Aurora and I Finally Fly On Our Own
15/11/10 16:55
Just when I thought the most amazing year had come to a close, to my shock it just continued to get better. There are those few moments in your life that will be forever etched in your memory. Yesterday was one of those moments.
When Aurora arrived in June, my first goal was to get the airshow work going and focus on the wing walking. I had an instructor lined up to get me checked out in the Stearman, but unfortunately he had an incident on his motorcycle and was out of commission for a while. Kirk was willing to fly with me and did once, but wanted to wait until the season was over before focusing on that. I then met, Rock, who was not only an 18,000 hour airline pilot, but just happened to be a tail wheel instructor as well. Although I have a bunch of tail wheel hours, even some in the Stearman, it had been over 7 years since I had flown and was not going to be an overnight transition. After my last show in Leesburg, we focused on my flying and yesterday during my 5th flight in Aurora I was shocked when I heard those words “just let me out here and take it around”.
The excitement and nerves were overwhelming. He kept saying that he had not been touching the controls, but there was something comforting in the fact that someone was always up front to keep me out of trouble. Rolling out to the end of 15 at Warrenton, I took a deep breath and eased the throttle forward. This was it. I was alone in my baby. The power came up and I was airborne before I knew it. With a fuel injected R-985 she puts out about 500 HP on take off and rolls just a few feet before she’s clawing for the sky. The rush of that take off still gets to me.
There I was climbing into the pattern all on my own for the first time in years. The cold November wind was stinging my face as I leveled off and prepared to land. Unfortunately, a student pilot who insisted on flying a 2 mile pattern was ahead of me and caused a 360 on downwind for spacing. But with sheer determination and focus I concentrated on bringing her back to earth unscathed.
Turning on final I check my airspeed and descent rate. All was good. I had learned through my experience on the last few flights that my speed at the moment of touchdown was one of the keys to an uneventful landing in Aurora. Crossing the numbers I eased in just enough power to cushion the descent and level her off, holding her off and holding her off until the familiar squeak of the mains made contact with the runway below me. Pulling off the power I held up the tail wheel and concentrated during the most perilous moment in landing a Stearman. That transition in which the tail stops flying and settles to the ground is the moment that can bite the most experienced of Stearman aviators. The tail came down and to my amazement I was still lined up with the runway. I had done it! I taxied her off and was ready to put her away when a voice on the radio said “do it again”.
I thought it had been Rock who made that call, but as it turns out Kirk was behind me in the pattern and wanted to see another one. I taxied around and repeated the entire process making another successful and uneventful Stearman landing.
I was literally shaking from all the adrenalin and a flood of relief and excitement washed over me. It was a huge confidence builder to know that I still had it and now with time and practice I will fine tune my tail wheel skills and return to the point I was 7 years ago. Aurora and I are now completely one. Alone in the skies with my dream machine is a fantasy come true and one that I will cherish for the rest of my life.
Next on my plate is refreshing my aerobatic skills and really learning the envelope of this amazing bird. This story is still unfolding every day.
This was captured on video that you can watch below.
When Aurora arrived in June, my first goal was to get the airshow work going and focus on the wing walking. I had an instructor lined up to get me checked out in the Stearman, but unfortunately he had an incident on his motorcycle and was out of commission for a while. Kirk was willing to fly with me and did once, but wanted to wait until the season was over before focusing on that. I then met, Rock, who was not only an 18,000 hour airline pilot, but just happened to be a tail wheel instructor as well. Although I have a bunch of tail wheel hours, even some in the Stearman, it had been over 7 years since I had flown and was not going to be an overnight transition. After my last show in Leesburg, we focused on my flying and yesterday during my 5th flight in Aurora I was shocked when I heard those words “just let me out here and take it around”.
The excitement and nerves were overwhelming. He kept saying that he had not been touching the controls, but there was something comforting in the fact that someone was always up front to keep me out of trouble. Rolling out to the end of 15 at Warrenton, I took a deep breath and eased the throttle forward. This was it. I was alone in my baby. The power came up and I was airborne before I knew it. With a fuel injected R-985 she puts out about 500 HP on take off and rolls just a few feet before she’s clawing for the sky. The rush of that take off still gets to me.
There I was climbing into the pattern all on my own for the first time in years. The cold November wind was stinging my face as I leveled off and prepared to land. Unfortunately, a student pilot who insisted on flying a 2 mile pattern was ahead of me and caused a 360 on downwind for spacing. But with sheer determination and focus I concentrated on bringing her back to earth unscathed.
Turning on final I check my airspeed and descent rate. All was good. I had learned through my experience on the last few flights that my speed at the moment of touchdown was one of the keys to an uneventful landing in Aurora. Crossing the numbers I eased in just enough power to cushion the descent and level her off, holding her off and holding her off until the familiar squeak of the mains made contact with the runway below me. Pulling off the power I held up the tail wheel and concentrated during the most perilous moment in landing a Stearman. That transition in which the tail stops flying and settles to the ground is the moment that can bite the most experienced of Stearman aviators. The tail came down and to my amazement I was still lined up with the runway. I had done it! I taxied her off and was ready to put her away when a voice on the radio said “do it again”.
I thought it had been Rock who made that call, but as it turns out Kirk was behind me in the pattern and wanted to see another one. I taxied around and repeated the entire process making another successful and uneventful Stearman landing.
I was literally shaking from all the adrenalin and a flood of relief and excitement washed over me. It was a huge confidence builder to know that I still had it and now with time and practice I will fine tune my tail wheel skills and return to the point I was 7 years ago. Aurora and I are now completely one. Alone in the skies with my dream machine is a fantasy come true and one that I will cherish for the rest of my life.
Next on my plate is refreshing my aerobatic skills and really learning the envelope of this amazing bird. This story is still unfolding every day.
This was captured on video that you can watch below.