This was an article previously published when Mike initially started learning aerobatics:
A few years ago, I purchased an inexpensive experimental Pitts biplane to learn and fly aerobatics. It was a basket case that needed major engine work and a face-lift, but nonetheless I wrote the check and trucked my little orange prize home.
Eventually I invested more time and cash than any sane person should just to make it airworthy, but when I was finished I was convinced that I had the ultimate aerobatic machine.
I pursued the world of aerobatics with several how-to-do books. You know the ones with pictures describing just how to fly the maneuvers. You’d think that I was building a deck for my house or fixing the sink in my bathroom.
But I was lucky that little plane that I had found was strong enough to endure my mistakes and forgiving enough to get me out of trouble and back home alive.
I participated in several International Aerobatic Club sanctioned contests, making new friends and enjoying my new found hobby, but the more I competed and the more that I practiced, the harder I began to push my 30-year-old little orange biplane as well as my 40-something-year-old body.
Over a two year period, I played hard, practicing, for more than 300 flight hours. Moving from the sportsman category to intermediate, I was ready to push the envelope even further.
Outside maneuvers were next on the to-learn list, so I readied my trusty little orange, prepared myself by reviewing the do-it-yourself acro-books and began the process of breaking down the outside and push maneuvers into segments leading up to the outside loop.
But something was different, my practices were frustrating and progress was slow. It just didn’t feel right. What was I doing wrong? The outside pushes were crushing, and my concentration was lost halfway through each maneuver.
I was scheduled to fly the corporate airplane to San Jose, California, that month. I remembered hearing of an aerobatic school just south about a 45-minute drive, so I called and arranged some time with an instructor named Ken Erickson.
Ken is a very big man, very laid-back with a gentle confidence. He listened to me brag about my Pitts and how I taught myself the fine art of aerobatics. He smiled, asked me what I wanted, and then he began a 30 minute conversation about outside flight and what I should expect.
His 30 minutes on the ground was worth 30 practice flights in my little orange Pitts. I was blown away by his ability to explain the maneuvers and describe the forces acting upon the aircraft.
My first flight with Ken in the Pitts S2C lasted 35 minutes. I struggled to perform the maneuvers that he asked and still was very uncomfortable with the effects that it was having on me physically.
I explained my discomfort to Ken after our first flight, and he began to ask me a series of questions, including what I was doing to prepare for the maneuver just before and during each push. I began to explain my G-tolerance methods as he smiled, nodded and suggested that I try his method and reminded me to try to relax throughout the maneuvers.
He was right; the problem was my misunderstanding of what the positive and negative forces actually were doing to my body and how I should be compensating for them.
My next flight with Ken was incredible and the most fun that I ever have had flying aerobatics to this day. Pushing to hammerheads, pushing to outside loops, pushing to tail slides the light was turned on.
Ken had revealed the world of outside maneuvers to me in less than two hours of combined ground and flight training. I wrote my check for 425 and raced home, ready to try out my new moves in little orange.
Thinking back in my experience with Ken and the training that I received, I can’t help but think how much time and money I wasted by not getting professional training earlier. Three hundred hours of practice in a Pitts isn’t cheap.
And what about Safety? Not only could I have raised the quality of my aerobatics in less time, it would have been safer to receive spin training and recovery from unusual attitudes from a professional instead of fumbling through it on my own.
Minnesota and the Twin Cities have some fantastic aerobatic air show pilots; John Mohr, Julie Clark, Joe Dooley, Pete Tallarita, Bill Witt and Alan Miller, just to name a few. Ask any of them how to get started in aerobatics and all of them will recommend that you find a good school and get professional training.
This winter I plan to revisit Mr. Erickson and to review all of my maneuvers, including the proper recovery methods from upright and inverted spins as well as other unusual attitudes. Maybe I’ll even try to Lomcevak.
For a list of IAC and EAA approved aerobatics schools, go to www.iac.org. To find out more about local aerobatics and events, go to the Minnesota Chapter 78 International Aerobatics club website at www.isd.net/chapter 78 or call (952) 943-2182. Chapter meetings are held the third Saturday of each month at Flying Cloud Airport. Dirt side up!
Michael Wiskus
Lucas Oil Air Show Pilot
West Metro Aviation
