Ryan,

Since I got into competition aerobatics in 1991, I stopped counting the
number of my friends who died when the number got to be around 30 as it was
just too depression to consider.... Most died from being overconfident, only
a few died from broken planes... No deaths occurred at a contests but most
occurred while practicing for a contests or an airshow or actually flying an
airshow.

Flying high is great but make sure you have a hard deck and know when to
exit the plane. Shawn D. Tucker had to jump out of a perfectly good Pitts
that was spinning back when he was first teaching himself to fly as well...

If you have not done so, get some advanced spin training. Then get some
more.. Contact Phil Knight in Florida or Bill Finagin as they are two of the
best. There are many more but make sure that they are highly recommended by
active IAC'ers.

Intentional spins are easy, it's the ones that are unintended that cause
problems. This is either due to not enough altitude or being confused when
you enter the spin from a blown figure. Even simple Sportsman plain vanilla
hammers can cause you to end up in an full power inverted spin. No big deal
if you realize what happened and have the altitude to recover but a possible
killer if you don't..especially when you cross over.... Also, you mentioned
working your way up to push up's on your own, again, no big deal, that is as
long as you keep the plane coordinated, which most novice pilots don't do
without proper training. Push up into a full power inadverted snap/tumble
for the first time and you may find yourself wishing that you had spent more
time in Church....

Also, most people would agree that you should be practicing in a box with an
observer/coach on the ground that is in radio contact with you. The closest
that I have come to getting killed in this sport have been due to near
misses when I was flying high trying new maneuvers.... Now, if I don't have
someone watching me, I don't fly... Also, if you don't get a coach (at a
minimum, a coach should be someone with some contest experience who has
attended judging school) you will find that you will be teaching yourself
mistakes that will be hard to correct in the future.

You asked, what can't you get out of with a standard recovery, well for one,
you can't recover if you are asleep. If you are teaching yourself new
maneuvers, especially outside maneuvers, you stand a much greater chance in
blacking out as you go from an outside figure to an inside figure. Without
proper instruction in being able to recognize this, you are at risk. Also,
you may not be able to recover from all spins if your CG is screwed up.
Most novice pilots are surprised the first time they enter a fully developed
accelerated spin as it is a much different experience than your typical
competition spin. Again, if you have not had the proper training, get
some... If you have, get some more anyway...

Remember, Bob Hoover said, " You can only tie the record for flying low" but
then Frank Price said, "If you ain't been outside, you ain't been
nowhere..."
Fly smart,

Geryl Mortensen
Staudacher S-300
Dallas

Ryan Ferguson wrote:

> Hello folks,
>
> Bear with me if I get a little longwinded here.
>
> I have been flying the heck outta my Pitts as of late. Usually 5-6
> flights per week. One new set of tires, a tailwheel tire, and a set of
> brake pads later, I am really starting to feel pretty confident in the
> airplane.
>
> As I'm working more maneuvers into my practice sessions (vertical rolls
> into hammerheads, loops with snap rolls on top, humpty-bumps, inverted
> spins, etc.) I'm finding that it's pretty darn hard to screw something
> up badly in the Pitts. There's so much power, and the plane recovers so
> benignly, that there's nothing I haven't been able to get right back out
> of when I feel like it.
>
> I suppose I'll catch hell for admitting this, but I taught myself some
> of the maneuvers. Including the inverted spin, hammerhead, snap roll,
> etc. They could probably be better, but from what I can tell, they're
> not half-bad. I seem to be getting good vertical up and downlines,
> holding my heading on the hammerheads and immelmans, and entering and
> recovering from the maneuvers at my target altitudes and airspeeds.
>
> My source learning material has been several good aerobatics books, plus
> the Aviat "Pitts: Wring It Out" videos (wow, they're really good!), and
> some good akro instruction.
>
> The Pitts recovers easily from any spin I can put it in. I haven't
> really botched any maneuvers badly enough to get into an inadvertant
> hairball, but I've stalled out of a couple of vertical maneuvers,
> occasionally with a wing dropping, and I've always been able to prevent
> the spin. Even if I did slide into a spin, I'm quite confident I could
> pop right out. Heck, I fly upright and inverted spins every time I fly.
>
> I'm even a bit tempted to give an outside loop a try. I've been
> building up my negative-G tolerance by flying inverted for a couple of
> minutes at a time, including turns, descents, and most importantly,
> climbs. I've worked my way up to a -3G pushover (up? down?) to a 45
> degree upline from straight and level inverted flight.
>
> Maneuvers I have not yet attempted, nor will I attempt without an
> instructor aboard, are gyroscopic and tumbling maneuvers, tailslides,
> things of that nature. Anything where the aircraft is in a flight
> envelope I'm unfamiliar with.
>
> Am I too overconfident? Maybe I need to be set straight. Could someone
> give me an idea of what sort of "rude awakening" I might need to be
> aware of? I don't understand what the plane could do to surprise me in
> these maneuvers. The spins and stalls are so straightforward to recover
> from. I'm usually no lower than 4,000+ ft. AGL (and usually at 5k-6k)
> so I have plenty of time to recover. What can't I get out of by
> executing standard spin/stall recoveries?
>
> Thoughts and criticisms are welcome. I'm here to learn.
>
> --
> Ryan Ferguson
> Pitts S-2C N312PS
> My Pitts page: http://webdev.aig4.com/ryan/flight/pitts/
> My Aviation Pics page: http://webdev.aig4.com/ryan/flight/

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