Two Pilots & an LSW: Good Taildragging Day

Friday, September 03, 2021

Good Taildragging Day

The last couple of days I've enjoyed the taildraggers. Like I said, it's not a P-51 or a Spitfire, but still, it's fun and I've enjoyed myself. Today after lunch I took up Dennis's J-3 Cub, and I took it over to Kokomo to do some takeoffs and landings, mess around. As usual my first 3-point was flat, and then I dialed that in. I did some one wheel landings, then came back to Glenndale and practiced 3-point and wheel and one-wheel landings there too. I was only up .9 but it was long enough to knock the Cub Rust off.

This afternoon I went out and got in BOB, and Nathan and I and Steve flew the C-45 over to Marion and parked it in front of the pancake breakfast hangar, where it sits next to a B-25, and folks will be able to look around, get into, etc. It's in a great position. When I was coming in to land, a Champ was landing on the opposite runway, without a radio. Everyone else was using Runway 4, and he came in on 22. He touched down and was rolling out long, and never saw me, because he just kept rolling and didn't try to get off. So I did a go-around, and when I did, I flew right over the top of his head. I'm willing to bet he saw me then. ;) Neither Nathan nor Steve knew why I was going around or what was up, as neither had on a headset, so I explained later that I didn't botch the approach, some dude got in my way. After I came back around, I really greased on the landing, that was really pretty, which while I'm proud of it, I hope that wasn't the only nice landing I get for the next month. ;)

We left the C-45 parked there, and our trailer, for tomorrow, and then AE drove us all back to Kokomo Airport in his truck. We came back and sat outside around a campfire, had a beverage, a little late dinner, and tomorrow morning we have to be out of here early. Steve has to leave the house by like 6:50, and I have to leave the house by 7:20, which means I need to get next door and get everything ready for Ann before I leave. That's an early morning--I ought to head to bed soon. lol

I took a lot of photos of the C-45 at Marion, different angles, couldn't decide what I liked. After I was done, I realized the props weren't matched up and didn't look good, so I turned them to be at the same angle, and took one last shot. I did that knowing there will be a lot of photos of it tomorrow, so it might as well look good. It's funny to me how small it looks sitting next to that B-25, and normally BOB is the biggest looking thing around the ramp. It looks so little next to that B-25. It's all a matter of perspective, eh?

I was tense in the T-6 the other day, knowing it came right out of annual with a lot of work done, over a city with nowhere to go, going into a narrower runway with trees and a big ditch, and a guy on a golf cart watching my landing whose opinion matters to me. I was a little tense in BOB today too, going into an event, haven't flown it a bunch yet. In both cases it all worked out well. I think I need to try to relax a little. It's good to be alert and respectful, but I don't like being tense. I need to relax and enjoy more than I do sometimes. I take it seriously because I know what can happen if you get complacent, and a big taildragger is the last thing in the world you'd better get complacent in. But I think I need to...relax a little...so I can enjoy it more while I'm doing it, not just after I'm done. lol