Citabria Solo! HOBBS 831.0 hrs

My 'girl' awaiting our first date...

Today is the four year anniversary of my first solo, what an exciting day that was, and certainly one I wont ever forget. As luck would have it, today...I also soloed the Citabria! Kinda sweet how the timing of that worked out...I always try to take a flight on my anniversary date, but this one was extra special because of the circumstances.

I think most pilots would agree...although I love taking people for rides and have mostly enjoyed my instructors, there is something simply magical about being in the airplane alone...its like finally getting your best girl alone--just you and her, exploring the sky together. Very therapeutic...

As for the project, been plenty busy with other stuff this week so I have only logged a few hours. Still tying up the baggage compartment details...match drilling into the bulkhead and installing nutplates.

Its Official! HOBBS 810.5 hrs

Yesterday afternoon, after work, on a rare drizzly overcast day here in Boulder I went around the pattern 8 times in exactly one hour of flying time with my instructor Lyn in the backseat of the Citabria. And with that, I have now flown off my 15 hrs required for solo flight in the Citabria! I also got signed off for my tailwheel endorsement as the last formality. I expect Lyn would've signed me off long ago but since I couldn't fly solo for insurance reasons, we saved the signoff until the end. Either way, it was pretty cool...I am now officially a tailwheel pilot and I have to admit it feels pretty darn good! My choice to go with an RV7 has been completely and absolutely justified in my mind...tailwheel flying is a ton of fun to this ol' boy!

It was fitting that my last hour was easily my best hour. We practiced short field techniques, every landing was whisper smooth, and it was a kick in the pants. Days like that are what keep us pilots coming back for more. I was able to plop that plane down softly and get stopped before reaching the first taxiway on Rwy 26 at Boulder. Not sure exactly how far that is?...but as we went around the pattern we took a look from our lofty perch at 1000' and lets just say it wasn't much real estate...it looked like a postage stamp. Felt quite a bit of pride in my piloting skills when I seen it from above--of course with an assist from the airplane design and the 5 knot headwind.

Looking back on my training...wow, it was a steep learning curve and I cant help but think I've come a long way since that first flight. I still remember hoisting the tail on that first takeoff roll and watching with horror as the nose of the airplane veered to the left like it was a possessed predator chasing some imaginary prey off the side of the runway. As I was flying yesterday, I couldn't help but think how docile things have become...whats the big deal, the airplane now wants to track straight down the runway centerline all by itself, like an obedient horse with blinders on. Who learned...me? or did the airplane just magically decide to cooperate? ;)

The airplane no longer has a mind of its own, it now is an extension of my mind...and that's cool! It should be the aspiration of every pilot to be 'one' with his/her airplane, its not easy, and for maybe the first time I feel that way. I highly recommend tailwheel training to all pilots if you want to improve your piloting skills...I promise you, whatever your views are on this topic of tailwheel vs. tri-gear, it will make you a better pilot.

Tailwheel Training Lesson 4: HOBBS 689.0 hrs

Crosswind landings were the order of the day for lesson 4. The winds were kicking up pretty good on Friday afternoon as the Memorial day weekend was officially underway. I got off work at 3:30pm and drove the half mile over to SFTI and greeted Lyn. Pre-flight...double and triple checked the fuel caps...both intact and accounted for! ;) We departed Boulder for Ft. Collins-Loveland airport (FNL) with its longer 8500 ft runway-- its about a 10 min flight northeast from our location.

As I said in my previous post, Lyn wanted to get up there for the longer runway but didn't really say why? So off we go, everything is feeling pretty comfortable for me now. At this point I had 4.5 hrs of flight time under my belt and although I was far from a polished TW pilot, I was safe and felt like my skills were adequate to build on.

As we arrived at FNL, the AWOS was reporting winds at 18 kts G24 at 60 degrees to the runway! Oh boy, this is pretty close to a direct 15 kt crosswind component (I didn't do the calcs, just guessing...). 15 kts is typically the max recommended crosswind component for most light GA aircraft like the one I am flying.

It was time to put my new found stick and rudder skills to the test as this was going to be quite a challenge for this green TW pilot, but I was up for it...even a little excited for the task ahead. If I could land in this, I would feel pretty comfortable handling most windy days. As I'm thinking this on our downwind leg, I hear an experimental taking the crosswind runway for a takeoff into the wind...this was not a crosswind he wanted to tackle if he didn't have to, can't say as I blame him. Hmm, maybe I'm being a little over-confident?

