OMG

I flew with Bill Finagin today in his Pitts S-2C.

I don’t often use “OMG” in my communication. It’s a kinda pithy, overly trendy exclamation usually befitting situations in which we’re otherwise speechless. I’m often not speaking but I’m rarely speechless. Today I’m speechless.

bill-pitts

Bill Finagin’s Pitts S-2C – N390BF

It wasn’t even a very aerobatic lesson, but it was transformative. Awesome, truly, in the non-colloquial use of the word.

I’m technically not doing aerobatic training right now, rather working on my tailwheel endorsement. But having the opportunity to do it in the Pitts with Bill (a Pitts expert and aerobatic legend) was way too much opportunity to pass up. (We live .6nm from the field, right under his base leg for runway 12 at Lee Airport.) He did a nice and simple briefing on the very basics of the physics to get me started. Then we went over the Bay, working north of Easton’s airspace, and climbed to 7500′. He showed me the basic pitch and bank visual references, rudder coordination drills (the rudder walk…more on this humbling, fascinating drill later), loops, hammerhead turn, and all the associated references. We did two touch-and-go’s at Easton to introduce the landing cues then headed back to Annapolis where he covered the pattern, approach, and landing again.

I’m so screwed. I think I need to earn enough to own a Pitts and fly/teach/compete aerobatics. This could be both the best week of my life and the worst. I am so screwed.

…and I’m doing it again tomorrow!

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