What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

Transition training and Mike Seager

sahrens

Well Known Member
I learned to fly in the military (thank you for your tax dollars!) In military flight training your ability as a pilot and the manner in which you completed the last maneuver is clearly vocalized with vigor and in no uncertain terms. Therefore you developed a thick skin, listened and learned; trying not to make the same mistake again.

Flying with Mike Seager could not have been further from that environment. He does communicate what was wrong and what needs to be changed but in a gentle, many times funny way; but always in a clear manner. And he manages to keep raising the bar to keep you challenged. If you are building a RV I strongly suggest you consider scheduling some time with Mike. My insurance company wanted five hours, I scheduled ten and we flew a little over eight. The November weather in Oregon can limit your flying so pick a better month.

It was some of the best flight training I have received in a long time.
 
Couldn't agree more, plus Oregon is beautiful especially in an RV. You can also catch large crayfish in the river by Mike's airport by hand. An 8 year old showed me and my wife how to do it!!
 
One of Mike's cardinal instructions is to hold the stick fully back while taxiing an A model. During training I frustrated Mike to the point where he said "you're mighty lazy on the stick, aren't you" :) :).

Don't believe I've made that mistake again and to this day I can hear his quiet voice when I am taxiing. :) :)
 
The biggest compliment from Mike is silence. He speaks up if you forgot something. The first pattern I flew when he said nothing was the first one I got right.
 
Seager

I did my TW in the 7, then later my 10 transition w Mike Seager. One of the coolest guys around. He still takes the occasional call from me for advice. I learned a ton from him and couldnt recommend him enough. He's good people!

Marlon
 
Flying with Mike during my RV-7 transition training was great. Awesome experience to fly with someone who has something like 15,000 hrs of tailwheel time.

Vernonia, is a neat place to fly into as well and definitely added another challenge on top of just trying to learn a new airplane. Here's a video of one of my approach and landings into 05S during my transition training.

https://youtu.be/CyVTZ5Yf5TY

My favorite comment: "little bit of power to keep us up off them trees". Yep, getting into the trees would be bad!
 
Love the video! I'm hoping to set something up first of the year. I've never been to Oregon so going to make a few days of it and hopefully even check out the Vans factory.
 
My friend went to France on a trip. He is a Pitts guy. He saw that the local flying club had a cap 10 and that they gave aerobatic instruction. So he signed up for a ride. He is French Canadian so no problem with language.

The style of instruction was....unique. He is no slouch as an aerobatics guy, but if he didn't feed in the rudder just right, or something minor, he was met with a torrent of yelled French swear words and the instructor would hit him. Well, smack him on the shoulder or something (side by side airplane) and call him names. My friend took it well, and most of the time couldn't stop himself from laughing because it was so over the top. I don't know if he learned much about flying the CAP 10, but he learned a lot of French swear words!
 
I did my transition training with Mike back in 2004 just before test piloting my newly built 7A. We used 666 and flew out of Mike's field in Vernonia to other fields in the area. He is Great and really had me well prepared for the task of being a test pilot. No better person to fly with.

Roberta:):):):)
 
...
Vernonia, is a neat place to fly into as well and definitely added another challenge on top of just trying to learn a new airplane.

https://youtu.be/CyVTZ5Yf5TY

My favorite comment: "little bit of power to keep us up off them trees". Yep, getting into the trees would be bad!

Nice video. I flew with Mike last May getting ready to fly my 14A. Got eight of the scheduled 10 hours in. I also needed my high performance endorsement because of the 210hp of the io390.

It was a wonderful experience and I highly recommend it. Vernonia is a wonderful little town. Quite a bit different from my home in downtown Chicago.
 
Back
Top