I come around on final, line up with the centerline and dip my left wing into the wind and apply some right rudder to hold my track. So far so good, same as a tri-gear, all is well as I proceed to my aiming point. The gusting winds always make things interesting however...I'm making lots of small control movements to maintain a stable approach...glideslope-check...airspeed-check...centerline-check. The pilots out there know what I mean, to the non-pilots I'll just say this is a high workload environment on an approach as you get jostled around with gusting winds and wind shear.

I come down over the runway, level off and slowly pull the power to idle as we cross the fence, then wait for the plane to dissipate some energy before starting my flare. When this happens, I know the airplane is ready to land and I ease the nose up just slightly. I added 5mph (80mph) to my approach speed because of the gusting winds so I'm intentionally a little fast and have more energy to bleed off so it takes a little longer. I set down on my left main gear, wing still tucked into the wind. We hover there for a moment on one wheel, next comes my right main...I'm still on centerline, perfect technique so far.

As the plane starts to slow and I'm thinking there's nothing to this crosswind landing stuff...I am once again quickly humbled at the controls of an airplane.

Let me explain. Most pilots will use a wheel landing for crosswinds so they can carry the extra speed for greater control authority during the landing roll. I had the same plan as you can tell from my description. The main flaw, and well known, with this strategy is there is a vulnerable time as the landing develops. As the airspeed slows and the tail is still in the air, rudder effectiveness begins to disappear. Obviously having the tail in the air, with a crosswind trying to weathervane your nose into the wind, and no rudder control is a bad position to be in. So getting the tailwheel on the ground as soon as possible for steering control is paramount.

But...alas, its not that simple since you cant lower it too soon (or too abruptly) or you will increase the angle of attack on the wing and before you know it you'll be airborne again and bouncing down the runway! Ask me how I know this. Its very much a 'feel' maneuver to know when and how fast to lower the tail on a crosswind wheel landing. Of course I had read all about this in my book, but reading is one thing, "doing" is an entirely different matter.

Of course, this 4.5 hr TW pilot doesn't have that 'feel' yet. As I start to lower my tail, albeit a little too slowly and I consequently get caught in 'no-man's land' and lose my rudder effectiveness, we start weathervaning into the left crosswind...ie, the nose goes left along with the occupants. When this starts happening in a TW aircraft, things get interesting in a hurry. So much different than a tri-gear. You really have to step up the urgency with control inputs before things get out of hand...a ground loop can occur very quickly if not.

So I wrestle control of the airplane back as I veer back to the right...and then again to the left, I finally get my tailwheel down and line us back up for takeoff...zoom, off we go. I take a deep breath, crab into the wind, and think...wow, now that was interesting! ;) And almost on cue like he was reading my mind, Lyn makes a sarcastic comment from the back, "that was an interesting diversion" he chirps into the intercom. And, like always with Lyn and I we both chuckle. This doesn't suck, it's a lot of fun for a guy with a passion for flying...I am having the time of my life! :)

Next time we come around I'm thinking, alright got that one out of the way...now I know what to expect. I figure I'll do much better on this one. As we come down on short final, its not to be, Lyn unexpectedly asks for the controls. A little confused, but in no mood to question him right now as we are on short final...I respond, "your airplane." He counters with "my airplane"...for the non-pilots, these are typical control exchange responses during flight training.

Lyn brings us down, again, left wing low into the wind. We level off and he keeps a little power in...right above the runway...inches from the ground. We fly the entire length of the runway in this wing low attitude...holding centerline and momentarily touching down softly on just our left main gear. Its a great training exercise and really a lot of fun. He gives the controls back to me when we reach the end of the long runway.

Coming around again...you can only guess whats coming. He says, "now you do the same thing...but do it better than I did." I laugh and say..."sure Lyn, not a problem!" And with that, I gotta tell ya I think I pulled it off...I may have actually done a better job than my instructor. Granted he is flying from the back seat and wasn't warmed up...but hey, I'll gladly take it and was proud of my effort.

