Day 4

Hop 1

Day three.  A lot of the jitters, or anticipation have finally subsided.  Not to say that I wasn't excited or anxious  to get back in the plane, but I was much more calm about today's flight.  I got out to the airport, my usual half hour early.  I like to get there early as I hate to have anyone wait on me.  Budd showed up right on time, and we began our morning routine.  I'll skip those details and get right into the flying.

We taxied out to runway 3, and did our run up.  Taxing is now a non issue.  I feel completely comfortable with it.  I still taxi a bit slow I think, but I wasn't in a hurry, and it's better to be safe than fast.  We got down to the end of 3, and did our run up and final checks.  We were cleared by the tower for left closed traffic so I got us on the runway and ready to go.  Full power,  held the stick back for the 3 count, then pushed forward and the tail started to lift.  I finally have the right amount of pressure on the rudders to keep the plane tracking straight.  Reached 85, had the right angle, and the plane climbed into the air.  I checked my ground track by looking into the mirror to see the runway behind.  I was dead on.   Airspeed looked good, patter was good, power was full, and altitude was rising.  Then I heard Budd say, "When you take off like that, it kind of makes you wonder why it was so hard the first few times huh?"  Well that was very true.  I think the biggest realization is that I have finally learned how much pressure it takes to fly the Pitts, and when to use it.  It's really a factor of practice and paying attention on being as close to perfect as humanly possible.  Again, I'm nowhere near perfect yet, but I do see my progress.  All in all, it was a great morning.  I had some really nice landings, and have started to hone in on my flares and getting a softer touchdown.

 

Hop 2

After the success of the first hop, I was pretty confident this was going to be an even better one.  Well for the most part, It was.  I had a bit rougher takeoff, not bad, just rougher.  I held the nose a little too high on the runway which caused the Pitts to bounce around and bobble a bit. This was  acknowledged and affirmed by Budd doing a little head dance in the front seat as if he was listening to some hip hop music.  He's got some sense of humor.   There was a 5 knot cross wind that was almost non existent on the runway.  But, once I was up, it was there for sure.   In fact due to this little crosswind that I wasn't thinking about , I was pushed too far into the runway on downwind.  This caused me to ultimately be too close to the runway and forced me into going around.  My first one for the day.  It was a good decision, and I'm glad I made the choice.  I think Budd did too.  He knew I wasn't where I needed to be early on and was waiting for me to make the right decision.  I did, and went around for a better set up.  I nailed the next landing.  I had PAAP in my mind, and it showed.

 

Hop 3. 

The shortest and the best of the day.  The sky was really crowded for this hop.  We spent a lot of the time holding on the ground.  Not too much to say about this hop other than I can certainly tell that I'm getting better each day.  Knowing that this was going to be the last flight of the day, I wanted to really focus and buckle down and get it right.  In short, I did what I said I was going to do.  The only thing I screwed up on this hop was being a little heavy on the rudders on roll out.  I drifted a little to the left of the runway, and corrected it just a tiny bit late.   All in all, I think I'm starting to really get the hang of it.  I wouldn't say I'm a Don Juan yet.. But I'm starting to get a little better than a 20 year old at making love to the plane.   We sat at the end of the runway for about 5 minutes, and it looked like we were going to be there a lot longer so we decided to call it a day.  We taxied back and put the plane in the barn.  Tomorrow is a new day, and we're hoping for some wind to raise the challenge, and make me work a little harder, and to make sure that I can handle the bird in any weather.  Let it blow..let it blow let it blow…  I now have 10 hours of Pitts time, and I still find my self smiling from ear to ear at the thought of my future in these aiplanes!!!