Doug Reeves has a great line...."A friend will help you move, but a Good friend will help you move a body!" TO that, I'd like to add that a REALLY good friend will loan you the airplane that he built with his own two hands and let you fly away with it while he watches!!
The Valkyrie is spending the week at 52F having a little cowl work done, and when I asked Doug if he could think of a way I could drop it off and get back home - then back up easily when the Val was ready for retrieval - he said "well, why don't you take Flash? I've got the keys to a couple of other RV's on the filed if I want to fly them, and I guess if we can trust you with a Shuttle, I can trust you with my -6....." Of course, I immediately told Doug that I had a grand total of about 20 minutes of RV-6 stick time, and hadn't even landed one, but this didn't seem to phase him.
My checkout this afternoon consisted of a good briefing on the switches and avionics (fortunately, we have similar autopilots), and Doug's observation that, if I wrapped the -6 up in a ball, he was going to have a really good time flying the Valkyrie....Checkout complete, he said "OK, let's see if you can get it started!", and he laughed as my left hand went instinctively to the left sidewall for the throttle (just for a moment...). No problem - my biggest concerns really had nothing to do with the flying - I was most occupied with making sure I latched the canopy correctly, and had the switches configured properly. If you look at things that cause accidents for pilots in unfamiliar airplanes, it is rarely the flying!
As I rolled out on to the runway at 52F for take-off, I keyed the mic and said "Northwest Regional Traffic, RV......ah....(there was no N-Number on the panel!!)...ah....blue RV-6, rolling for Take-off!" I had no idea what the airplane's number was until I landed at home and went back to look. Like I said...little things!
Good VFR all the way, the airplane felt great, and as I closed in on Houston (getting a ground speed of 168 knots at 7500' most of the way), I slowed to drop the flaps and do a little slow flight. I wanted to make sure I knew how it felt at low speed while I was still up high. This was the only time that Flash nipped at me - literally! I have a nice little blood blister on the underside of my right thumb when I pinched it on the flap handle pushbutton. I guess it's been awhile since I used a Johnson Bar. I do like it, by the way!
After thinking carefully through what I thought I'd expect, and giving myself a little longer final than usual to see how she responded to pitch and power changes, the landing was anticlimactic - not a squeaker, but acceptable. The trip home only took about 7 minutes longer than the trip up in the slightly faster -8, and there was more room to stretch my feet out across the floor. Nice.
It is really easy to fall into a rut flying the same airplane every single day, and there is something good about having the chance to swap out once in awhile. It forces us to think more, and think about our technique more - and that is a good thing that can carry back into our regular birds. It is easy to get stale and start making the same mistake over and over again without realizing it. I noticed that Flash took a lot more right rudder to stay straight on the take-off roll for instance - the Val seems like it is on rails when you add power. The -6 made me stay on top of the rudders more.
Thanks again Doug - Flash is safely tucked away in the hangar until later this week, and I look forward to the return trip to get a little more "time in type". It's great to have friends with airplanes - and really good friends that will let you fly them!
Paul
The Valkyrie is spending the week at 52F having a little cowl work done, and when I asked Doug if he could think of a way I could drop it off and get back home - then back up easily when the Val was ready for retrieval - he said "well, why don't you take Flash? I've got the keys to a couple of other RV's on the filed if I want to fly them, and I guess if we can trust you with a Shuttle, I can trust you with my -6....." Of course, I immediately told Doug that I had a grand total of about 20 minutes of RV-6 stick time, and hadn't even landed one, but this didn't seem to phase him.
My checkout this afternoon consisted of a good briefing on the switches and avionics (fortunately, we have similar autopilots), and Doug's observation that, if I wrapped the -6 up in a ball, he was going to have a really good time flying the Valkyrie....Checkout complete, he said "OK, let's see if you can get it started!", and he laughed as my left hand went instinctively to the left sidewall for the throttle (just for a moment...). No problem - my biggest concerns really had nothing to do with the flying - I was most occupied with making sure I latched the canopy correctly, and had the switches configured properly. If you look at things that cause accidents for pilots in unfamiliar airplanes, it is rarely the flying!
As I rolled out on to the runway at 52F for take-off, I keyed the mic and said "Northwest Regional Traffic, RV......ah....(there was no N-Number on the panel!!)...ah....blue RV-6, rolling for Take-off!" I had no idea what the airplane's number was until I landed at home and went back to look. Like I said...little things!
Good VFR all the way, the airplane felt great, and as I closed in on Houston (getting a ground speed of 168 knots at 7500' most of the way), I slowed to drop the flaps and do a little slow flight. I wanted to make sure I knew how it felt at low speed while I was still up high. This was the only time that Flash nipped at me - literally! I have a nice little blood blister on the underside of my right thumb when I pinched it on the flap handle pushbutton. I guess it's been awhile since I used a Johnson Bar. I do like it, by the way!
After thinking carefully through what I thought I'd expect, and giving myself a little longer final than usual to see how she responded to pitch and power changes, the landing was anticlimactic - not a squeaker, but acceptable. The trip home only took about 7 minutes longer than the trip up in the slightly faster -8, and there was more room to stretch my feet out across the floor. Nice.
It is really easy to fall into a rut flying the same airplane every single day, and there is something good about having the chance to swap out once in awhile. It forces us to think more, and think about our technique more - and that is a good thing that can carry back into our regular birds. It is easy to get stale and start making the same mistake over and over again without realizing it. I noticed that Flash took a lot more right rudder to stay straight on the take-off roll for instance - the Val seems like it is on rails when you add power. The -6 made me stay on top of the rudders more.
Thanks again Doug - Flash is safely tucked away in the hangar until later this week, and I look forward to the return trip to get a little more "time in type". It's great to have friends with airplanes - and really good friends that will let you fly them!
Paul
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. I knew she was in good hands about a nanosecond after you left the ground....you tracked a lot straighter than I usually do!