With this maneuver, even more so than the final approach because we are so close to the ground, the minute control inputs with the rudder, stick and throttle were fast and furious to keep the plane where I wanted it all the while fighting mother nature's mischievous attempts to disrupt my plans. "Woo hoo, that was a kick" I say into the intercom! Although I wanted to do it again, we went back to normal crosswind landings.

We did 4 landings here with these crosswinds before Lyn said he thought we had reached the limit of the aircraft as it was getting difficult to hold centerline. We then flew over to Longmont for 5 more landings, this runway was directly into the wind so it was much easier to manage. Since I already felt comfortable with my 3 point landings, I practiced my wheel landings, which I also felt comfortable with by the end of this lesson. One of which could be described as pretty darn close to perfect. I received a congratulatory 'nice job...I liked that landing' comment from Lyn...always nice to hear in my headset.

All told, we did 10 more touch and goes and logged 1.9 hrs of flight time (6.4 hrs total now). For most people, this might be the point where you would be signed off for a tailwheel endorsement. Since I have to build up 15 hrs so I can rent the Citabria from SFTI, I will continue my training with the other things I want to cover. We are going to try to get a mountain flight in next time...we'll see if the winds cooperate?

Tailwheel Training: Lesson 3 HOBBS 676.5 hrs

Saturday morning it was time for lesson 3 in my transformation into a taildragger pilot. Thankfully, I survived "The Rapture" or the predicted apocalypse that was supposed to happen Saturday at 6pm. But, I didn't get out unscathed. :) Let me explain.

I now had two lessons under my belt and 2.9 total time in the Citabria. The mission for this flight was to fly over to Loveland-Ft Collins for some more pattern work. Lyn wanted to go somewhere where we could get on a longer runway. I'm thinking he had some emergency procedure work in mind that he wanted to unleash on me. For example...cutting the power at 50 ft while on climbout. Cool I thought, I enjoy this sort of stuff.

I proceed to do my pre-flight and while I am in busy with that, Lyn breaks out a fuel level checking device for measuring the fuel level in the tanks. If you haven't seen one, its just a clear tube that looks like a straw with indicator markings. You place it in the tank until it touches the bottom of the tank and then place your finger over one end to trap the fuel in the tube. Pull it out and read what the level indicates, simple but effective.

The Citabria has two wing tanks that simultaneously feed into the fuel intake. There is no "left-right" fuel selector in this aircraft like there is in the Skyhawk or DA-40, it is "both" as the only option. The first two flights I had just used the fuel indicator in the cockpit to check fuel level--bad habit on my part--instead of doing a visual check which I should be doing, but I'm STILL learning...as a pilot, always learning. 

The fuel level on the gauges reads "empty" on one tank and "half" on the other...when adding the two together, we would read that as 1/4 fuel capacity. Why one tank would be empty and the other half makes no sense to me since they are supposed to feed together? I asked Lyn, he wasn't sure either and joked "maybe someone was flying around all day in a wing low flight attitude?" He ensured me there was nothing to worry about, it was normal in this plane.

I jump up on the ladder and checked the right tank, it shows 30 gallons on the indicator. I look at it and am confused, this tank only holds 18 gallons (17.5 usable) total, how could that be? So down I climb from the ladder and ask Lyn..."why does this read 30 gallons?" He says, "its designed for a different aircraft so we had to use a conversion chart...which, after consulting, says we actually have 14.5 gallons. Ah, much better, but certainly more than the gauge was reading....which is precisely why we should never feel comfortable with the fuel gauges in aircraft. I check the left tank and sure enough, I get no reading...its basically empty.

Ok, so now we know we need fuel, we discuss going over to Longmont as we did on our last flight for a top-off on the tanks before starting the lesson. Takeoff was good, right on centerline...no drift, ok, now I'm getting a feel for this baby.

A short flight of about 5 mins and I enter the pattern on a left crosswind and decided to do a quick touch and go to warm up the hands and feet. Pretty decent 3 pointer to start the day, I quickly assess that I am feeling much more comfortable already. The gains I expected on the last flight seem to have taken hold on this third flight. I come around again and land with another pretty good effort, the winds are calm at 9am and its a nice pleasant sunny day in the Rockies.

