It's been just over a month since I've been up flying! Way too long, especially for flying that is this fun. My instructor has been out of town (more like out of the entire continent) for about three weeks and the weather around here has been real sketchy as of late.
Today was a bit different from before as we flew out of my instructors home airport up in Arlington. (KAWO) The weather today was absolutly perfect, a little chilly, and perfectly clear all around the airport.
We had a bit of a late start due to an air leak in the tail wheel. We had to stop mid-taxiway as the tail wheel was riding on the rims! Ouch! About an hour later we had replaced the wheel and were back on our way over to the fuel pumps to takeoff.
We didn't really have a major plan of action for this flight since I haddn't been up in a while. Although, he did introduce to the fun world of the half -Cuban. One which is much more challenging than I was anticipating. Finding that 45* downline is rather interesting and make that 1/2 roll to level can also prove troublesom. I did many of them, maybe around 5 or 6 I'd guess. Between them I would practice 2-pt rolls and inverted flight to get accustomed to the roll I that is required on the downside of the half cuban.
Along with that I also did my favorite maneuver a bunch of times, the inside and outside Humpty bump! Boy is that fun! I'd have to say, of the two variations, my favorite is definitely the outside humpty.
One thing I really didn't notice until after I landed was how comfortable I was with the airplane on this flight. I didn't feel like I was "flying my instructors plane" any more but maneuverd about the sky as if it were my own. If I needed to take a good look at the ground beneath me for reference I just would pitch the aircraft up and roll it to the side to have a look beneath me. I was consistantly over the points I wanted to be over and kept a very good eye out for traffic. Dispite the fact I may not have executed the maneuvers how was hoping, I still felt as though the flight was many steps forward with regard to my feeling of comfort and confidence in the aircraft itself. Also I made it a point to strap myself in a little tighter than I have in the past. This time when I would roll inverted I no longer felt myself raise off the seat. Slightly uncomfortable, but once I got airborne I really didn't notice.
I recently purchased (recent as in last night) a digital video camera that mounts to a helmet/headset that I will take up with me for my next flight. This should prove to be quite fun and hopefully enable me to learn more during post-flight briefings! Plus it'd just be awesome to have a video from MY perspective while doing this fun stuff! :) The camera is due to arrive this Wednesday and I'll try to go flying on Thursday (weather permitting) to test it out!
Anyway, I know it has been a terribly long time since my last post, but there really hasn't been a lot going on!
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