This past weekend, I completed the required 10 hour RV transition training with Kent Gorton near Atlanta GA in his RV-6. Since I have only around 150 total flying hours and now around 25 hours of tailwheel, the insurance folks wanted to make sure that I had a thorough transition process before they turned me loose with my -8. For other low-hour pilots, I will summarize my experience so that everyone knows my starting point...
Learned to fly in the C-152.
Then flew Grumman Cheetah for around 30 hours. (Loved it!)
Then stopped flying for many years.
Then started flying again in C-152.
Built a bit of time in Piper PA-28
Tailwheel endorsement in Luscombe. (Best money I ever spent...)
A little Citabria time
A little Cub time
Barely stayed current during the build...
Transition process:
First weekend got almost 5 hours...flew in horrible gusty crosswinds. I had not flown a taildragger in a few years. My initial impression was that the RV was a kitten compared to the Luscombe in so many ways. First, with the RV, you have a bit of "extra" power to help dig you out of situations where you might be in trouble in a lower-powered ship such as the Luscombe. The lower cg while on the ground makes the RV very stable and forgiving of some footwork that would have you heading for the weeds in other ships. Kent usually likes to do 1 1/2 hour flights twice a day with recovery time between hops so that you don't get too wrung out. I will admit that I was beat...the stress of learning a new aircraft coupled with the horrible winds and turbulence really put it to me. To add to the pleasure, I almost got airsick...
You are probably thinking that these were not good conditions for training. I would argue that because of these conditions, I now know that I am capable of managing the RV in crosswinds that I would not have considered possible in other planes that I have flown. This is comforting to keep in your back pocket while on a long cross country flight where the landing conditions may not be ideal...the key is to practice and build on past experience.
Weekend #2 allowed for me to pick up the remaining 6 hours. I arrived in ATL Friday evening. Kent and I did a briefing as the sun set. We took off into calm air and started working on the various landings which required mastering:
Three point
Wheel
RV-8 squatting wheel landing (A cross between a 3 point and wheel landing)
No Flap
Short Field
Rough Field
Slips
Simulated engine failures
Go-arounds
Night 3-point and wheel (This was an eye-opener)
Conversions- where you bungle a wheel landing and must convert to 3-point
Learned to fly in the C-152.
Then flew Grumman Cheetah for around 30 hours. (Loved it!)
Then stopped flying for many years.
Then started flying again in C-152.
Built a bit of time in Piper PA-28
Tailwheel endorsement in Luscombe. (Best money I ever spent...)
A little Citabria time
A little Cub time
Barely stayed current during the build...
Transition process:
First weekend got almost 5 hours...flew in horrible gusty crosswinds. I had not flown a taildragger in a few years. My initial impression was that the RV was a kitten compared to the Luscombe in so many ways. First, with the RV, you have a bit of "extra" power to help dig you out of situations where you might be in trouble in a lower-powered ship such as the Luscombe. The lower cg while on the ground makes the RV very stable and forgiving of some footwork that would have you heading for the weeds in other ships. Kent usually likes to do 1 1/2 hour flights twice a day with recovery time between hops so that you don't get too wrung out. I will admit that I was beat...the stress of learning a new aircraft coupled with the horrible winds and turbulence really put it to me. To add to the pleasure, I almost got airsick...
You are probably thinking that these were not good conditions for training. I would argue that because of these conditions, I now know that I am capable of managing the RV in crosswinds that I would not have considered possible in other planes that I have flown. This is comforting to keep in your back pocket while on a long cross country flight where the landing conditions may not be ideal...the key is to practice and build on past experience.
Weekend #2 allowed for me to pick up the remaining 6 hours. I arrived in ATL Friday evening. Kent and I did a briefing as the sun set. We took off into calm air and started working on the various landings which required mastering:
Three point
Wheel
RV-8 squatting wheel landing (A cross between a 3 point and wheel landing)
No Flap
Short Field
Rough Field
Slips
Simulated engine failures
Go-arounds
Night 3-point and wheel (This was an eye-opener)
Conversions- where you bungle a wheel landing and must convert to 3-point
