Andover Flight Academy was one of those--but as stated--not available for some yet undertermined reason. Another is a program with Jim Alsip in Florida. Or another with Ron Dillard in Tennesee. (All of these fly on both pavement and grass.)
Other ones with good reputations are programs by aerobatic ace Greg Koontz in Alabama, TacAero who run a great program with Cubcrafter Top Cubs in Oregon (the only official Cubcrafters training school), and an inconic program offered at Red Stewart Airfield in Ohio. All of these are popular, have good reviews, and generally are booked up months in advance. (All of these instruct on grass strips in addition to pavement.)
Many readers will wonder, "Why not just stay with one instructor?". Well, that is certainly not a bad strategy, but there are some advantages to learning from more than one CFI. As an example, talk to different CFI's and you will get varied opinions on when and even how to do a wheel landing vs a three point. The training sylabus (if there even is one) will vary greatly---so you get unique and valuable insights from each one. And, thinking about and analyzing "why" they have different opinions will give you insight and make you a better, safer pilot. It pays to have "many tools in your toolbox" and so far, I have learned something unique and important from every CFI I have worked with.
And, Dana Holladay offered to fly up and spend a couple days with me in August. So, there are some alternatives.
Another question might be, "Why be in a rush to finish?" Two things: 1) My plane is sitting idle in it's hangar and not being flown; and 2) At my age, time is valuable. (Being a cancer survivor makes you acutely aware of your mortality and the importance of not wasting the "gift" of time.)
Patience is a virtue and "waiting on God's Will" is important. But often, God's Will is only discovered by our diligent effort and exploration of alternative paths.
Here is a review of some of the things that have helped me that I picked up "along the way" but that could have been very beneficial if I had discovered earlier.
First: Don't Stall and Control Yaw--Go to altitude and practice Minimum Controllable Airspeed in level flight, turns, climbing turns and descending turns. Know where the limit is and how the plane reacts---and how to recover. Then practice yaw control doing Dutch Rolls. These "exercises" will produce control inputs to be so automatic that they are instinctive. Then This "practice" should be done BEFORE you do lots of landings and pattern work.
Second: The Rudder is important---but don't abuse it. Remember that skids (Too much rudder in a turn) are dangerous. An uncoordinated turn with slip is sloppy, but not particularly dangerous. And, once the tail swings because of rudder, there is a resulting motion and momentum that must be stopped by an second/following but lighter opposite rudder. Good Reading about Skid vs Slip
Third: Don't get hung up on the relative arguments of whether wheel landings or three point landings are "better". Learn how to land on one wheel, two wheels and three wheels--you will need to use different techniques for different conditions. Every landing is a wheel landing and at some point in a tail wheel plane, you will be on sitting on all three wheels. Good Reading about the Wheel vs Three Point
Fourth: Glide and Roundout for whatever landing you attempt are very similar (power on wheel landing a bit different) As a rusty pilot, you may find it difficult to judge the correct timing (altitude) of the Roundout as well as the correct timing (feet above ground) to begin the "Flare" or "Descent Rate Reduction" just before landing. Discipline yourself to use the "Sight Picture" and your peripheral vision---this will take practice. Be sure to swallow your pride and go around if you think you won't land correctly. (Keep your hand at the ready with the throttle at all times.) CFI's will often berate you for initiating the Roundout early, but wasting a bit of runway by "floating" (as long as you have enough) is probably better than bouncing by hitting the runway earlier than you expect.
Fifth: You absolutely need to practice and master the cross controlled slip--forward slip and most importantly the side slip. Even if your plane has flaps that reduces the need for a forward slip to lose altitude, you will need to master the side slip in order to land in a cross wind. Good Reading about Slips See video above also.
Sixth: Use trim to make the stick "light". Properly trimmed, the plane will almost fly itself and force to move the stick is light enough that precise movements are easier. Trim for 1) climb; 2) level flight, and 3) glide. Easier to keep wings level when you are not pulling or pushing the stick with a lot of muscle.
Seventh: Err on the side of caution and "stability" at all times. Keep your hand at the ready with the throttle at all times. Your skills will improve with practice. You will know what to do before you will be coordinated enough to do it well.
Only time will tell when a CFI thinks I am "good enough".
