Joe is an outstanding pilot who instructs in his beautiful late model American Champion Decathlon.
My first flight with him was on June 2, 2018. My introduction to the famous SFRA Washington Area special flight rules.
Joe is a big fan of "wheel landings" and prefers them much over the more conventional "three point landings" that most other instructors prefer. (I must say, I agree---wheel landings with air flowing over the rudder giving excellent directional control just seems safer than a three point landing which is essentially almost stalling the plane on the runway.)
Joe is a NASA Engineer, but I really felt that we were landing on an aircraft carrier---we approached with a rather steep decent, firmly placed the front wheels on the runway, followed immediately by forward stick to kill the lift and used brakes heavily soon after to stop with lots of runway to spare.
Another Navy analogy--with Joe's teaching style, I felt like a shave tale rookie Ensign right out of the Annapolis Academy (with book learning but not much practical experience) with a old hand Training Flight School Officer barking instructions to me. ("Keep your wings level !" "You're high--slip it !" "Watch your altitude !" "More right rudder !") One thing for sure--you are safe when flying with Joe--he is extremely competent and will keep you from making big mistakes.
I kinda figured that I could learn a lot from Joe, so I would continue with him--hopefully having him honoring me with a Tail Wheel Endorsement. But, since I also needed a Flight Review, I decided to take dual in one of Dave Myer's C172's at York Airport. (Joe for the Tail Wheel Endorsement and Dave for the Flight Review) I also decided to use the new FAA Wings Program for my Flight Review.
So, my first time with Dave was in the C172 on June 4, 2018. Dave's Website
Dave has a different teaching style than Joe. He patiently explained how to work the radio in the pattern at York Airport. By the end of the lesson, I felt very comfortable with the protocols of pattern work.
Landing the tricycle gear C172, was a lot different from the wheel landings in the Decathlon with Joe. But the biggest difference was the C172 has side by side seating vs. tandem seating, and the sight picture is very different. In addition, the C172 uses flaps, which I much prefer over using a side slip necessary in a plane without flaps. We did 7 landings.
I returned to Freeway to work with Joe again on June 6. More of the same round and round in the pattern. Including my first stint, we had now completed 16 wheel landings in the Decathlon.
Like most rusty pilots, these first few hours were a little frustrating. First, I did not execute the landings as well as I would have liked. Second, I really felt that the instructors had little confidence in my ability--so normal self doubt was magnified. (Their barking was a bit distracting...and one thing I have noticed about aging is that multi-tasking takes more concentration--so a chatty instructor can be counterproductive.) The instructors were very kind and sort of encouraging, but their assessment seemed to be: " Your old and rusty. This takes more time than you think." I flew with Dave and Joe again on June 14 and June 16.
To add to the complexity, I applied for insurance with Avemco, and the pre-requisites for me to fly in my plane solo were five hours "dual" and a flight review in my plane or one just like it. Oh my...this is a logistical mountain to climb. My plane will be at an airport 45 minutes away from Dave Myers, who was not too keen on the idea of driving to/from Carroll County. (He is a very busy CFI and the commute was not the best use of his time.) Joe, while very happy to give me instruction at Freeway, was not keen on flying or driving to Carroll County either.
Helpful pilots on the Cubcrafter Forums suggested attending the acclaimed Andover Flight Academy. http://www.andoverflight.com/. The suggestion was to have my plane ferried there and that Damien DelGaizo would fly with me in my plane after I earned my Tail Wheel Endorsement. I called, but Damien never returned calls---either his was busy or uninterested--or maybe even that the operation has been curtained because of Donald Trump's flight to nearby Bedminster, NJ. In any case, dead end--but I did purchase Damien's excellent two videos and learned a lot from them.
Another helpful suggestion from the forum was to visit Jacksonville, FL and fly with Dana Holladay in a Cubcrafter's Sport Cub just like mine! Well, Dana and his Wife, Merideth who run Holladay Aviation were most welcoming. Dana cleared his schedule and I flew to Jacksonville flying with Dana on June 20. http://www.holladayaviation.com/
We completed 3.5 hours of flying. It was great. Dana is another extraordinary pilot. His flying and the Sport Cub's performance were truly impressive. (I hope I can fly the Sport Cuib as well as Dana someday.) He prefers three point landings, so we did many of those in the pattern at tower controlled Jacksonville Executive Airport, as well as Fernandina Beach and a beautiful 3500 foot grass strip at Hilliard. He introduced me to the use of the GPS (same as in my plane) and I became very comfortable with the Sport Cub. One surprise--he did not want to use flaps or brakes.
