Super Decathlon

It is most difficult to manage a sailboat when you are not going anywhere.  Without a hand on the tiller and a direction in mind, the boat is entirely at the mercy of the waves and the wind.  In fact, it is even a little dangerous, because you have no steerage way and can't avoid a sudden problem. So, the safest thing to do is to keep the boat moving forward and steer in some decided direction.

Very large control surfaces on the Decathlon

So maybe that explains my desire to further my aviation education by getting a tail wheel rating.  I need to keep learning, and what better way to improve my stick and rudder flying technique than flying a plane that is extremely responsive to both the stick and the rudder? (Well, a glider would do the same thing, but there are no glider clubs nearer than Frederick or Front Royal.)

I got in touch with ace instructor and Super Decathlon owner Bob Garity and arranged my first lesson today.  We talked for about a half hour about tail wheel principles, center of gravity, three-point versus wheel landings, crosswind landings, other stuff.  In order to get the tail wheel endorsement from Bob, I need to demonstrate competence in wheel landings, crosswind control and crosswind landings, and mastery of "go around" procedures 

Note that the tail wheel is dragging

The Super Decathlon is a two-seat tandem (pilot in front, passenger or instructor behind) aircraft.  This particular airplane is certified for day and night VFR flight, but not IFR, with a 180 horsepower engine. It is also certified for acrobatic maneuvers, including engine oil and gas modifications so it can fly upside down for up to two minutes. 

You know we might be flying some unusual attitudes when you see the G meter, you stow all the loose gear, you put on your five-point parachute harness, and you buckle into the four-point seat belt. You tighten the belts so that your butt can't leave the seat, no matter what.

N878AC cockpit and controls

We pre-flighted the plane. Bob explained many of the features, equipment, and distinctive parts (no flaps, but we do have "spades" under each wing) before we belted ourselves in.  Before long I was taxi-ing for takeoff on JYO runway 17.  N878AC lifts off the runway quickly, at about 56 knots and after only about 500 feet. 

It took me a little while to adapt to right hand on the stick and left hand on the throttle, trim, and mixture. Those just the opposite of my customary pattern in the Cirrus. soon Bob had me try some hard turns, Dutch rolls, and accelerated stalls to get used to the plane's handling and responsiveness. I also learned to use a lot more rudder than I would in the Cirrus, because you immediately feel any uncoordinated flight (slip or slide) in this aircraft.

We did three landings at Martinsburg (KMRB) with steadily improving results. The airplane is so agile that you can correct for almost any imprecision on approach. I was pretty okay up to the point of actual touchdown. Then we would seem to "plop" down or even bounce a bit.  I did have the stall horn blaring on each landing, which is considered a good thing.

You really have to kill the speed over the numbers and then wait, and wait, to get it to stick to the runway.  She just keeps wanting to fly off again.

Then, on the way back we tried some barrel rolls and a loop:

And here's what the loop looks like from inside the cockpit.  You will be able to see that I am pulling back on the stick, and if you look closely, you can see that we begin by gaining speed with a small descent, followed by the upward climb.  We ended the maneuver at exactly the same altitude at which we started, which is the idea!