I figure I'll keep these updates going as incentive to other long-time slow-builders who may be losing hope.
Weather around here has been really crappy lately. Low overcasts, rain, wind ... NOT typical for late August! Must be all that "global warming".
Flight #3 found me climbing to 9500' and setting the A/P to maintain course and altitude. I dialed in a heading of 180 and sat back as the TruTrack ADI Pilot II flawlessly executed a standard-rate turn to heading. About 20 miles south, I repeated the command with a 360 heading. Another standard-rate turn flawlessly executed. *yawn* Boring. And expensive, with a fuel burn in excess of 13 gph! However, all temps remained solid and within normal limits.
When I just couldn't stand it any longer, I descended to the puffy cloud layer below me and just flew above the canyons of cloud. I used to LOVE doing that in my Yankee. Somehow, even with this fabulous machine strapped to me, it wasn't the same (more on that later). I did a couple of rolls (when I was clear of the clouds, naturally) and it performed as advertised.
When the fun was done, I came back down below the clouds and got the snot beat out of me! Dang, it was rough under those clouds. However, a bumpy, survivable landing later, I taxied Smokey back to his hangar and sat down to fill out the logbooks.
OK, so what's the point? Many of you have already had first flights -- some of you many of them -- and haven't decided to bore others with the tales of your milestones. Why should I feel compelled to pour out my soul to other builders about my first flying experiences?
Time changes things. Time changes people. In my 13 years of building, things about me have changed. I'm fatter. My joints don't move as well. I don't sit for long periods without aching. I wear bifocals. I'm not the same person I was when I started building. Were I to start a new project now, I'd consider things like ease of ingress/egress, economy, speed of build, size of print in the instructions ...
All of that I've known and accepted for years. I've accomodated as best I can, too. It's a real pisser to have to wrestle upside-down under the instrument panel to get to something, only to not be able to see it because I have to look up and my near vision lenses are on the bottom! You old farts know exactly what I mean.
What I didn't anticipate is how adrenaline affects my body these days. When I got home after yesterday's long flight (1.6 hrs), I was drained. I tried to just sit down and relax, but was fidgety. I tried yard work, but felt too tired. I was not hungry. Then I was. I was freezing cold and put on sweats, then I was hot and stripped it all off. I went to bed, but couldn't sleep.
You see, as a dentist, I don't have much use for the stuff on a daily basis. Oh, I'll have the occasional extraction or root canal that doesn't go as planned and makes me sweat. However, as a rule, dentistry isn't exactly Adrenaline Rush Alley. Off duty, I don't do much that carries much risk either -- I quit flying to build the RV, quit skiing because of knee injuries and I stopped playing golf because the only real exercise was throwing clubs and having to retrieve them. Sure, I make the rare bad choice comment to my wife that carries some inherent element of risk, but that usually doesn't end in fisticuffs. Just silence. And bad food.
I hadn't realized that in a life devoid of physical or emotional challenge, the body becomes used to a flat-line lifestyle. And the rare charge of adrenaline that might come from getting pulled over or from a fender-bender can wreak havoc on one's psyche.
Now, multiply that times a gazillion.
Smokey handles well. Danny "Sky" King proved that with the initial flights. Even with my limited taildragger time, I'm not really too worried that it'll get away from me on takeoff or landing. BUT SOME PART OF MY BRAIN DOESN'T KNOW THAT. It's really weird.
The reason I'm rambling on like this is that somebody else out there is going to go through the same thing someday. It might be YOU -- if you haven't stayed current, have lapsed into a lifestyle where your body isn't accustomed to regular physical/emotional challenges, and haven't mentally prepared yourself for the challenges of flight testing.
I think that if I were a younger man, this whole process would be much easier on me. When I used to fly, I did many stupid things. I flew too low. I flew formation with very little training. I did aerobatics that the plane was not approved for. I should not have lived. However, I did, and such things hold very little interest for me anymore. But the thrill has been replaced by serious concern -- which sucks the fun out of fun things like flying. And most of that concern is over stuff that's not likely to happen, like the engine quitting or the wings departing the plane.
I promise to NOT ramble on like this too often. However, I am hoping that some other old geezer out there will understand what I'm saying and figure out how to avoid this rollercoaster experience. I think it'll all be OK soon, as each flight gets more relaxed and I become more comfortable flying again.
I'll let you know ...
