The past few weekends I’ve been giving some instruction in the Decathlon. It’s a bit of the best of both worlds: I get to fly and show someone some unusual attitude stuff and I don’t have to pay for it. Good deal!
I took Joe Roy up twice. He is working on his Certified Flight Instructor license and, as a prerequisite for the certificate, needs to have some training in spinning an airplane. The first flight I treated as an intro to spins. Joe is a fantastic pilot but had never really done any spins…ever. The first time you spin an airplane it is quite the experience. Luckily for me, and luckily for you Joe recorded BOTH flights and graciously let me link them here for you. Yes, at the end of the first flight I do a go-around coming in to land. Why? Because I didn’t like how it felt coming into land. Go-arounds are your best friend and I have no problem doing them. Ego? No room in the airplane for an ego. At first the video camera was clamped next to my right shoulder. You can get a sense of how blind it is in the backseat of the aircraft. Just imagine if the camera were placed 8 inches to the left.
The second session was a full on spin session. Again we were dealing with basic entry and recovery. To really go through the whole gauntlet of spin training, proper spin training I think requires multiple flights working up to the more complex entries. All the spins you see in this video are normal upright spins. Joe was quite cozy doing spins by the end of it.
The interesting thing to note here is that the camera was clamped directly to the airplane for both videos. There is almost no vibration at all. I've been shopping around for a good camera option for myself in the Decathlon and it's nice to see that this is an option. I'm either going to pick up a GoPro or a Vholdr. Both have their goods and bads. If anyone has had experience with either I'd like to hear from you!
so. freaking. cool.
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