On July 24, 2018, I sought out Ron Dillard with Advanced Tailwheel Training in Lebanon, Tennessee in an effort to accelerate and complete my tail wheel endorsement and flight review. I drove an 11 hour one way trip to meet Ron. Flying in his 1974 Bellanca Citabria 7ECA-150, we practiced lots of high G recovery from unusual attitudes and recovery from intentional spins maneuvers---some of which are prohibited in my Cub, but are good training exercises. Ron is an excellent instructor in these maneuvers as well as a demanding task master regarding "precision" flying. Ron has many thousands of hours flying corporate jets and has created a very organized training program with a Syllabus and many supporting teaching aids. He follows the FAA Wings Program Flight Review Standards to the letter. I completed a third of my flight review with Ron. A070405-08. We probably could have completed the tail wheel training and flight review, but Ron seemed to think that the intentional spin and recovery training (not required by FAA for a ASEL VFR) was important, so doing that cut in to the time we could have devoted to the tail wheel endorsement and flight review. (Ron told me I did "very well" in the recoveries but I seemed a bit "in a hurry" to pull out of the spins and he wanted to go back and do some more to improve my situational awareness.) I must admit that all of the unusual attitude/s made me a bit sick as I feared they would---I would never intentionally do aerobatic maneuvers and would never intentionally enter a spin-- let alone hold it for a "extended" turn, so I was not enthusiastic about more intentional spins. I recall spin recovery training in a C152 but we focused on "immediate" recovery without delay.) I felt the need to return home in part because of extreme weather in Pennsylvania and flooding at my home, figuring that I would finish up with Joe or Dave. I would highly recommend Ron's training, but be sure to allow enough time, allowing a day or so to fully recover from the spin practice if it is new to you.
As soon as I returned, Joe told me that once I got the tail wheel spring changed on my Cub, that he figured we might complete my training in an hour or two, as long as my landings were good. I was having difficulty scheduling a Saturday with Joe in the Cub, so I settled for some time in the Decathlon at Freeway. I demonstrated good directional control (having practiced a great deal in the simulator) but Joe and i disagreed a bit in regards to the quality of my landings. Good experience in that air temp was above 93 degrees F, so density altitude was high. I was a bit surprised at how much climb performance of the Decathlon was lost and how much the plane "sank" in the landing approach. (I had flown the Sport Cub with Dana Holiday in Jacksonville in similar conditions and the Cub did not seem to suffer that much from a high ambient temp.) So, on the first landing, I touched down harder than I wanted to, and afterward I wanted to arrest the descent by holding the plane off with power and elevator (still level flight attitude but a slower rate of descent) while Joe insisted that we "land on the numbers". (I operate under the assumption that wheel landings are not generally the best choice for a short field landing, so using 1200 feet of a 2000 foot runway, rather than trying for 800 feet seems quite "proficient" to me. However, Joe seems to prefer aircraft carrier type landings "on the numbers" with very short "round out-level off" time and heavy use of brakes to minimize runway use. Joe's concern regarding raising the nose for a wheel landing is valid---when you are descending at 1.3 stall speed, any nose up/tail down attitude attitude is an invitation for a bounce--so pulling back on the stick too much during round out can result not in a "level" attitiude but a nose up one and one with a bit a tail down momentum which will produce a bounce. You will see many unintentional tail low wheel landings during a three point landing attempt, but the speed at touch down must be closer to stall to avoid a bounce.) Gained another 1.2 hours of instruction. (But as mentioned previously, your Tail Wheel Endorsement is not likely to occur right after a disagreement with your CFI regarding technique!) Now at 16.3 hours of dual in a tailwheel with 85 landings--7.8 hours with Joe and 8.5 with others.
And, York Airport called telling me a hangar had become available. I leased it immediately. So, Sierra Charlie will be moving close to home at York!
Also, I have scheduled a day's worth of training with Damien DelGaizo at Andover Flight Academy. (Perhaps the highest rated tail wheel school in the country.) Even if I gain my Tail Wheel Endorsement before, flying with Damien in a SuperCub will surely improve my skills and balance the time I have spent in Champ (Decathlon and Citabria) type craft.
And, finally, Dave Myers is happy to work with me to make me the highly proficient pilot I want to be. It will be easy with my plane hangared at York!
Again, only time will tell when a CFI thinks I am "good enough".
