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Transition Training in Dallas - outstanding fun

Dvalcik

Well Known Member
Sponsor
I have the Pre-RV grin! :) I had the opportunity to fly with John Albury, AKA Jetguy for transition training in his RV12. We have all gone through training before, but this was downright fun. A totally different experience, he is a great instructor and it didn’t even seem like a training session.

He had a presentation prior to our flight to get familiar with the RV12. This was a great PowerPoint presentation with videos along with great conversation, full of information. The setting was very low key and enjoyable at the hanger.

Then the fun began, practiced taxiing, then take-offs, 30 and 45 deg turns, slow flight, stalls, you got it. Then we headed over for practice landings and takeoffs. As everyone says “slow it down and it is easy to land” and it is! I have flown a few different Light Sport Aircrafts and this 12 the best thing I have been in. Throughout the flight a smile kept creeping in with the thought “I have to get one of these!”, then a bigger smile – “I got one and it is almost done and I will be flying it soon”

Tomorrow we are heading to a fly-in for more Fun / transition training. I will post more tomorrow.
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John on the right
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Glad to hear the positive remarks, I intend to be following in your footsteps in the near future doing the same thing.
 
Carpet!

Wow, it sure must be a clean engine to put an oriental carpet under the aircraft in the hanger! I would right putting one in my kids bedroom.:D

Please keep posting the updates on transition training. I'm targeting 2013 too.
 
Neato kabeedo!

Dave, you and John look like brothers.
Good to hear your transition training is going well.
Look forward to seeing your photos and some video of the experience.
Sounds like you are having too much fun, I see that Pre-RV grin!:cool:
Can't wait to head down for transition training.
 
Update - more fun!

:p
Dave, you and John look like brothers.
Good to hear your transition training is going well.
Look forward to seeing your photos and some video of the experience.
Sounds like you are having too much fun, I see that Pre-RV grin!:cool:
Can't wait to head down for transition training.

Update on transition training; there was an air show at Denton Municipal today so we headed out west and before the airport closed . Continued training and as I stated it was great fun again. Weather was hot 95 ? 100 high humidity and almost full gross. Winds 10 knots gusting 14 straight down the runway or a slight cross wind, the 12 flew great. Went over to Hicks Airfield in Fort Worth, Texas and stopped by to visit Avery Tools. Bob Avery was there even though they were not open. He was very gracious and opened his doors and gave us a tour. Stayed and talked for a while, I am sure we over stayed our welcome, but he is a nice guy.
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Still killing time till Denton Muni opened back up from the air show, so we went over to Lancaster Municipal and had lunch at the airport. Nice little airport, great food and customer service.
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Even though I have my needed hours for transition I am going to fly in the morning and continue to have more fun !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mark, you will enjoy the experience, but it may cost you double after the post "Dave, you and John look like brothers", I am sure you might have offended John with that comment!
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Hey Dave, did you get some Briskit? You can't leave Texas without it!

Yes I did! Just like I was living here again. I miss the food and people but I like the weather in PA!

Mark you need to book your training in Aug - much cooler LOL
 
Great Student to Instruct!

Here we are at Avery Tools
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David Getting Mil instructions from Bob Avery.
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Colin giving his 17 year old Daughter Dual in the 12.
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She is currently working on her Pvt Pilot license.:D
 
Wow, it sure must be a clean engine to put an oriental carpet under the aircraft in the hanger! I would right putting one in my kids bedroom.:D

Please keep posting the updates on transition training. I'm targeting 2013 too.

This plane does not leak, at all, nothing. It does spruce up the hanger.
 
Transition Training made Great

My dad and i went to Denton for the transition training offered. I will be the pilot flying the -12, but "chief builder #1" tagged along for insight and information.

John and Colin were more than welcoming and a great powerpoint to start the training. Lots of valuable info there. The temps were in the triple digits during the day, so we spent the afternoon looking at N1212K and comparing notes on items that we are currently finishing up. They opened the plane up and showed us some good tips and tricks. I won't tell all their secrets, but we have dubbed it the "RV-12 Skunkworks". HA.

The next morning, we headed out for an early start to avoid the heat. Most of my time is in 150/152's 172's,182's,Piper Warrior's and some multi time in a Baron E-55. The -12 is a nimble airplane. "Nimble like a Miata" The rotax has a punch to it, even loaded w/ 2 people and 15g of fuel. Even being an LSA, it is still a high performing aircraft for it's category and you still have to stay ahead of it. Plan your decent and approaches. It will float, but not bad when your on your numbers. Treat every T/O as a soft field and it works great. the -12 is a great airplane and i have no doubts it will be a capable XC machine as well as a Sunday flyer.

