all in the safety
issues
that
surround the air show venue, this book will be a must have! The
collected
group gathered together to do this work are in my opinion, the best
available in the world today. Just in my own small group contributing,
the
book involved several Thunderbird alumni, including an ex team lead.
I really can't say what the interest will be for the average private
pilot
as it relates to flying. Naturally, the collective professional talent
gathered to do this project concentrated heavily on the low level
aerobatic
demonstration aspect of handling an airplane; and many makes and types
used
for this purpose are covered in textbook form. But if there's an
interest
in
learning how extremely high performance airplanes are handled
professionally
by people who are the best in the world at doing this; I would say
there's
a
lot that can be learned and applied to making everyday flying safer.
On the historical end, the accident data base on air shows included in
the
book is second to none. It lists every major air show related accident
of
consequence over several decades. Researchers will have a field day
reading
what the official reports said, then being privy to what the best
pilots
in
the world involved with the same kind of flying had to say for the
book
that
ADD's to those reports.
For the enthusiast, the book should be a gold mine of first hand
reporting
and research on their subject of interest.
To answer your question honestly Snow, it all depends on the interest
area
of the hypothetical "lay pilot" you describe. My recommendation would
be
to
purchase this book if you have any interest at all in airshows, or how
high
performance airplanes are flown by people who know high performance
airplanes. You'll get a real inside look at how these pilots think and
act
under all kinds of conditions. I would say that by the time he/she
finishes
reading this book, the average "lay pilot" should come away with at
least
a
few things they might want to change in the way they approach what
they
do
in the air :-)
Dudley Henriques
International Fighter Pilots Fellowship
Commercial Pilot/ CFI Retired
For personal email, please replace
the z's with e's.
dhenriquesATzarthlinkDOTnzt