Day sixteen. All is well. Fairbanks, AK
The sun rose this morning at 5:12 a.m., and it will set at 10:38 p.m. The days are getting shorter in Fairbanks. There are 17 hours and 26 minutes of daylight today. And, surprise, again, the high today was 85 degrees.
In accordance with an appointment and booking nearly six months ago, today I met with a most veteran "bush pilot" and Certified Flight Instructor (CFI) at a local airfield near Fairbanks and began a 2.5 day course of bush pilot instruction in a Cessna 180, F Model. This airplane has a Continental 0-470, 240 HP engine. I was expecting a basic equipped aircraft, but this one is well appointed with a single Garmin 530 as the basic navigational aid, dual VOR heads, and ADF. It is standard 180 gear configuration with the tail wheel, and not what has become the standard tricycle gear. This is standard bush pilot fare.
Yesterday the CFI told me to be there at 6:00 a.m., and I was there ten minutes early. He was already there, and he seemed impatient that I did not arrive earlier. He is a man of very few words, and he is all business. When I first met him yesterday he quipped, "You are not going to learn much in two and a half days." Thirteen words. That was the longest sentence I have heard him speak in two days. After a brief qualification check he passed me to a newbie CFI to get the ground school behind us, then we went to fly. We spent an hour flying where I demonstrated that I knew how to handle a tail wheel aircraft, which included six takeoffs and landings, and then I demonstrated high performance airplane proficiency and leaning. Then we spent the rest of the day doing slow fly and stalls. Over and over and over. When I questioned him about doing something else he did not answer for a full minute. His response, "Did you ever watch the movie Karate Kid?" Eight words. I did not answer.
Actually the stalls are non-events in this airplane, in that it really does not stall. It has a STOL (short takeoff and landing) kit and a cuff, which makes the airplane simply stop flying, and nose over....straight over. No left or right break. You just nose over, lose a little altitude, and then as it again develops lift and starts flying again. I think the key is that in landing configuration I am to get the plane as slow as possible, to the point it is going to quit flying and then give it enough power to create airflow and lift, and thus allow the lowest landing speed and shortest roll possible. At slow flight with very little power I am not seeing a break until about 30 mph. That is slow. It is very mush at this speed.
Back to the CFI. He is not a talkative guy. He tells me in as few words as possible what we are to do for the next exercise. As CFI's go, I have had the animated, the yellers, the talkers, and a few that do not speak much. Maybe he will speak more tomorrow.
At the end of the day I landed the plane, taxied it to where it was tied down when we started flying. We both got out of the plane. In our parting he said, "Tie it down." Three words. Then he goes into the office. After I finished tieing the plane down I go in the office to find out he has left. He left without any guidance for tomorrow. What time? No debriefing. Nothing. I will be there in the morning at 5:30.
Another good day.
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