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Craigareed

n969tm Thunder Monkey
Joined
Oct 20, 2016
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I haven't posted my progress on my SD II so I thought I'd get everyone up-to-date.

I now have about 17 hours on my SD II and am enjoying the flight test process.

After getting the AW Certificate in February of this year, I had to get myself ready. I got current in a C172, then started on my tailwheel endorsement in a C140 that was based at my airport (PTS). Just after I started my tailwheel training, I traveled to the Portland, OR area and did about 4 hours with Dave Baxter in his SD II. I struggled with directional control, but when I left, I had a much better idea of what I needed to do. Sometimes, it takes a while for the lesson to take. I was nervous and tight and didn't really do a good job, but the lesson was not wasted - it just took a while for me to relax and do what I knew
I could do.

After my trip to Portland, I was much better with the C140 and surprised my instructor. Thanks Dave!

My first flight was Father's day morning. It's a strange feeling lining up at the end of the runway, getting ready to throttle-up. I had to ask myself - "What the hell am I doing here..." I took a deep breath and fire-walled the throttle and got it in the air. It was much easier than the C140.

I now have about 17 hours on it and am making small improvements as I go. The rigging appears to be right on, as the plane has not bad tendencies. In my first power-off stall, I felt a slight bump/shudder at about 55mph, but the nose did not drop. I held the stick back and kept feeling the slight shudder every few seconds, but never a wing or nose drop. I looked at the VSI and saw I was descending at appox. 1,000 fpm.

I am learning to land and so far, have only 3-pointed. at the end of this post, I have the YouTube link for a landing video of my SD II. I haven't mastered entering the video on the post yet. I've also added a couple photos on the SD II at the Parsons, KS fly-in held in September. It was within my 50 mile restricted radius so it was nice to have a destination.

Thanks everyone's help and advice.

Craig.

https://youtu.be/goPYYv43gpk

Happy Kid in N969TM at Parsons Fly-In 2016.JPG


Parsons Fly-in - Dad.JPG
 

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