We ground the aircraft, pull out the ladder and I fill up the left tank...it gets just a few gallons...over to the right tank, it thirstily sucks up 15 gallons so although it read empty, it actually had about 3 gallons in it. I look around and don't see the fuel cap. I ask Lyn, "do you have this fuel cap?" He says "no"...and all of a sudden I get that bad feeling burble up in the pit of my stomach. We discuss it and try to replay the pre-flight in our memory...was it on when we left Boulder? I said, I wasn't sure, but I couldn't confirm it. Another BAD mistake on my part, I was already beating myself up over this as we discussed our plan going forward. 

Well, we decide to head back over to Boulder and look for it on the ramp/runway. As we departed the pattern for the 5 minute flight back, we now could easily see the fuel dumping over the top of the wing and off the trailing edge in a white whispy stream. I think I may include a cruise checklist item to visually look for this on climbout in the future...we didn't even notice it on the way over to Longmont.  The low pressure on the top of a wing in flight will essentially syphon fuel overboard like a vacuum.

It can be a very dangerous situation on a long flight if you don't notice it and all of a sudden your tank is dry, which is essentially why I am not happy with myself. I had let myself become distracted and lost my focus on the task at hand. These kinds of simple things can kill a pilot if left unchecked, or you string several of them together into a chain of events that lead to an accident. I know better. As we line up for the landing, I have to consciencely put the event, that's weighing on my mind, out of my head so I can concentrate on the landing at hand...no sense letting this snowball.

After we secure the aircraft on the ramp, we proceed to look everywhere and cant find it. Dang...that's gonna probably cost me. We borrow one from the maintenance shop next hangar over and decide to continue with the lesson but just remain in the pattern at Boulder since we didn't have enough time left for our original plan.

By now, the winds have started to pick up considerably so this might get a tad interesting. As part of my tailwheel checkout I need to do some crosswind work, so this will work out well.

Up we go, the winds now favor runway 26, which points almost directly to the west and the foothills of the Rocky mountains. My last instructor said, he never liked doing pattern work at Boulder when the winds were favoring this runway. Although I had landed on 26 a few times before, I hadn't experienced it very often, its also a righthand pattern which is a little different. The winds whip over the Rockies and burble quite violently sometimes as they transition to the plains of east Colorado. AWOS was reporting 17 knots gusting to 24 (17G24kts) as we lined up for the first landing.

We had a slight right crosswind component, so I transition into a right wing low, side slip attitude. I touch down on my right main in a wheel landing, by design. All is well, then I forget to keep aileron correction in place and neutralize the ailerons...doh, stupid, stupid, stupid! :) Now things go from nice and controlled to plenty interesting as that wind starts to pick up my right wing and I start losing directional control. I finally get a hold of the situation and plant the tail on the ground for some steering control. Whew! Off we go to come around the pattern and try again. In a taildragger, the winds take on a whole new meaning.

We do 7 more landings in these gusty conditions. Plenty bumpy and I was working hard for my money on final while Lyn seemed to be so calm he might've been asleep in the backseat, other than a few timely reminders and comments when needed. ;) Wind checks from the ground were now calling out gusts up to 30 kts! Even the glider tow pilots (BDU is a glider airport also) were on the radio saying they were calling it a day because it was getting too choppy. These are not uncommon conditions out here, mother nature...in concert with those big 'hills' to the west of us, make this a plenty challenging environment to fly in. These are conditions, believe it or not, I have seen plenty in my short flying career.

My landings were nothing to brag about, but they were safe and most importantly I maintained directional control for the most part. Admittedly they were a little rough. In conditions like this, safe is all you are looking for...anything more is gravy.

As we lined up for the last one, I decided as I always do--its an old habit from spending hundreds and hundreds of hours in the batting cage during my baseball days, "lets end on a good one." As I turn final, I turned the concentration level up a notch--good stable approach, glideslope and airspeed nailed...lots of small, corrective control inputs as I'm working hard to keep us stable and wings level, the wind gusts keep bucking the airplane all over the sky like an invisible, mischevious hand.

Down we come on short final, I check the windsock and the wind direction is right on our nose, directly down the runway on this approach so our groundspeed is approaching what seems like walking speed as we seem to hover above the ground. Good level off...flare...and a single, soft chirp of the tires indicating a perfect three pointer. Aaaaah, now that feels good as I let a smile creep across my face and let out a slow sigh of relief. :)

The thing I love most about flying is how challenging it is, being a good pilot is not easy and landings are especially difficult, there are so many variables to contend with on a landing that each one is unique...but the pursuit of the perfect landing is nothing short of a magical quest. 