On 8/18/2018, Joe Gauvreau drove to Carroll County and we flew the Cub for 1.2 hours in crosswinds that were just at my maximum (personal minimums) of 8 mph crosswind component. Landings were safe but not perfect. My approaches and touch downs were good and directional control acceptable--I used a bit more runway than a "perfect" landing, but they were safe. Most importantly, I learned the importance of being vigilant regarding gusts. It is important to be aware that the crosswind AFTER landing may be considerably higher than during the roundout---and that you need more aileron into the wind (with opposite rudder) as you slow down. (In other words, do not assume that crosswinds are constant---they can change suddenly and dramatically. The saying that you fly a tail wheel plane all the way to the hangar is SO true---but even more important--fly it expecting possible big changes in the wind--never be complacent until the plane comes to a complete stop.) So after 7 landings in gusty crosswinds, I was given my Tail Wheel Endorsement as well as a final endorsement of my Flight Review (For Avemco Insurance, in addition to the Wings Program Certificate) for my flying in the Sport Cub.!
17.5 hours of dual instruction in a tail wheel---almost 20 hours of dual instruction in the last three months. Rusty Pilots--be on notice--it takes more time than you think to become proficient after many years of not flying. (The general flying skills come back pretty fast--but the control inputs and judgments required for soft landings with good directional control in different wind conditions takes longer. (That last 10 feet of altitude in the approach, the touch down, and rollout requires lots of practice to be able to perform safely and consistently--it requires a great deal of "multi-tasking" which is an ability that tends to be better when young.)
On 8/23/2018 I traveled to Andover, NJ to fly with Damian DelGaizo. Here I am with Damian.
We flew in the highly modified Super Cub. Remarkably, it flies very much like my Sport Cub. It had heel brakes that take getting used to, and the flap handle was on the floor, but otherwise, very similar. Very nice plane.
Beautiful day. Perfect weather. And, as the picture below seems to capture, God was with me this day! (He is always with all of us, but today, I asked for and felt His presence and blessings more than usual.)
Damian's reputation as one of the top tail wheel instructors in the US is well deserved. He immediately "zeroed in" on my shortcomings and provided clear and lucid prescriptions.
1) Make the short final and approach easier---two distinct actions: At 15 feet, level off with one small back stick move, then hold until 5-6 feet and begin the "flare" to the three point landing with a "trigger pull" to full back stick just before touchdown. (Damien teaches wheel landings, but feels strongly that three points are safer because of less energy and speed during the roll out---this BTW is quite the opposite of what my other instructor Joe teaches--he stresses the advantage of better directional control at touchdown with wheel landings. So great pilots do have different opinions!)
2) Do not input aileron before rudder. This either allows adverse yaw or delays the turn/movement Rudder and Stick should move together as if they were connected. While poor coordination may not be as big a deal while flying at altitude, it becomes very important on base to final and short final while close to the ground.
3) Train your feet to be "at the ready" by practicing "fast taxi" maneuvers AND introducing a rudder "tap dance" or "wiggle" at the same time as the stick is moved for leveling off and flare. (This prepares your mind to focus on both stick AND rudder at touchdown as well as reminding you to get the plane perfectly straight before touchdown.)
4) Don't just focus on the "center line". Your attention should be on "ten and two" or the 120 degree "panorama-wide view" in front. This fine point has many advantages. Essentially, it is a more advanced concept of the "sight picture".
We ended the last session (10 landings for the day-all on grass) with a very nice three point landing--almost perfect!
I was happy that we spent our time on three point landings. To date, I have 102 "tail wheel landings". 40 three point landings and 62 wheel landings. 50 landings were in a "Cub". Of these 50 in a Sport Cub, J3 or Super Cub, 32 or 60% were three points. So I feel I have a "balanced" background with many "tools in the tool box".
I highly recommend flying with Damian at Andover. The airport provides both pavement and grass and a beautiful environment--both ends of the runway/s are bordered by lakes/ponds. It is like landing on an aircraft carrier! Damian is calm and not too chatty--just the right combination of constructive criticism and confidence building encouragement. Even a compliment when deserved. It was a long day for me--up at 5:30AM, with a four hour drive to northern NJ, much of the drive on secondary roads, with a one hour session in the morning and another in the late afternoon. 1.8 hours of flight in total. (Damian is busy and in high demand--I was happy that he could find time for me in his schedule and the 8 hours round trip drive and some dead time between lessons was worth it.) Then another long four hour drive home. Long drives, but the scenery is/was breathtaking. On the way home, I drive thru the Delaware Water Gap on I80. God's creation is truly amazing!
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