How I Know Scheyden Retractables Stay Up at 3.8 Gees


This is a regular blog post. If you’re looking for show notes or links to show audio, please check out the other posts.

How do I know that my Scheyden Retractables stay put at 3.8 gees? A picture is worth lots of words. The lighting isn’t the best (after all, the aircraft is still pretty nose-down on a hazy day), but here’s a shot on the back side of a loop after a good round back side. Pulling and grunting and having fun with my jowls hanging down on my chute straps and giving my best Sean Tucker commentary.


Barry and I got up for another acro session on Wednesday. A pretty dreary and hazy day. 10,000–foot overcast and generally hazy conditions that made the horizon hard to see. We made sure that he had good ground references wherever possible and moved through no more than one axis (e.g. pitch only in loops) whenever we didn’t have a ground reference to use.

One of Barry’s acquaintances had an aviation radio on the ground out in the practice area and he walked us in to his place. A few minutes later, we had a show line set up about 2,000 AGL across his back yard and did a little aerobatic demonstration. (Yes, it’s a rural area and we complied with all of the regs in so doing.) I could hear his wife and the neighborhood kids shouting in the background when he keyed the mic. Very cool.

Planning to head up to Traverse City this evening and go for the seaplane rating Saturday. Weather is not looking good, but we’ll see what happens.

About Steve Tupper

Stephen Force is the superhero alter ego of mild-mannered tech and aviation lawyer, commercial pilot (glider, with private privileges in ASEL, ASES, AMEL, IA, and DC-3 (SIC) type-rated), and Civil Air Patrol lieutenant colonel Steve Tupper. Steve writes, records, and brings you the inside story about everything that really matters in aviation. He's flown with the USAF Thunderbirds, he's and airshow performer and air boss, and he's one of only five pilots ever to earn a FAST card in the glider category. Follow Steve's ongoing quest to do all that is cool in aviation at www.airspeedonline.com or on Twitter as @StephenForce.

Comments

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