Joe Leaming, an old friend who had owned Porsches, lived in Tucson and while there, I show him my new Porsche and saw his gray 356C Cabriolet. Joe knew more about Porsches than anyone, and he related that Porsche just released the new 6-cylinder 911. That intrigued me because the 356 was short on power and had significant vibrations. He told me about the oversteer problem, but that wasn’t of concern since I didn’t push cars to their limits. I enjoyed seeing him and was interested in the 911. Overall, the Tucson visit was constructive with little to no family controversy and the now clear weather made driving to Mineral Wells non-eventful.
I began flight school in the Brown hat class. We received our orientation and began classroom studies, but everyone was eager to fly. Two weeks …show more content…
That was easy. Next was the collective (vertical acceleration) and throttle. That was harder because the throttle was sensitive, and a change in the collective position required simultaneously twisting the throttle to compensate for the power level. The 200 RPM range limit made matters more complicated and if you ever hit the 200 RPM range, it was an automatic pink slip. Three pink slips would result in an evaluation ride that could lead to a setback or wash-out. The solution there was to hold the controls and pray for no wind gusts. The last control was the cyclic stick that controls fore and aft as well as left and right. Without the collective and throttle, it was difficult to keep it over the intended 20-foot square spot and with the combination it was impossible without a few hours of practice. Students would carefully increase collective and get it off the ground, and then a gust of wind would hit and they would begin swinging left and right, forward and back and up and down. Without an instructor, there was a 100% likelihood of a crash on the first
I began flight school in the Brown hat class. We received our orientation and began classroom studies, but everyone was eager to fly. Two weeks …show more content…
That was easy. Next was the collective (vertical acceleration) and throttle. That was harder because the throttle was sensitive, and a change in the collective position required simultaneously twisting the throttle to compensate for the power level. The 200 RPM range limit made matters more complicated and if you ever hit the 200 RPM range, it was an automatic pink slip. Three pink slips would result in an evaluation ride that could lead to a setback or wash-out. The solution there was to hold the controls and pray for no wind gusts. The last control was the cyclic stick that controls fore and aft as well as left and right. Without the collective and throttle, it was difficult to keep it over the intended 20-foot square spot and with the combination it was impossible without a few hours of practice. Students would carefully increase collective and get it off the ground, and then a gust of wind would hit and they would begin swinging left and right, forward and back and up and down. Without an instructor, there was a 100% likelihood of a crash on the first