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20,000 hours on RVs…

Just got back a couple of weeks ago from training with Mike. Great time and well worth it, in my situation anyhow.
 
RV8s?

I noticed in the article that RV-8s were not listed as a model trained. Just an oversight or are RV8s excluded from receiving training?

George
 
I noticed in the article that RV-8s were not listed as a model trained. Just an oversight or are RV8s excluded from receiving training?

George

Mike has always used a side-by-side airplane for transition training for an RV- or 8A, so generally A 7 or 7A is used. If you can get proficient in a 7 or 7A, you can fly an 8 or 8A. And the side-by-side configuration is way better from a student - instructor interface standpoint
 
well, Paul, Carl and others, at the risk of thunder and lightning, I disagree... the article is meager and superficial, and sure doesn’t give any justice to the man, pity.

Haven’t met Mike in person, but any pilot havin clocked 20K+ RV instructing hours and survived, would surely have some juicy stories and interesting personal stuff to share... and I’d be the first one to buy Mike‘s memories book :cool:
 
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Mike's the best...

I was fortunate that my reserved slot wasn't cancelled in early May 2020 when the Covid lockdowns were starting to be lifted. I drove up from SF and did 8+ hours with Mike, the first week when he started to train again. LOVED every minute. Then (now at 42 hrs) I was a RV total noob and had to get calibrated to this plane .. airwork was fine, but getting the landings right took a bit (and you can't fly over the house on sort final at Scappose .. House on short final? what???). Learned alot; and did some follow-on local work with a super accomplished pilot at my local field. Great training, and Vernonia is a wonderful town (when not closed due to Covid). Thanks a bunch!
 
Mike is the man!

Got to spend ~9 hours with him a few weeks ago in the 9A and 14A (I am building a 7A with a 390).

I, like others, am that guy he mentions. Away from flying for far too long, rusty, over controlling, etc. Took about 1.5 days before it started to click for me and Mike was a calm as could ever be asked for throughout it all. I still have a ton to learn, but feel much better prepared having spent some time with Mike. I am planning on a few more hours when he can fit me in- I am lucky enough to live about 1:15 drive from Vernonia.

Great guy, great instructor, and had some great stories. Can't recommend him enough.
 
well, Paul, Carl and others, at the risk of thunder and lightning, I disagree... the article is meager and superficial, and sure doesn’t give any justice to the man, pity.

I agree entirely. It's a pathetic and amateurish piece of journalism. With roughly 20,000 hours of transition training in RVs (many to really low time pilots) Mike Seagar must be sitting on a goldmine of really colourful incidents...none of which have been revealed in this article.

I did 8 hours of transition training with Mike in 2006 and he is just incredible....but unfortunately this article is not.
 
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I don't think the purpose of the article was a deep exploration of Mike's career and experiences, but rather a "sketch". While not an expert, I do know that authors are often limited by a certain amount of space/number of words and have to make editorial decisions (and are also edited by others). Given the publication context and purpose of the article, and assuming those limitations, the article is well-done IMO.

Having spent some time both being trained by Mike and waiting out some weather at Vernonia with him, I know he's not the self-promoting type. Just a fantastic teacher, nice guy, and skilled pilot who is a treasure in the Van's community.
 
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While I would have loved to have devoted an entire article to Mike, these interviews are part of a single page series created to meet a particular format. Thanks to those who liked it, sorry to those who wanted more.

Plus Mike is a busy guy, and while we would have loved to have had taken hours of his time, like Mitch says, he's too busy to stop training :)
 
OK, so while the article doesn't go into detailed stories of Mike, it has stirred the pot. Here is another quick read on Mike.

20+ years ago, I was an aspiring RV builder and already a commercial pilot. I owned a 1946 Taylorcraft and flew her from Cleveland, Ohio to just outside of Nashville, TN (Lebanon) for a 3 day RV fly-in.

My plan was to camp in a tent under the Tcraft wing. Plans changed when the weather took a drastic change to almost freezing temps. All local hotels were booked (no Uber back then). One of the presenters was Mike Seager. I had never met him at the time but he offered to share his hotel room with a soon-to-be very cold Tcraft driver. Long story short, I took him to dinner but he refused to take anything for sharing the room. I took a demo transition ride with him the next day (no charge). It cemented a friendship. That's the kind of guy Mike is and I hope to hear more stories about him.
 
Inquiring minds . . .

Mike deserves all the press he can get!!

Someone had better get busy on writing his biography now, he has a lot of depth to his story.

Is that an RV14 in his stable now? Did he build it too?
 
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Mike deserves all the press he can get!!

Someone had better get busy on writing his biography now, he has a lot of depth to his story.

Is that an RV14 in his stable now? Did he build it too?

All of the airplanes Mike uses for transition training were built by, and are owned by Van's Aircraft.
A couple are based at Vernonia airport at any give time, and get rotated out when different models are scheduled by students.
 
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