I flew for about 2 hrs with John, Ins. only required 1, but 2 had me comfortable in the airplane and was good prep for our soon coming first flight. John is a very capable CFI and from my perspective had good habits in the airplane. I would recommend Colin or John to anyone looking at this type of training for their -12. It makes sense, you spend a great amount of time and $$$ on the project, finish it properly and learn all you can about flying it. Plan the cost of this right into the project, don't skimp on your training or safety and make ELSA or EAB pilots look bad (not that i'm finger pointing, but when a "homebuilt" aircraft crashes, the reaction from the public is "Of course it did, a guy who didn't know what he was doing built in his basement!!!".) Even as a Sport Pilot or Private Pilot, you can approach flying as a professional (this makes passengers happy) and keep high standards for yourself. (The tie is optional!!!! haha) And, keep flying fun.

I have been speaking with our local FSDO about our upcoming A/W inspection and over the course of conversation, the inspector was "very pleased to hear" that I would be receiving transition training.

A big thanks to both John and Colin for their time and ability to do what they do. Their goal is to prepare -12 builders into safe and capable -12 flyers

I'll have some more detail of the training in a blogspot post on the build site




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Complete!!


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Chief builder #1 had some -12 instruction too
 
Kalewis transition training

Glad you and your dad had a great time and experience. Their plane does perform perform well. Sounds like your trip was as much fun as mine. It is hard to think of this as transition training, since it is so much fun. But the fact is John and Collin do provide very professional and valuable training.

Will you be going to Oshkosh this year?
 
that is the plan

-- hope to be there for 2 or 3 days, most likely Thurs Fri and Sat. We have our A/W scheduled for July 20th, so that bit the 1st weekend off...but we are not complaining.
 
Another one on his way to Success!

Paul Johnson successfully completed transition training in North Texas! He will be flying with with His Father, Paul Sr in the Salt lake City and Payson AZ area. :D
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Congrats Paul

Welcome to the club, I am sure you had a great experience and fun too! :D Paul I am sure you will agree that John and Colin provide a very professional training environment and you get to fly a sweet RV12

John I think the new parlor game based on the "six degrees of separation will be to substitute Kevin Bacon and insert JetGuy. :D
 
Is it possible to get transition training if one is looking to buy but does not yet own an RV12?

I did mine with Jan Bussell in his 6A as a prospective buyer. Closing the deal on a 7A after a long search for the right aircraft... Can't wait to finally own an RV!
 
Another Happy Pilot on his way to Success!

Robert just completed his transition training. He will be flying around Troy Indiana. He should
receive his Airworthiness Certificate within a couple of weeks.:D

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RV-12 Training in North Texas

I recently completed my RV-12 transition training with Jetguy flying out of Denton airport in Denton, Texas. This was an extremely pleasurable experience and I highly recommend this to any other pilots that are getting ready to fly their RV-12 for the first time.

I have had very little seat time during the building process but now I feel much more confident in my ability to handle my first solo flight in N912TR. John is very thorough in his syllabus and covers all the important skills needed to make your first flight a successful and memorable one. The aircraft is in immaculate condition and flying in North Texas in November can be very pleasant with afternoon temperatures in the high 60's.

Here I am prior to one of our afternoon transition training sessions - thanks again John, AKA Jetguy.

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I would appreciate it if someone could PM the telephone number for Jetguy.

My engine is in and working on the cowling and I feel the need for some flying. :)

I emailed John but have not had a response....probably out flying!

Hoping he has some time next month.

Thanks,
 
Contact Dave Valcik, he has it. Better yet, just stand by as he will see this and contact you. Trust me, it won't be long!
 
Tom

I believe John left you a voice mail

pm or email is best way to reach John, he's a great instructor and you will have a good time.
 
Excellent Transition Training

I had an opportunity to fly with John in his RV-12 a few weeks ago. His training was very thorough and prepared me well for first flight in my RV-12 which occurred a week later. I cannot stress how important such training is. When it came time to fly my plane, I knew what to expect, which in turn helped make my first flight a better experience than I could have ever imagined. In addition, John provided many tips on how to take care of the plane. A wealth of information and experience. Thanks John!
 
Another Happy Pilot on his way to Success!

