As I did not have a ton of taildragger time my insurance company (Nationair) wanted me to get some addition dual instruction in tailwheel RV, preferably a 7.
They pointed me to a page of instructors they are aware of and I called Mike a few weeks back and set up and appointment to fly up to Waco, TX and get some dual in his 7.
Weather and the President intervened until last Sunday, when the weather was great and Bush was back in DC.
Fired up the old 210 and off to MacGregor (KPWG) to meet Mike and "get er done".
Met Mike at the FBO and spent a while talking about our objectives (get me feeling current in a TD RV), and the specifics of operating his aircraft. Time well spent.
My insurance wanted three additional hours of dual, but I personally wanted "enough to feel comfortable".
We adjourned to the hangar and rolled "Mighty Mouse" out into the CAVU morning. 41 Degrees and not a cloud in sight, wind 350 at 5 knots (straight down the runway).
Mike was a patient and thorough instructor. Good preflight briefing. Very relaxed atmosphere in the cockpit, but he was alert.
After discussing my RV experience and total time, we decided to concentrate on landings, wheel and three point. Mikes preference is to work on wheelers first, then 3 pointers.
We taxied out and Mike gave me the controls for the first takeoff. I managed a good takeoff and we spent a minute or two going over the "numbers" his airplane uses in the pattern, IE airspeed, power and flaps. We then proceeded out aways from the airport and did some familiarization maneuvers, slow flight, stalls, turns etc. Mikes plane is perfectly balanced on the controls, flies dead straight. My first comment was "it's great to get back in the saddle". It was. His plane is set up with an easy to use layout, all your flight and engine information is concentrated in front of the pilot.
After a few minutes of pure fun, we returned to begin the "relearning" process of landing a taildragger RV7. Mike was quite patient and very precise in his vocal inputs. I made a very nice approach, touched the mains, bounced just a tad and promptly went around. D*MN, thought I had that one.
Mike explained my mistake, gave me pointers for the next try and D*MN if I did not do exactly the same thing. This repeated for a number of attempts, then I finally landed by transitioning to a three point after the bounce. 1 successful landing (1 out of 10 ain't bad?).
We decided to take a a break from landings and just do a few minutes of cruising and discussing. Came back to the pattern and I "Stuck it on" in an almost perfect greaser. Well, 1 down.
After a couple more go arounds, I was up to about a 50% success rate. Time for lunch. Off to the local burger joint.
Back at the airport, resume wheel landings and I got the first one and several more in a row. Mentally, the picture "clicked" in the back of my head and I knew what to do at each phase. Mike was very patient and helpful during this entire session. Never raised his voice or acted "concerned". A real smooth hand.
After Mike was satisfied I could do wheelers, we transitioned to three pointers. The approach was identical, only difference was touchdown attitude and maybe a couple knots airspeed. I got the first one (not super pretty) and then got better on each succeeding one.
Again, Mike was relaxed, patient and helpful.
All in all we flew just over three hours and I did feel very comfortable at the end of the session. Money and time spent most excellently.
A great day all around. Got a taste for what my baby will be like (getting real close). Got to fly in a beautiful machine and near perfect weather. It just doesn't get much better than that.
They pointed me to a page of instructors they are aware of and I called Mike a few weeks back and set up and appointment to fly up to Waco, TX and get some dual in his 7.
Weather and the President intervened until last Sunday, when the weather was great and Bush was back in DC.
Fired up the old 210 and off to MacGregor (KPWG) to meet Mike and "get er done".
Met Mike at the FBO and spent a while talking about our objectives (get me feeling current in a TD RV), and the specifics of operating his aircraft. Time well spent.
My insurance wanted three additional hours of dual, but I personally wanted "enough to feel comfortable".
We adjourned to the hangar and rolled "Mighty Mouse" out into the CAVU morning. 41 Degrees and not a cloud in sight, wind 350 at 5 knots (straight down the runway).
Mike was a patient and thorough instructor. Good preflight briefing. Very relaxed atmosphere in the cockpit, but he was alert.
After discussing my RV experience and total time, we decided to concentrate on landings, wheel and three point. Mikes preference is to work on wheelers first, then 3 pointers.
We taxied out and Mike gave me the controls for the first takeoff. I managed a good takeoff and we spent a minute or two going over the "numbers" his airplane uses in the pattern, IE airspeed, power and flaps. We then proceeded out aways from the airport and did some familiarization maneuvers, slow flight, stalls, turns etc. Mikes plane is perfectly balanced on the controls, flies dead straight. My first comment was "it's great to get back in the saddle". It was. His plane is set up with an easy to use layout, all your flight and engine information is concentrated in front of the pilot.
After a few minutes of pure fun, we returned to begin the "relearning" process of landing a taildragger RV7. Mike was quite patient and very precise in his vocal inputs. I made a very nice approach, touched the mains, bounced just a tad and promptly went around. D*MN, thought I had that one.
Mike explained my mistake, gave me pointers for the next try and D*MN if I did not do exactly the same thing. This repeated for a number of attempts, then I finally landed by transitioning to a three point after the bounce. 1 successful landing (1 out of 10 ain't bad?).
We decided to take a a break from landings and just do a few minutes of cruising and discussing. Came back to the pattern and I "Stuck it on" in an almost perfect greaser. Well, 1 down.
After a couple more go arounds, I was up to about a 50% success rate. Time for lunch. Off to the local burger joint.
Back at the airport, resume wheel landings and I got the first one and several more in a row. Mentally, the picture "clicked" in the back of my head and I knew what to do at each phase. Mike was very patient and helpful during this entire session. Never raised his voice or acted "concerned". A real smooth hand.
After Mike was satisfied I could do wheelers, we transitioned to three pointers. The approach was identical, only difference was touchdown attitude and maybe a couple knots airspeed. I got the first one (not super pretty) and then got better on each succeeding one.
Again, Mike was relaxed, patient and helpful.
All in all we flew just over three hours and I did feel very comfortable at the end of the session. Money and time spent most excellently.
A great day all around. Got a taste for what my baby will be like (getting real close). Got to fly in a beautiful machine and near perfect weather. It just doesn't get much better than that.
