More aeros

The forecast was for an occluded front to sweep through from the north early afternoon, with low cloud and rain. So it was with trepidation that I drew back the curtains in the bedroom, getting up for my 10:00 aerobatics lesson on Saturday. Sure enough, it was virtually overcast, but to me, the clouds looked quite high – hmmm maybe.

Anyway, Max had said if the weather was pants we would do the ‘formal sign-off checks’ for the Robin – you know, PFL’s, different landings and take-off etc. Max is nothing if not extremely thorough. So off I went to the airfield.

Max decides we should ‘have a look’ and do the check-ride with a few aeros thrown in. This could be a long lesson as Max was had a free slot after me anyway.

Off we went with Max asking me to do a short field take-off with best angle of climb so we would be at least 250’ by the end of runway 22. Applied full power, hold her on the toe brakes and allow the rpm to build, then let her go with a little back pressure so she would ‘unstick’ and get into ground effect ASAP. So far so good, speed to 65kts and steep angle of climb to maintain 65kts. Although not a fantastic climber, she was probably closer to 500’; by the end of the runway, partly a reflection of the 12 kts headwind.

Up we went and headed for higher cloud and better looking weather to the north-west (also me thinking – hmmm…. Berrow and Ledbury grass strips out that way, great for a ‘trick’ PFL – hmmmm….). Sure enough, around Berrow at 3000’, the engine cuts out on me (i.e. Max pulls the power and declares an ‘engine failure’). So into my own (not easily memorised!) mnemonic: GWPERS: Glide – Wind – Pick – Engine – Radio – Shutdown.

Best glide at 70kts, turn away from wind so you are ‘downwind’ (this gives me more groundspeed so more choices). Pick – oh look – a nicely mown grass strip off to the right, that’ll do! Above 2000’, try to restart the engine, Max calls no restart (what a surprise). Talk through the mayday call without keying the mike and set transponder to 7700. Turn base at 1200’. Coming onto final, looks high to me, so I pulled on two stages of flap. Shutdown checks. Height coming off. Maintain best glide. Damn that headwind, I think I am losing too much height. As we descend to within probably 200’, I think we probably will make the end of the strip – just. Max calls for a go-around and off we go.

That was the first PFL I have done for a good couple of years, and apart from being a bit touch-and-go on the height, I think we would have made it, so score one for the good guys!

The some steep turns. First 45 degrees then greater than 60 degrees. The 60 degrees was fun, but I held height and eventually found the ‘balance’. Max then showed me a ‘competition’ steep turn. The difference being that you don’t seem to bother with a balanced turn, just flick it into the turn as quickly as possible with an equally sudden roll out. Although with the pedestrian roll rate of the Robin, it was hardly an eyeball-popping experience!

Then around the Ledbury mast (hmmm….Ledbury grass strip nearby) and yes, another engine failure. Same again, but this time, I was much happier with the height and perhaps if the weather was better (strip could have been a bit boggy), Max would have asked me to actually land. We did a go-around then back upstairs for some aerobatics.

The rolls were better this time, with me getting more right than wrong. It is the angle of pull-up and checking forward properly (without residual back pressure) that count here with me.

The loops went pretty good I thought, apart from the first one which was a bit scruffy – pulled up too hard and still to one side a bit, so angled over in the inverted and a bit too much float.

Stall turns? Well, in my time honoured manner, the first one went pear shaped. I left it a bit late and wasn’t fast enough on the rudder reversal. We started to go around, then it sloooowwwed – will it make it… maybe… maybe… Yes? WHAP! NO! I think she flicked forward and went past the vertical as I recovered. If anything, I am getting good practice on recoveries! ‘Yeah – that was a hammerhead’ Max declares laconically. So I guess any time I want to do a hammerhead, all I have to do is screw up a stall turn – how tough can it be???

Next one I switch rudder a bit early and despite opposite aileron, there is adverse roll. We get around and do a stall turn, but even I knew it was ‘scruffy’. I do manage the next two though – not as well as Max and his demo’s, but I think I am starting to get the hang of the timing and the suddenness of the rudder reversal.

Back to the airfield for a variety of landings. The short field is flattering, but part of the credit must go to the 12-15 kts headwind! Though I say it myself, the glide landing went really well. Kept plenty of height, then when I was certain of getting in, brought it back to a nice soft touch past the numbers. My crosswinds aren’t too great, I find the stick control quite different from the yoke and Max seems to want quite a lot of aileron and rudder, far more than I would have thought the conditions warranted, but he is the boss! More practice required here methinks.

We land and debrief. Max sign’s me off for non-aerobatic flights in the mighty Robin. He hums-and-haws as to whether to send me up next time for solo aerobatics and then decides (and I am happy to agree) to do maybe one more dual session and see how I get on, then have me practice the moves solo for a bit, before coming back to him for any fine tuning that is bound to be necessary, then he would show me some new manoeuvres and we would practice those. Sounds OK to me.

Quite a good session and I clock up 1.8 hours – and yes, I do feel a bit tired after this one!

Afterwards, I meet up with Manuel and we have a very slow and careful walk-through of the pre-flight checks and start-up drills for the RV6 which I have just bought a share in. I have now booked my first lesson with a Cotswolds instructor who also part-owns an RV4 – so is a very experienced tailwheel instructor. Looks like I will be learning both tailwheel on the RV6 and aerobatics on the Robin at the same time – hope the finances and my brain can stand the strain!