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Show to Fly? by William R.Nelsoa With Stick and Rudder ""pUKNI.Nti un airplane requires co- ordination of hands, teet and eyes, and sense of balance in a manner so new to me thai, after several pretty bad attempts, I felt cerium I would never he able to le.-mi. Thirty min tites of practice proved my fears uu founded. "Today I want you 10 make turns using both stlik and rudder." my Instructor In-structor said Jusl before we siarted. "To turn right, lean the slick to the right and til T lie same lime, push forward for-ward on the rigln foot pedal. When the plane has banked as union as you think necessary for the turn, bring I lie stick bark to neutral ami hold the turn with the rudder." 1 tried It In Ihe air and felt Ci'inisy when the plane wallowed suddenly For a moment 1 could not tell where we were nor in what direction ve were headed. Before 1 could becoaii' frightened 1 felt Ihe controls move and my instructor spoke through the phones In my ears. "Make bolh movements fairly .(low and linn. Pon't.liold I lie stick over so long or we will conlinue banking into a roll. Now try it again, the other oth-er direction." 1 let the nose climb in several succeeding suc-ceeding turns. In fact, In 15 or 20 minutes of rigid ami left turns 1 unknowingly un-knowingly climbed l.iKX) feet. My In structor had been teaching me another anoth-er lesson to watch horizon had my Instruments. He took charge and spiraled down 1,000 feet after which I resinned practice prac-tice of turns. "If your turn is too shallow the ship will skid," he said next. "In a skid, note that your hotly sways toward the outside of the turn and the wind strikes that side of your face." With that he turned In a shallow hank and I fell Ihe blast of air and my body hug the side of the plane. "if you hank too sharply the plane will slip lowaid the Inside of the turn and you will feel the blast of air on that side of your face." We banked almost vertically and turned to th right. 1 felt the blast of air on my right cheek and my body swayed to that side. We were slipping slip-ping earthward as we turned. My in structor brought the ship back to level and turned around to look at me studying my face to make certain his "examples" hud made the Impression he desired. Flying a Pattern rjOW to fly a "pattern" a square course about the field that starts from the grouud, into the wind, and ends in a glide to earth, also into t he wind, putting down approximately where the take-off started is next taught It starts "take-off and landing" land-ing" practice. My Instructor taxied out to the starting point, zigzagging constantly to "clear" the blind spot caused by the motor ahead of us. After the two stops for "a took around" for other planes, he "blasted" the motor and we headed into the wind. "Stay on the controls with me but be light on them," he instructed through the speaking tube connected to my helmet. "Notice that I push the throttle open slowly hut steadily and as the ship starts forward I also push tbe stick forward. "As I do tiiat the tail will come up to flying position. I'll hold the stick forward for a few seconds as we run along the ground, then allow It to come hack slowly, finally pulling It toward to-ward me slightly to increase the angle of climb." With that he "gave 'er the gun" and we were off. At 1,000 feet we leveled off, he cut the motor's speed to "cruising" "cruis-ing" or 1.450 r. p. m., and signaled for me to make a right turn. 1 made the turn, afler a fashion, leveled lev-eled out again, flew a quarter of a mile straight, then, at his command, turned right again. A mile sttaight ahead he called for another right turn and after I made It, cul the motor to Idling and signaled for n glide. "About every 15 seconds open the -throttle until all cylinders 'hit,' then cut It again," he said through the tube. "We 'clear' the motor to make certain It will function properly when we need It." About opposite our starting point I turned right again, still gliding with his frequent assistance and headed for the field. About 20 l.e: from the ground, measured perpeuill cularly, he spoke agnin. "Now begin to work the stick back slowly. Not too fast. Feel the tall going down? Hon't let the nose climb. Feel that settling?" The next instant we touched the ground. We were soon away again on another trip around the "pattern." Eight times vre went around the same Each time 1 seemed to "mess things up" and was greatly relieved when 1 felt my mistakes corrected. (tel 1930 Western Newnnaoer tlnlon ) |