I had some fun!...

[Fly-n-Low 181]

And thought I would just leave this here....

 

 

[Fly-n-Low 181]

Don't mind the ugly! Can't believe I didn't get any of the plane. I was worn out from the heat and the aerobatics. When we got her in the hanger the only thing on my mind was a cold beer. I'll see if I can find a pic. Beautiful Reno air racer T6. I am so fortunate that I know people that have these.

[dholly 718]

My wife once told me she almost bot me an aerobatic ride as a birthday present... I told her I was kinda glad she didn't. I do just fine on the deck of a pitching sportfishing yacht but I'm not at all confident I could keep my lunch to myself on one of those wild rides. I still remember my first wing over (not bad) and first spin (not good)!

[Knuckledragger 135]

Wow!

[marksires 484]

My stomach did fine on my aerobatic adventure.  I got to fly an aileron roll, barrel roll, loop, and a hammerhead.  I could have flown a tail slide, but after the demo, I said once was enough!  Then we did the tumble thing that is popular in airshows now, that wasn't as disturbing as the tail slide.  Going backwards in an airplane didn't work well for me!  Then we did some stall and spins, since I'd never done a spin, and don't really like stalls.  The spin wasn't bad, but somehow I think recovery in an Avid (or my Cherokee) wouldn't be quite the same as it was in an Extra 330.

To finish we did a low level simulated 'bomb run'.  Doing 180knots about 5-10 feet off the ground was pretty exciting, but I wouldn't want to do it anywhere but the desert where we did it.

Mark

[EDMO 1078]

I found my limits in about 30 minutes in a T-34 with an old WW2 pilot instructor - My stomach was still holding on, but my brain had been left whirling around somewhere in the sky - I had to tell him I had enough!  Guess he would have dropped me from fighter pilot school!

I cant handle the boats either - Was in storms 4 days in North Atlantic on troop ship, and all of us got sick - Did it again in Cook Inlet while Halibut fishing - guess I'm just a land-lubber!

EDMO

Edited 9 Nov 2015 by EDMO

[Fly-n-Low 181]

Mark, what a lomcovak? Sweet!!! My first aerobatic ride was in a Christen Eagle with a very experienced pilot. Loops, rolls, snaps, hammer heads, and I loved the tail slide. I guess I love all of it, stalls and spins included. Another friend of mine flies on the Aeroshell Aerobatic team. We were in his J-3 one day and he did about 20 power on stalls in a row!

Here is a pic of the T-6 I rode in. This year was his first time to race in Reno. He came in second place in the Bronze race.

 

[marksires 484]

Had to look that up, but yes, lomcovaks.  I loved it all, but the tail slide I'd need to experience a few more times before I became comfortable doing it.  Going backwards just felt all too wrong!.

Sweet plane!  I need to get back to the Reno air races.  I've made it out there a couple of times, and it is always fun.  I have a client in the Sacramento area, so I could usually plan a trip to see them, then drive up I-80 to Reno for a couple of days.  The drive is enjoyable too!

 

Mark

 

[EDMO 1078]

Back when I was young and bulletproof, and somewhat stupid, another "Hotshot" pilot and I took two girls up in a twin Apache and tried to do a hammerhead - We screwed up, having done it without back seat passengers before, and didn't get it over the top, went into a short tailslide, and into an inverted stall - one girl got arm broken and the other got a bloody nose - needless to say, neither pilot got anything that night! 

EdMO

[Luked 71]

Cool pictures. Funny you should post this. I just got a ride in a friend's T-6 last month. He used to fly F-18s in the marines. We did barrel rolls, 4 point rolls, and some half cubans. Wish we could have flown longer, but it was a lot of fun. I didn't have a camera in the plane though. Another friend took some pictures from the ground. When we got back to the airport, we had to check the windsock closely, and then of course climb back to pattern altitude at a nice steep angle to reduce speed for gear extension

 

Edited 9 Nov 2015 by Luked

[EDMO 1078]

Those T6s are cool birds - Just cost too much to own or fly now.  My flying buddy bought one about 50 years ago - He read all the books on flying them, talked to pilots, learned about locking the tailwheel before takeoff, and did everything he could think of to understand them before going to get it in Florida -

After he had paid for it and got the papers, he went out to the plane to take off for the trip back to Missouri - The officer who gave him the papers must have been watching him and walked out to the plane where he was sitting in the cockpit for a long time, and said, "Didn't you say you could fly this plane?"  My buddy said, "I can fly it, I just don't know how to START IT"! 

He said when he landed at Memphis for a fuel stop, he came in fast to make sure he didn't stall it, and the Tower came back and said, "Real Hot Landing, T6"! 

Anyway, he rattled the windows with that loud radial at Chrysler where we worked just across the road from the airport, so I could always tell when he was taking off.  He finally sold it because the cost of upkeep and gas and oil was just too much for his paycheck.

EdMO

[Fly-n-Low 181]

Ed, that is the problem. They eat a LOT of fuel!!! AND can be a maintenance nightmare! I can afford to buy one, but feed it and keep it in the air, no.....

[EDMO 1078]

I could buy one at the 1950 prices, but not now - Would have to take out a loan to buy gas and oil just to get it home!  Retirement don't pay well!

EDMO