Got a somewhat quick one hour flight in yesterday. The winds were rather unpredictable and I didn't want to get caught with unfavorable winds for landing. My approach didn't help much, as I returned to 14ktsG23 with a pretty decent crosswind component. For my first crosswind, at least in Wablosa, it had plenty of rudder authority and didn't seem too bad overall.
The HOBBS is now showing just about 18 hrs, so 22 more to go before I am released from my test area. On this flight, I decided it was time to start exploring the flight envelope a little bit. Probably the easiest aerobatic maneuver you can do is a simple aileron roll. If you've never done one, its very basic. Pull the nose up to establish a slight climb attitude (some say 30 degs, which I think is a little overkill), this nose up attitude will help offset the loss of lift in knife edge and inverted flight as you come around. A competition "slow roll" is a whole different animal, much more difficult....the aileron roll, in contrast, is not a competition maneuver. Nose up, neutralize the elevator and then full aileron (or a magnitude of input of your choice...these were not full deflection rolls) left or right. Hold it until you come back wings level and neutralize aileron. Nothing to it...
Easy...yes, but still something that gets you a little anxious in this scenario. I have been trained in the Pitts, but it was all dual instruction. I have never done any solo aerobatics. I have a brand new airplane, one that I built, coupled with the fact I am doing solo aerobatics for the first time. It does cause some apprehension, I'm not going to lie. But once you do it...it kind of breaks the seal and you cant wait to do more. The airplane has been upside down...and it amazingly didn't fall apart! ;)
Here is a video of my first rolls in Wablosa. I apologize for flying directly into the sun, which didn't help the filming any. I also forgot to hook up the audio to my intercom...so you cant hear my whooping and hollering, which is probably for the best. This produced a rather large RV grin!
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