I logged 1.6 hrs and ten more touch and goes, bringing my tailwheel HOBBS total to 4.5 hrs. I now feel I am safe in the airplane for solo flight. Of course that's just my opinion, the insurance company certainly wouldn't agree. In addition, Lyn has the final say in this regard. These days in aviation, everything is done very conservatively...20 yrs ago (prior to 1991), a tailwheel endorsement wasn't even required so go figure. These days it takes most pilots up to 10 hrs of dual training before they are cut loose.

In hindsight thinking about the fuel cap fiasco, I replayed the events in my mind and its pretty easy to now see what happened. As I checked that first tank with the fuel level tube, I jumped down to ask Lyn about the confusing 30 gallon reading I was getting...and then without thinking, just moved on to the other tank without securing the cap on the first one. Simple act of distraction...a good lesson to file away. 

So, although I did lose a fuel cap on this fateful day...I thankfully survived the 'end of days'...apparently you did too. ;) See ya next time!

Tailwheel Training: Lesson 2 HOBBS 670.0 hrs

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times", the famous quote from the Charles Dickens novel sums up my second lesson quite well. After finishing strong on lesson #1, where I actually felt like I was getting this whole 'little wheel in the back' thing down, I figured that would transfer directly into lesson #2 and I'd have this mastered in no time.

Well, I figured wrong. My first takeoff was like I learned absolutely nothing in the first lesson as I was struggling to hold the centerline. I was a little baffled by that to be honest, takeoffs are really not that difficult, or so I cockily thought? I had been warned about an intitial steep learning curve associated with getting my tailwheel endorsement, I suppose 1.1 hrs of flight time isn't enough to have it mastered eh? ;)

We cruised over to Longmont for a quick landing and fuel fillup since Avgas is cheaper over there than at Boulder...21 gallons at $4.89/gallon. SFTI has a policy where they encourage their members to seek out cheap Avgas whenever possible and then obviously reimburse you. A way to keep costs down, no problem, I'm down with that.

So, this lesson we started out by going out to do the airwork that we didn't do in lesson #1. Out we went to a suitable area north of the airport and climbed to 7500 MSL (remember BDU is at 5300 MSL out here in the Rockies). First on the agenda was a couple steep turns...no problemo and plenty fun, I enjoy those.

Second, Lyn says, "lets do a power on stall." I'm thinking "ok, how about we warm up with a power off stall first?" :) But, I keep that thought to myself and say "alright, lets do it", and proceed to set up for a power on stall, which always makes this low time pilot apprehensive. They are squirrely! I liken it to holding a water hose in your hand a couple feet from the end, with water shooting out of it, and trying to keep the hose straight up and down in a delicate balancing act.

So here we go, full throttle...back on the stick and up we go, all I see is sky...seemed like we were standing on the tail, and sure enough...as we approach the stall, not enough right rudder and we break to the left. It felt like we actually were starting to enter a spin (although movement is always a little exaggerated in the cockpit), but I did catch it with the rudder and brought it back wings level. That makes ya catch your breath as you're looking down the wing at the ground, that's for sure! haha! As the nose comes up in a power on stall, that nose will want to swing to the left...of course I know this, but it still caught me off guard this first time. I haven't done a power on stall for quite some time so I was obviously a tad rusty.

We then did a power off stall, which was perfectly fine...straight break, nothing crazy with this airplane as you would expect from a trainer. We then practiced some forward slips...left and right, and then again, left and right. Full rudder deflection slips, cool. I watched our VSI and saw we were dropping like a rock at about 1500 fpm! Nice, exactly what a good slip should be doing...getting you down in a hurry while keeping airspeed manageable. Ok, nothing to it, I now felt very comfortable with slipping the Citabria. We also did a simulated engine out...again, no problem. Typical stuff.

