Horsing Around in the Citabria with Ben Phillips

I went out with Ben Phillips this afternoon and horsed around the Acro Camp Citabria (N7636S). I still have lots of bad habits by Ben’s estimation, but I fly with Ben mostly to have benefit of his estimation, so it’s all good.

Five takeoffs and landings. Three of them to a full stop. So I’m again current to fly passengers in ASEL, be it tailwheel or otherwise. I think my work in the TG-7A has broken me to some extent of stirring the coffee on landing. Still some stirring, but nowhere near what I used to do.

And, perhaps coolest of all, Ben gave me the go-ahead to take the Citabria out solo. It might strike you as counterintuitive, but I’ve never been cut loose in a tail-dragging airplane. Lots and lots of time in them, but never solo. I have lots of solo time in a tail-dragging motorglider, but nothing about the TG-7A’s taildraggerness counts in the airplane world. I got my tailwheel endorsement from Dan Gryder in the DC-3 in 2008 and I’ve flown movie stuff and competition acro since then. But never frequently enough at any one place to get turned loose in the airplane.

My landings were pretty decent today. Not perfect by any means. The first one was a little ugly, even. And the wind was nearly calm. I know the difference between what I’m authorized to do and what it would be smart to do. So I’ll be back to fly some more with Ben when we can get a good crosswind with which to play.

In the meantime, my clothes smell like Citabria. It’s a good smell.

 

Acro Camp Sneak Peek 04: With Friends Like These . . . – Video Episode Show Notes

Despite the aggressive schedule around here (glider training, trying to find a new acro ride, doing really cool legal work for the best clients on the planet, etc.), I managed to get some time this weekend to do some editing on the movie.  The result is this sneak peek, “With friends like these . . .”

The campers at both of the Acro Camp shoots were very collaborative and supportive of each other.  But that doesn’t mean that there wasn’t at least a little laughter with (okay, at) each other when stuff went wrong.  And stuff is bound to go wrong when you’re learning to fly an aircraft whose center of gravity is behind the mains.

In the course of logging all of the footage, I’ve noted when both IPs were in aircraft and noted opportunities to synchronize the conversation across both cockpits.  Usually based on ATC calls or radio communication between the aircraft.  This was one such pair of sequences.  I loved the big bounce on Jim’s wheel landing and I loved the reaction that it got from Barry and Lynda.  I lined them up this evening and voila!  Tailwheel magic!

I’m actively working on putting together more time to get the film edited.  It hasn’t been easy, but I’m making some real progress.  Watch this space and the new Acro Camp web page (in development) for more news and updates!