Eyeing over my logbook, it’s been nine months since my last solo flight, and that was just a quick jolly in the training area to do some aerobatics. My last solo nav flight was over a year ago. I’m currently working towards getting a Commercial Pilots License which I’ll hopefully attain sometime next year, but […]
Aerobatics barrel rolls, stall turns (hammerhead) and slow rolls
Flew another practice flight today to try and work on 3 specific maneuvers: Barrel Rolls – try to get the roll rate constant and come out on the same height Stall Turns (hammerhead) – trying to get the yaw straighter and again come out at the same height (previously had been below entry height on […]
Aerobatics, a pilot’s eye view, head mounted GoPro
I thought I’d give head mounting my GoPro a trial today for an aerobatic practise flight. I’m not all that happy with the result to be honest. Either I mounted the camera incorrectly (most likely explanation) or head mounting isn’t the best view for aerobatic flight. Either way, the resulting view isn’t as good as […]
Aerobatic video – aero sequence, stall turns, a tailslide, and some steep turns
Here’s a short video of my aerobatic flight this afternoon practising stall turns and adding them into the aerobatic sequence I’ve been learning: Loop – stall turn – aileron roll – wingover – steep turn It also shows a tailslide after failing to carry enough momentum into a stall turn and flipping us back down […]
Formation flying with the Red Baron Pitts
I got a taste of fomation flying today as we flew out to the training area alongside the school’s Pitts special that was taking a customer out for a joy flight. Matt (my instructor) handled the formation take-off and climb-out then handed over and had me follow Chris in the Pitts as we climbed from […]
Aerobatic pre-solo checkride complete
Today marked the final dual flight before a big aviation milestone for me – my first solo aerobatic flight. For today’s dual consolidation lesson we went over the main ‘Advanced Aircraft Control’ maneuvers once again just to confirm to the Chief Flying Instructor that I was (in his eyes) competent to go out there and do […]
Aerobatics Consolidation Lesson – my 4 big mistakes
According to the schedule I’m now 2 lessons away from being able to fly a checkride for my Advanced Aircraft Control (AAC) aerobatic endorsement with Red Baron. However it’s been almost 3 months since my last aerobatic flight and I was feeling a little rusty to say the least, so my instructor Matt and I […]
Stalling and Constant Angle of Attack Control – get out there and do some!
I used to get scared silly whenever the word “stall” was mentioned in a pre-flight briefing. When I was a student pilot I remember very well the dread I felt before my first lesson on stalling. The thought of letting the instructor pull my power and allowing my plane to ‘fall out of the sky’ […]