Lyn asks "how did all of that feel?" and I said I was ok with all of it except the power on stall, which I felt like I botched. He says, "ok, lets climb up to 7500 ft and do another one." Ok, I'm game. This time was much better...although, I still was fighting to keep us wings level. But, using only quick, small rudder inputs (no ailerons to pick up a wing, it will aggravate the wing drop...so keep the stick centered), I was able to balance the plane on the edge of the stall. Its a great exercise in learning to use your rudders properly and a must for tailwheel pilots. I will practice this more until I am comfortable with it.

Now for some landings. Again, I started out rough...much like the initial takeoff, I felt like I hadn't learned anything. But...after awhile it started smoothing out and things got much better. I actually nailed 3 or 4 perfect 3 pointers during the day.

On one of those perfect landings, Lyn cut the power abeam the numbers on downwind and said..."you just lost an engine". Ah, the ol' trick from my primary training...I like these, its all about energy management. I brought that baby around on short final nice and high to make sure I had the runway made and then slipped her down and smoothly touched down on all three gear with a quiet chirp. It might've been my best landing of the day. I think I actually cracked a smile in satisfaction after Lyn said, "nice job". I told him maybe we should cut the power every time. :)

That felt good...and let me tell you, as a tailwheel pilot, I've already learned a perfect landing is one to be proud of because it doesn't come easy...you will earn it. I think in a tri-gear you can actually get lucky sometimes and have a nice landing. A 3 point landing in a TD takes much more than luck in this pilot's opinion, it doesn't happen by accident.

So, around and around the pattern we go...16 touch and goes! I was now incorporating side slips on final quite often to set up for a nice approach. I felt like I was getting the hang of the 3 pointers...but my wheel landings now were atrocious!! haha!

I've always loved pattern work, I could fly t-n-g's all day long. But after the 15th one, I realized I was getting worn out. I jokingly said to Lyn, "I'll bet you're getting tired back there, how about we knock it off?" He chuckled and replied, "sounds good". I'm starting to really like ol' Lyn as I get to know him.

We head back to BDU and make a 4 mile straight in approach , I excecute a nice 3 pointer to end the day, always nice to end on a good one. I then practiced some S-turns as we taxied the length of the runway back to the hangar. Even though its not needed in the Citabria, its good practice and kinda fun. We shut down and as I secure the aircraft, I scribble down 1.8 hrs of HOBBS time on the aircraft billing/log sheet.

It then dawned on me as I climbed out of the cockpit, all of a sudden it hit me like a ton of bricks, I was flat out exhausted....completely drained. I felt like I had just done 16 night carrier landings on a pitching deck!! :) You block it out when you are flying and lost in concentration, but once you are safely on the ground its like releasing a pressure valve and you realize just how hard you've been working. But, what a great feeling, I am enjoying this ride. Stay tuned for the next one.

Tailwheel Training: Lesson 1 HOBBS 670.0 hrs

My trusty steed, 160hp 2005 Citabria Adventure, N214LH

The highlight of this weekend was the fact that I started my tailwheel training. Let me tell ya, it was exciting...adventurous and a hoot! I had a blast!...and was humbled, all at the same time. It became readily apparent, flying a taildragger is a different world.

Throughout this process, I will blog about my experiences of becoming a tailwheel pilot. You can see, much as with my builder blog, what its like through my eyes to take this journey. Strap in, clear prop!...I hope you enjoy the ride. :)

Leading up to this lesson I had spent some time preparing myself with some ground school. Sean Blair loaned me two instructional DVD's that I watched (big thanks to Sean). The first was Tailwheel Essentials, and the second was Tailwheel 101. I considered Tailwheel Essentials to be adequate, but Tailwheel 101 is highly recommended with very useful and intuitive explanations (although I didnt get this one watched before this lesson...I watched it last night). I also supplemented these DVD's with the late Sparky Imeson's book Taildragger Tactics.

Sparky was a 20,000 hr local pilot that specialized in mountain flying instruction, I was fortunate to have met him at one of his seminars, he was a character with great stories and I can only imagine he was a good pilot and instructor, although I never had the privilege of flying with him. But, I will say, as knowledgeable as he is about the subject matter, being an author is not his strong point. Its still a good book just because of the knowledge base...but you just have to get around his writing style and organization, or lack thereof (or maybe that's just me?...I'm kind of picky about such things).

