T-6ing

Originally I only had one ground lesson from 9-11 am, and nothing else on the schedule all day.  So I was going to take some of our 'kids' up in the Citabria and get them introduced to it.  Instead, Glenn wants to get his T-6 checkout done as quickly as possible so he can fly Nella on the tour and help them out with T-6 rides. He also wants to get a bunch of T-6 time in and hop into a fighter. Of course, so would I, and I have the T-6 time, but it ain't quite that easy.  I am also aware, however, that he is gregarious and outgoing and a salesman who is fairly aggressive and pushy, even though he is a friend and I enjoy his company so I don't mean that as a negative, it's just his personality, and you do get further in the world, and aviation, if you can be that way.  I can't.  So he'll probably get there before I do, if I ever actually do.  But I'm not going to pretend to be someone I'm not just to try to get something I want from people...it's not who I am even if it means I miss out on some things.  So be it. If people see me and want to give me the shot, great. If not, I've done more than the majority of people in aviation already, and I'm not independently wealthy to be able to buy my way into it like a lot of them, so... I feel pretty good now. In a way, I know I'm probably training yet another person who is going to go on and fly fighters before or instead of me.  But while I always want more, it's true, I'm also thankful for what I have.   It's been a pretty cool ride. Now, I'm not done yet, I hope, but even if I were, it's been a pretty cool ride.  :)

Anyway, so Glenn flew down right after lunch.  We did some ground work while we waited for the FAA who was also there, to finish the inspection on the T-6 for an annual "Warbird Training Center" checkout to prevent us from getting a bunch of ramp checks at airshows and such.  Not that that always helps, but they review our paperwork, inspect the airplane, go over our drug program paperwork, make sure all is well, put it into the system and that's supposed to get them to leave us alone for the most part. 

After Glenn and I did our ground work, and the FAA guy finished up his stuff, I hopped in the back and we ended up flying for two hours.  We went up to 5500' and did steep turns, slow flight, and then the stall series.  It acted more aggressive than it usually does, and gave us a good go of it.  We ended up with a face full of ground multiple times. Uh, the VIEW of a face full of ground, of course. We did each stall 3 or 4 times at least to give him a feel for it. The T-6 stalls unlike anything else you fly (except fighters).  That's how it was built, for maneuverability, not stability.  You have to be fast, but smooth and gentle, and it's super easy to overcontrol and get yourself into a bad place. It wants to roll over, it wants to spin, which it's not approved to do, and if they stomp the rudder too hard you skid sideways, nose down, and if they throw the nose too far down, it's so pitch sensitive that you'll float everything in the plane and make the engine quit from fuel starvation.  It's not the most relaxing thing to teach.  I can do stalls smoothly and gently for the most part, except the accelerated stalls which are just violent no matter what. The first time anyone else does stalls, it's usually a heck of a ride.  I'm exhausted by the end of it, from the responsibility of making sure they don't hurt the airplane or get us into a pickle.  I always go up way high and put on chutes and give us plenty of room. It's a trip. It's not my favorite thing to do or teach.  I feel like I should love to do that, but...I don't.  So there.  :p  Anyway.  We did power off stalls clean and dirty (gear and flaps down makes the stall and recovery a lot more aggressive), power on stall, turning stall, and then accelerated stall at the end when they have the hang of the recovery.  After the stalls we came back in and did some wheel landings before he had to head back home.

Driving him back to his plane to head out, he said that he hadn't been humbled by an airplane in a long time, but that one humbled him. I said 'welcome to the Pilot Maker'.  It humbles me too. It's part of the reason I like it. I've been flying it for 15 years now, and I still am not what I'd call a true master of it. I'm good, and other people who fly with me in it say so, but I feel differently in a 172 or a 340 than I do in the Six. I feel like there's not much that most airplanes can do that I can't fix.  The Six... it still has things to teach me.  ;)

Glenn in the T-6