Remember my pal, Tara? She is one of the more talented flyers I've known and is now working in Sales at Precise Flight in Bend.
|
|
|
Tara discovering the joys of pulling "G"s.
|
and I've learned a lot from them. I'd always appreciated the virtues of a flashing landing light. It makes the aircraft a lot more visible to others in the air. But what I didn't realize was how those flashing landing lights can cause a dramatic reduction in bird strikes. For years I've told my students that the hawks with whom we share the pattern at Madras, Oregon are a lot better at seeing and avoiding us than we are at seeing and avoiding them. That may be true, but when the Pulse light is installed in the PA12, we'll have one more tool to help us avoid them, and according to tests run in New Zealand, flashing landing lights are incredibly effective.
My hat is off to Walt and Sam at Outlaw Aviation. Not only are they creating a whole bunch of private pilots from their gaggle at Sisters High School and adults discovering their great flying school, but now they have a Cessna 120 and are doing tailwheel instruction. I
Ryan and I re-familiarize ourselves with the joys of flying small taildraggers!
recently gave a "phase check" to one of their tailwheel students, new Private Pilot Ryan Fukumoto. Ryan is a talented young man and we had a big time flying the little Cessna.
|
|
|
Gary Moss with his Cessna 182 after a session of formation flying.
|
Gary Moss has earned his tailwheel endorsement and is now moving on to formation flight. Kudos to this local pilot who keeps adding more skills to his aviator's "Bag o' Tricks". We're in the middle of a course to familiarize him with the basics of formation flying. It takes a long time to get comfortable (and close) during formation flight, but I predict that Gary will do well with it.
During his second flight, Walt
Laseki came along, both as a camera operator and, more importantly, as an experienced military formation pilot. His help was excellent.
|
|
|
Gary sidles up to the PA12 during formation practice. (photo by Walt
Lasecki)
|
This week's new article on the Tailwheeler's Journal: "Symbols"
The article I'm posting this week is one which originally was featured in "Nuts from a Blind Squirrel" (don't bother ordering one, I'm out for a while). It's about ... well, I'll let you figure out what it's about!
An Older Article
:
"The People in our Lives" is this week's previously posted
article. You may enjoy reading about some of the personalities who make up the airshow biz. I certainly enjoyed working with many of them.
May 18, 2018
Remember, every pilot who completes a Tailwheel Endorsement or Stick and Rudder Master Class at Tailwheel Town will receive a complimentary 