With all of this new knowledge crammed into the ol' noggin, it was a good point to start flying. You can only go so far with ground school...the flying is where it will actually start to make sense. I am taking my training at Boulder municipal airport (BDU) at Specialty Flight Training, my instructor is Lyn Dague. Lonnie, the chief flight instructor (and owner I believe?) are good people and my dealings with them so far have been good.

The plane, as shown above, rents for $128/hr wet and Lyn's time is billed at $50/hr. Maybe a smidge more expensive than some places, but certainly within reason. During our discussions, Lonnie informed me that to actually be signed off to rent the Citrabria solo after I get my tailwheel endorsement, I need to satisfy two of three requirements that SFTI has in place for insurance reasons: 125 hrs TT (which I have), 25 hrs tailwheel and 15 hrs in type.

So, it looks like I will be flying with Lyn beyond just getting my endorsement up until I get 15 hrs in type. I wasn't expecting this and hadn't budgeted for it, but I will squeeze it in. No worries, its still time in the logbook and great experience...and the extra 5 hrs with Lyn (I had budgeted 10 hrs) will only be a $250 cost adder. Lonnie did offer a nice little nugget however, he said I can combine training as I build my 15 hrs. Awesome, I will add a mountain checkout (yes, we have actual mountain flying instruction here in the Rocky Mountains and I highly recommend it to 'flatlanders') and a CFI spin endorsement. These are both items I had planned to add to my training anyhow, so it will work out well.

Now lets talk about the lesson. The original plan was to do some airwork so I could get used to the plane. Typical stuff...slow flight, stalls, steep turns, etc. Well, in a very rare occurrence for us here in Denver, we had 2100 ft. ceilings the morning of my lesson. No stalls on this day...we wouldn't be able to get high enough to safely conduct them. Of course, we did have enough room to do some pattern work so we moved to plan B.

I did my preflight, strapped into the front seat with the 5 point seatbelt harness and Lyn walked me through some of the details of the cockpit. I started her up and she roared to life and purred like a kitten...I was instantly falling in love like only a pilot could understand. :) As the flight progressed I liked this plane more and more. Very responsive throttle and aileron control. The elevator stick forces, however, were quite high--much, much higher than the Diamonds and probably a little more than the Skyhawk as well. If you were severely out of trim, I would guess it would be very difficult to maintain control of the nose because of these high stick forces...I filed that tidbit away in my memory.

Taxing a taildragger with calm winds, such as we had, is not much different than a tri-gear. The biggest difference being that you dont have as much forward visibility in the taildragger (TD). The Citabria has a fairly flat deck angle for a TD, so its not too bad. S-turns were not required. The other big difference is your stick position...full aft (in calm conditions), in your gut to keep the tail down, is the way to go in a TD. Its a new habit that needs to be formed for this type of flying.

We taxied into position on the active runway for takeoff. Now things start to drastically change from the Tri-gear environment. Line up on center line, directional control is everything when flying a TD, and cant be emphasized enough so starting on the center line is important. Gradually apply full power in about a 3-5 second time span. Stick back initially...as we start our roll, relax pressure on the elevator and the plane will gravitate toward the trimmed takeoff position. When you feel the tail wanting to come up...then slowly add forward stick to help the tail up into the air. Continue to accelerate in this position and then pull back to break the surly bonds. Sounds pretty simple eh? And, for the most part, it is.

However, be beware, when you raise the tail (if you do it too quickly it will be pronounced), the gyroscopic forces from the prop will give you a left turning tendency so you need to feed in some right rudder to counteract this. Much different and pronounced than a tri-gear. I, of course, forgot this on my first takeoff and swerved to the left before catching it. Doh! This was my first indication that things are gonna be different in a TD. I was now introducing myself to the rudder pedals for really the first time in my aviation career...by the end of the lesson we were well on our way to developing an intimate relationship. ;)

We would be doing full stall, 3 point landings for this lesson. Although the POH lists approach speeds of 60-70 mph for the 7GCAA, Lyn wanted me to come in at a conservative 75 mph. That seemed a little fast to me for 3 point landings as the plane stalls at 51 mph according to the POH. But hey, what do I know? So, 75 mph it was, although I still think it was too fast.