Brain (BNRV12) and Family after Competing transition training. Brain will be flying out of the St Louis area. He made his first flight in early December. Congrats Brain!:D

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Another one on his way to Success!

Here is Walt after demonstrating Mastery over heavy cross winds in the RV12. See that coolness in his stance.:D Walt will be flying out of his home field in East Tennessee. We await the announcement of his successful first flight. Good Luck Walt!;)

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I recently completed my RV-12 transition training with Jetguy flying out of Denton airport in Denton, Texas. This was an extremely pleasurable experience and I highly recommend this to any other pilots that are getting ready to fly their RV-12 for the first time.

I have had very little seat time during the building process but now I feel much more confident in my ability to handle my first solo flight in N912TR. John is very thorough in his syllabus and covers all the important skills needed to make your first flight a successful and memorable one. The aircraft is in immaculate condition and flying in North Texas in November can be very pleasant with afternoon temperatures in the high 60's.

Here I am prior to one of our afternoon transition training sessions - thanks again John, AKA Jetguy.

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Here's to hoping the winds lay down, and your first test flight is tomorrow, Eric!!!!
 
Transition/Bi-Annual Training in Dallas - Was all about having FUN

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I have the Pre-RV :) grin again seems to happen everytime I fly in an RV-12. Had the opportunity to fly with John Albury, AKA Jetguy for transition training in his RV12 and for a Bi-annual. As billed it was all FUN from day one. Could not help but have a Pre-RV :) grin while flying John's RV-12. I was down for the week and John made sure we made use of every day.

First day we spent some ground time going over the RV-12 systems, check lists and performance specs of the aircraft. John has PowerPoint presentation with embedded videos; this presentation stirred further discussion and reinforcement/understanding of the RV-12 systems and performance prior to first flight. Then the FUN began, practiced taxiing, take-offs, 30 and 45 deg turns, slow flight and performed both Approach to Landing Stalls and power-on (departure) stall. Then we began practicing landings and takeoffs into 9 different airports of varying sizes and obstacles in the Dallas area. One runway was only 30 ft wide and others with obstacles on both sides. While traveling to these airports John had me working the entire cockpit, radios, navigation etc... John had many tips to share on the RV-12, tools he had modified, products he uses, added tabs to the cowl where he noticed it would bulge in flight, fuel door stop to keep it from scratching the cowl when opening. I almost failed to mention the last day was the most FUN when John put me through aborted T/O's, emergency landings, go-arounds with a few normal landings mixed in.

John is a great instructor his style of training is all fun, he works you up to handling all the systems within a few days. By the 3rd day John had me running the show, flying the airplane, radio, navigation and AP. I left Dallas really feeling on top of my game and ready for first flight.

Thank you John it was all FUN!

Some pics below of the Skunkworks RV-12 N470MB returning from the paint shop
Started work on SB for landing gear, hope to have this puppy flying in FEB/MAR
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Jetguy, ... Have you considered providing transition training at AirVenture?
I'm much closer to Oshkosh than Texas. :)
 
"Older Dynon"! That's a chuckle considering the D-180 is probably equal to most airliner glass. God bless "EXPERIMENTAL"!
 
RV-12 training by John Albury in Arlington, TX

Just received my first training in an RV-12 by John Albury (JetGuy) at Arlington Municipal Airport (KGKY).
First of all, his plane is beautiful and has first class avionics.
John did a great job. He is an expert and a great teacher.
He was patient, enthusiastic, and should definitely be at the top of your list for transition training.
 
Just received my first training in an RV-12 by John Albury (JetGuy) at Arlington Municipal Airport (KGKY).
First of all, his plane is beautiful and has first class avionics.
John did a great job. He is an expert and a great teacher.
He was patient, enthusiastic, and should definitely be at the top of your list for transition training.


Were is the standard picture with you and John after the training?
He is a great instructor! (it is hard to call it training when you have that much fun) :D
 
"Older Dynon"! That's a chuckle considering the D-180 is probably equal to most airliner glass. God bless "EXPERIMENTAL"!

LOL! How true! I was wondering becuase the difference in screen size and functionality (transponder built-in, GPS built-in, etc.

Bob
 
Nice write up about the first RV-12 delivered to a customer on Vans website. One sad thing is it failed to mention where George got his 20 Hours of Flight instruction in an RV-12. Kudos to Jetguy (John Albury) for providing the opportunity to George to get the flight time in an RV-12.:)
 
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