Light GoPro Acro

 

Long time, no post...I hope all is well in your RV world, its been great in mine! I've already logged about 64 hrs on the HOBBS and still getting used to the new bird. I would say after about 50 hrs, things were feeling pretty good, but I'm still not where I want to be yet. In addition to the flying, I am still getting some bugs worked out of the airplane. Its certainly not finished once you get it flying.

 

Last weekend, I mounted my GoPro 2 camera to the wing and went playing around out in the aerobatic practice area where I used to go with my acro instructor, Dagmar. I admittedly am just dipping my toe in the water with solo acro. As you can see from the pics and video...its a heckuva toy and a lot of fun!

 

Here is simple video of a few rolls...really a cool perspective with the camera on the wing. I have been tinkering with my technique as I am getting some 'up' elevator in the mix, causing a barrel roll effect. The hardest thing to do with a roll is to achieve perfectly 'neutral' elevator. If you look close, you can actually see it in the video...very nice for critiquing.

 

After doing several to the left, I tried one to the right. As you can see in this video, it is a perfectly executed Split-S. The problem is, it was supposed to be a full roll. A split-S is properly entered at a low entry airspeed. This was a rookie mistake and potentially dangerous because of high speed and altitude loss. I was high (as you should always be when trying new stuff) and had enough sense to pull the power immediately after I realized what I did. Even with that, it was amazing to watch the airspeed build to 190+ kts TAS even with the power pulled. 

 

You should never "roll and pull" as they preach to you in unusual attitude training. The worst possible recovery from a botched roll is a split-S...not sure what I was thinking? I rolled, it didn't look good so I pulled to abort. I know better as Dagmar taught me better than that as this was a topic of discussion when we did rolls. Again, I know this was a foolish mistake, but I wanted to share so you can remember this and hopefully not make the same one yourself...even something as simple as a roll can get you in trouble if you aren't trained properly. Alas, I'm still learning.

 

Next post I'll go into detail about my preparations for flying into OSH two weeks from now, for both the pilot and plane. Until then, enjoy this dose of multi-media and get some inspiration to KPR.  

These are various screenshots taken from the GoPro, I really like the dramatic effect mounting the camera on the wing has. And the scenery isn't bad either, which helps.