I soon learned that, to actually nail a 3 point landing is plenty difficult as all three gear should touch at exactly the same time in a full stall to be perfectly executed. That, my friends, takes some good aviating as your pitch attitude and the timing of your level off are crucial. I kept hitting my main gear first in what would've actually been a good landing in a tri-gear, only to find out that wasn't good enough in a TD. The touchdown of the mains was followed by my tailwheel kerplopping down shortly thereafter. Followed by ballooning back into the air because of the increased angle of attack and then settling back down again...bounce, bounce...to do it all over again! Woohoo! It reminded me of my rodeo days, it was like sitting on the back of a mean ol' bucking bull with a bad attitude! :)

And, there again, was that rudder thing. The first few landings, as we started to slow down the plane on the ground roll, it would start to veer one way or the other like it had a mind of its own. I was too subtle with my rudder inputs to stop the drift before Lyn helped me. I was allowing the aircraft to control me instead of the other way around. One side of the runway to the other it seemed! Poor Lyn was probably scared to death!!! haha! Or maybe he's seen this hundreds of times over the years? I soon learned, and Lyn reinforced (as did my DVD's), that as the plane slows down, you will need bigger rudder inputs because of the decreased amount of air going over the rudder. It took me a couple times to get this through my head...my rudder inputs were too small to change course as needed. But be careful, as you accelerate, its the opposite...smaller rudder corrections are needed.

As we progressed through 1.1 hrs of HOBBS time and 10 touch and goes, I was steadily improving. Although I never managed an actual 3 point landing, I was getting much better at wheel landings as I salvaged my botched 3 point attempts. My directional control was markedly improved by the end of the lesson. Toward the end I was actually doing a tap dance with the rudders on short final to kind of get my mind ready for...rudder, rudder, rudder. Small rudder inputs...left, right, left, right...all the while flying straight. It reminded me of running in place during my HS football days...same motion. That little exercise was a huge help (and described quite nicely in 'Tailwheel 101'...I hadnt watched this video before this lesson darnit) and I highly recommend it. I think I inadvertently had stumbled upon the famed, "rudder dance", when I did this exercise. It was the lightbulb moment of the first lesson.

One other thing I wanted to bring up. The 7GCAA Citabria has no flaps, which took some getting used to. In light of this, forward slips are an essential tool to have in the aviators toolbox. I am actually a big fan of slips and feel pilots nowadays don't use them nearly enough. Its an 'old-school' tactic that should be revived. Being cross-controlled close to the ground scares a lot of today's pilots I think. But a slip is nothing to be afraid of when done properly...always keep the nose down and never use bottom rudder (skid), always top rudder.

So, anyway, I do slips quite often in the Diamond and thought I was fairly good at them. The first one I attempted in the Citabria wasn't a very good one to put it bluntly...with its much bigger fuselage, it behaved quite differently than the Diamond. Consequently I quickly aborted my feeble attempt as I didn't feel comfortable with it. As we came back around on downwind I mentioned this to Lyn in the backseat that I wanted to practice some slips at altitude on the on next lesson to get a feel for it in the Citabria. He said, "well let me show you one." He instructed me to purposely come in high on final and then let him have the controls...which I did.

He then proceeded to do a left slip that was so drastic it actually made me uncomfortable! :) I was looking out the side window at the approach end of the runway and it seemed like we were crabbed at a 45 degree angle! haha! "Dang" I said to Lyn, "now THAT is a slip!" He kinda chuckled from the backseat and said "yep." Did I mention that Lyn is "old-school"? I don't want to guess his age, but suffice it to say, he has been doing this awhile. He probably learned to fly in a time when slips were second nature to pilots because of non-existent or marginally effective flaps on the planes of that era. He must've had full rudder deflection or nearly full rudder fed in to get that flight attitude. I have some learning to do when it comes to slips...dont be shy, I had never experienced a slip like that....wow!

To sum it up. I really enjoyed the crap out of this first lesson and cant wait for the next one. But as I said at the outset, it was humbling, I have a lot to learn. A tri-gear aircraft will let you get away with sloppy aviating, a TD will not. There is no way anyone can argue that becoming a TD pilot doesn't make you a better aviator. If someone clings to that argument, I would guess they have never flown a TD? It doesn't take super human skills by any means, it just takes much more precision and attention. Exactly why I wanted to become a TD pilot to begin with....I am not disappointed in my choice.