humptybump
Well Known Member
Let me start with a little background for context. I only have about 250 hours and half of that is tail wheel in things like Champs, Cubs, Stearmans, Citrabias and a little bit in a Maule. Most of my tail wheel time has been on grass and "under improved" strips. My flight hours have grown progressively more sparse and zero in the past year leading up to my transition training. Every pilot is different so YMMV.
I chose to do my transition training with Kent Gorton about an hour south of Atlanta. The two factors were proximity and availability within my schedule. Kent trains in an RV-6 with a 160hp and fixed pitch (wood) propeller.
So, with the disclaimer out of the way, here was the trip ...
I drove the 10 hours down on Sunday and only encountered one delay near Dunn, NC caused by the tornadoes that had passed thru a day earlier. Mother Nature sure can make a mess and with seaming randomness. There was one stretch with three swimming pool companies within a half miles stretch of highway. The middle one lost almost everything and the other two were untouched.
Monday morning, we started training with two sessions planned - a 10AM flight and a 2pm flight. Kent and I sat down for about an hour going over the training syllabus, common challenges, etc then out to preflight. The first flight starts in a practice area at about 2500 AGL. We covered basic handling, slow flight, and stalls. Then it was over to a nice 5000ft class D airport for pattern and 3-point landing practice.
"Ready to go? Power in. Easy the stick forward. Rudder. RUDDER. RUDDER! MORE RUDDER! Stick more forward. OK, rotate. Climb out between 80-100kts. RUDDER." ... (Kent's training aircraft as the smaller RV-6 rudder. It shows.)
"Slow to 1500rpm, 82kts before abeam the numbers, then full flaps. 75 on base. 70-75 on final. Round out in ground effect, slowing to 60-65. Continue to increase back stick (without climbing). Let it land (with just a little tail-first touch down)."
Sounds easy and for some it might be. For me, I was WAY TOO TWITCHY. The stick really wants the tiniest of inputs until you are well into the flare and getting that stick all the way back. Trust me, if the stick is not all the way back, you hear it ... from Kent Others have noted he believes in letting you get well outside your comfort zone and only comes on the controls if things are really bad and damage is imminent. He will definitely let you make an ugly landing.
"OK, let's go. Power in. FORWARD stick. RUDDER! RUDDER! MORE RUDDER! Your'e already at flying speed so rotate. Positive rate of climb, flaps up."
Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
By an hour and 20 minutes, I was done. I definitely was no where near finish. Just done for this flight. Kent saw I had reached the point of diminished returns. We headed back to the base field whish is grass, uphill, and right traffic. I was a bit surprised how blind the RV-6 is with a passenger in a right traffic pattern. I had to dip the wing to have any chance of establishing situational awareness to the field. Once down, Kent and I did some debriefing and then headed out for lunch.
The after noon was "somewhat" better than the morning. I was better all-around but still very inconsistent.
Lessons learned in Day One, flights #1 & #2 ? Well, for starters, the RV-6 and most likely all RV's are very lights on the controls and fast to respond. A 1/2 inch change in the control stich is often more than enough. Move it like a Citrabria and you will pitch from 80kts to 120kts before you know it and the recovery has you squished into your seat. More critical is that it is very easy to be at 80kts one instant and at 60kts the next. In the patters this is bad. The airplane is a sinker when its down to 60kts - I had more than one hard landing to remind me of that! The same "light controls" and "slippery wings" means trim is and art form and you don't fly "hands off" even for a moment.
I went back to the hotel after a long first day and not feeing well with my results. It was pretty demoralizing to be honest. It took a while to wind down and sleep did not come easy but it eventually won out.
Just before nodding off, I was trying to find some technique that might help. I finally recalled what my PPL instructor did to me when I was having problems landing back in the beginning. We were flying the pattern and he said, "OK, I have the controls. I'm the student, tell me what to do. Walk me through the landing." So that is what I did. So my plan for the next flight was to "talk through the procedures".
I chose to do my transition training with Kent Gorton about an hour south of Atlanta. The two factors were proximity and availability within my schedule. Kent trains in an RV-6 with a 160hp and fixed pitch (wood) propeller.
So, with the disclaimer out of the way, here was the trip ...
I drove the 10 hours down on Sunday and only encountered one delay near Dunn, NC caused by the tornadoes that had passed thru a day earlier. Mother Nature sure can make a mess and with seaming randomness. There was one stretch with three swimming pool companies within a half miles stretch of highway. The middle one lost almost everything and the other two were untouched.
Monday morning, we started training with two sessions planned - a 10AM flight and a 2pm flight. Kent and I sat down for about an hour going over the training syllabus, common challenges, etc then out to preflight. The first flight starts in a practice area at about 2500 AGL. We covered basic handling, slow flight, and stalls. Then it was over to a nice 5000ft class D airport for pattern and 3-point landing practice.
"Ready to go? Power in. Easy the stick forward. Rudder. RUDDER. RUDDER! MORE RUDDER! Stick more forward. OK, rotate. Climb out between 80-100kts. RUDDER." ... (Kent's training aircraft as the smaller RV-6 rudder. It shows.)
"Slow to 1500rpm, 82kts before abeam the numbers, then full flaps. 75 on base. 70-75 on final. Round out in ground effect, slowing to 60-65. Continue to increase back stick (without climbing). Let it land (with just a little tail-first touch down)."
Sounds easy and for some it might be. For me, I was WAY TOO TWITCHY. The stick really wants the tiniest of inputs until you are well into the flare and getting that stick all the way back. Trust me, if the stick is not all the way back, you hear it ... from Kent Others have noted he believes in letting you get well outside your comfort zone and only comes on the controls if things are really bad and damage is imminent. He will definitely let you make an ugly landing.
"OK, let's go. Power in. FORWARD stick. RUDDER! RUDDER! MORE RUDDER! Your'e already at flying speed so rotate. Positive rate of climb, flaps up."
Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
By an hour and 20 minutes, I was done. I definitely was no where near finish. Just done for this flight. Kent saw I had reached the point of diminished returns. We headed back to the base field whish is grass, uphill, and right traffic. I was a bit surprised how blind the RV-6 is with a passenger in a right traffic pattern. I had to dip the wing to have any chance of establishing situational awareness to the field. Once down, Kent and I did some debriefing and then headed out for lunch.
The after noon was "somewhat" better than the morning. I was better all-around but still very inconsistent.
Lessons learned in Day One, flights #1 & #2 ? Well, for starters, the RV-6 and most likely all RV's are very lights on the controls and fast to respond. A 1/2 inch change in the control stich is often more than enough. Move it like a Citrabria and you will pitch from 80kts to 120kts before you know it and the recovery has you squished into your seat. More critical is that it is very easy to be at 80kts one instant and at 60kts the next. In the patters this is bad. The airplane is a sinker when its down to 60kts - I had more than one hard landing to remind me of that! The same "light controls" and "slippery wings" means trim is and art form and you don't fly "hands off" even for a moment.
I went back to the hotel after a long first day and not feeing well with my results. It was pretty demoralizing to be honest. It took a while to wind down and sleep did not come easy but it eventually won out.
Just before nodding off, I was trying to find some technique that might help. I finally recalled what my PPL instructor did to me when I was having problems landing back in the beginning. We were flying the pattern and he said, "OK, I have the controls. I'm the student, tell me what to do. Walk me through the landing." So that is what I did. So my plan for the next flight was to "talk through the procedures".