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| Dana's Sport Cub |
Only one problem--the plane developed a mechanical issue with the throttle. My fault---on my last landing I bounced and when Dana added power to recover, I restrained the throttle with my locked hand and the linkage between the front and rear bent a bit. It then wanted to stick in the full throttle position.
Probably safe to fly, but I had carefully written a list of "Personal Minimums" which included a "Do not fly with ANY know mechanical defects-EVER".
The plane was scheduled to be down for it's Annual inspection the next week, and the repair would need more than a few hours to complete--so we decided to end the training session and I returned home. (During this dilemma, I had a strong feeling that God had a purpose for this delay--His timetable was a bit different than mine.)
I was anxious to fly my Sierra Charlie and Joe was gracious enough to fly up to Carroll County on June 30. We did 10 landings and flew for 2 hours, completing the "5 hours and flight review in the Sport Cub" Avemco insurance requirements. Hurray!
But wait----still no Tail Wheel endorsement and no Flight Review as a Private Pilot flying a non Light Sport like the C172 or Decathlon.
How much more flying time? I now have 11.6 hours dual in a Tail Wheel Plane, with 69 landings to a full stop--wheel and three point. (13.6 hours of total dual in 2018.)
Some claim that you need one hour of dual for every year since you last flew as Pilot in Command. (Yikes, for me that would be 30 hours of dual!) I am not sure I agree with that, but I do expect to continue using CFI instruction in my plane for at least another 10-20 hours---I just would like to be able to at least fly my plane to the instructor as: 1) Very difficult to find a CFI that will commute to my plane; and 2) Limited number of CFI's that want to fly in the back of my plane, or CFI's that are slim and light in weight enough--so I need to make it time efficient for those that are willing and able by flying the plane to them. So, I need to be able to solo my plane.
It is amazing that there is such a shortage of hangars and how few flight schools offer a tail wheel in their fleet. You may also find that even some that do have a tail wheel have a business model that is inconsistent with the rusty pilot's requirements.
The process of being a rusty pilot is not unlike what I experienced when returning to auto racing after a 20 year hiatus. I had a Class B FIA License (Indy Car level) , SCCA Pro License and a NASCAR Gold (Winston Cup) License, but when reappying for a National Amateur SCCA License, I was told I would have to go back to drivers school as if I had never driven a race car before! Sometimes when you are old and rusty, like Rodney Dangerfield said, "You just don't get no respect". 😎A fellow racer and pilot, Bruce MacInnes intervened for me I was given my National License after a three day class with the Skip Barber Racing School.
Interesting that it seems more difficult to be approved to solo as a rusty private pilot (new to a tail wheel) than it was for me to solo 30+ years ago in a Cessna 152. So, if you are a rusty pilot wanting to fly a tail wheel plane, don't be surprised that you will be expected to demonstrate a much higher level of proficiency than you probably had to show when you first soloed.
Next to Plan C.
How much more flying time? I now have 11.6 hours dual in a Tail Wheel Plane, with 69 landings to a full stop--wheel and three point. (13.6 hours of total dual in 2018.)
Some claim that you need one hour of dual for every year since you last flew as Pilot in Command. (Yikes, for me that would be 30 hours of dual!) I am not sure I agree with that, but I do expect to continue using CFI instruction in my plane for at least another 10-20 hours---I just would like to be able to at least fly my plane to the instructor as: 1) Very difficult to find a CFI that will commute to my plane; and 2) Limited number of CFI's that want to fly in the back of my plane, or CFI's that are slim and light in weight enough--so I need to make it time efficient for those that are willing and able by flying the plane to them. So, I need to be able to solo my plane.
It is amazing that there is such a shortage of hangars and how few flight schools offer a tail wheel in their fleet. You may also find that even some that do have a tail wheel have a business model that is inconsistent with the rusty pilot's requirements.
The process of being a rusty pilot is not unlike what I experienced when returning to auto racing after a 20 year hiatus. I had a Class B FIA License (Indy Car level) , SCCA Pro License and a NASCAR Gold (Winston Cup) License, but when reappying for a National Amateur SCCA License, I was told I would have to go back to drivers school as if I had never driven a race car before! Sometimes when you are old and rusty, like Rodney Dangerfield said, "You just don't get no respect". 😎A fellow racer and pilot, Bruce MacInnes intervened for me I was given my National License after a three day class with the Skip Barber Racing School.
Interesting that it seems more difficult to be approved to solo as a rusty private pilot (new to a tail wheel) than it was for me to solo 30+ years ago in a Cessna 152. So, if you are a rusty pilot wanting to fly a tail wheel plane, don't be surprised that you will be expected to demonstrate a much higher level of proficiency than you probably had to show when you first soloed.
Next to Plan C.
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