Cth6
Well Known Member
My wife and I started this year with a goal to make a decision on the airplane. OK, my wife said, ‘will you just make up your mind’. A few days at SnF followed up with a trip to the west coast was the plan. Well that didn’t work out this year. So, Plan B.
I decided to make a visit to Jan Bussell to get an abridged version of transition training in his RV-6A. Besides showing Jan my ham fisted approach to flying RVs, the hope was that I would get a good perspective of flying an RV.
First off, Jan is a very patient and knowledgeable instructor. I appreciated his approach to teaching as well as him letting me have just enough rope to learn my own lessons. Outside of some ground school, we spent about 2 hours doing air work, pattern work and landings. Everyone talks about getting the RV grin, well I ended up exhausted after being schooled by his RV-6A. My .02 on the experience.
Reading about the flight characteristics of an RV is nothing like experiencing them. I knew it was coming, but that P-Factor was surprising once I advanced the throttle. With that said, the rudder authority is amazing as soon as you have the slightest airspeed. You immediately feel this aircraft in the seat of your pants. We are all taught that in our primary instruction, but for the life of me I am still trying to feel it in the Warrior that I am flying today. A credit to the design and Jan’s building skill, this really was a hands off aircraft when trimmed out. I was able to put it in a 45* bank and it just wanted to stay there. I was the one that was subconsciously adding in back pressure causing the RV to climb in the 360 degree turns.
We had the typical Florida summer thermals down low today. The RV was lively, but at the same time felt very firm and in control. The warrior would have bobbed around a bit more. I would equate the warrior to a van going over a bumpy road. You are going to get large oscillations up and down with exaggerated rolls side to side with sloppy controls. The RV was more like a sports car. Sharper bumps and firm suspension, but you feel 100% in control. This was one of the areas I wanted to experience to see for myself.
Jan has a great playground for the RV, all in very close proximity. A practice area with long straight reference lines and prominent reference points. Multiple grass and paved strips of varying length and direction; you will always find a good crosswind. I don’t think we left a 20 mile radius and was able to get all of that in.
I spent two hours drinking from a firehose and trying to get one step ahead of the RV. I knew going into this I was not going to walk away as a proficient RV pilot, but that wasn’t my goal. I wanted to get a good perspective of flying an RV. I did end up getting that. So would I do it again? Heck yes! As for that RV grin, it is on my face as I type this post.
I decided to make a visit to Jan Bussell to get an abridged version of transition training in his RV-6A. Besides showing Jan my ham fisted approach to flying RVs, the hope was that I would get a good perspective of flying an RV.
First off, Jan is a very patient and knowledgeable instructor. I appreciated his approach to teaching as well as him letting me have just enough rope to learn my own lessons. Outside of some ground school, we spent about 2 hours doing air work, pattern work and landings. Everyone talks about getting the RV grin, well I ended up exhausted after being schooled by his RV-6A. My .02 on the experience.
Reading about the flight characteristics of an RV is nothing like experiencing them. I knew it was coming, but that P-Factor was surprising once I advanced the throttle. With that said, the rudder authority is amazing as soon as you have the slightest airspeed. You immediately feel this aircraft in the seat of your pants. We are all taught that in our primary instruction, but for the life of me I am still trying to feel it in the Warrior that I am flying today. A credit to the design and Jan’s building skill, this really was a hands off aircraft when trimmed out. I was able to put it in a 45* bank and it just wanted to stay there. I was the one that was subconsciously adding in back pressure causing the RV to climb in the 360 degree turns.
We had the typical Florida summer thermals down low today. The RV was lively, but at the same time felt very firm and in control. The warrior would have bobbed around a bit more. I would equate the warrior to a van going over a bumpy road. You are going to get large oscillations up and down with exaggerated rolls side to side with sloppy controls. The RV was more like a sports car. Sharper bumps and firm suspension, but you feel 100% in control. This was one of the areas I wanted to experience to see for myself.
Jan has a great playground for the RV, all in very close proximity. A practice area with long straight reference lines and prominent reference points. Multiple grass and paved strips of varying length and direction; you will always find a good crosswind. I don’t think we left a 20 mile radius and was able to get all of that in.
I spent two hours drinking from a firehose and trying to get one step ahead of the RV. I knew going into this I was not going to walk away as a proficient RV pilot, but that wasn’t my goal. I wanted to get a good perspective of flying an RV. I did end up getting that. So would I do it again? Heck yes! As for that RV grin, it is on my face as I type this post.
Dont let the tag Vans performance concern you, they truly are a very basic easy machine to handle/fly.
