> From: David Young <dsy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Date: Tue, 9 Feb 2016 07:04:31 -0800
> Subject: [LRflex] Re: Airplane at Kai Tak
Philippe offered:
Single-engine Cessna aircraft are pretty much like that. I spent most of my flight training in a Piper Tomahawk, mostly because it was the most available plane in the club, having been dubbed the "Traumahawk". Unlike the Cessna, one has to fly that plane for the duration, and for that reason, I considered it a great trainer. Still, when the club wanted to sell it to me, I declined. ;-)Well, most memorable was a jet fighter backseat in the French airforce - JaguarMy most memorable was not in a jet, but was back in the late 1970's, when I was
it was called - required some , let's say stomach ? ;-)
learning to fly a Cessna 150. The instructor wanted to show how a plane, if
left to it's own devices, will return to straight and level flight all on it's
own.
So,we climbed to 10,000 feet and I threw the airplane into an incipient spin.
The trick, then, was to put your feet flat on the floor, fold your arms in
front of your chest, ignore the controls and wait. The plane dropped 5000 feet
before coming out of the spin, and a further 3000 before resuming straight and
level flight. But Jim was right. Given enough height, it will do it - any
well designed plane will. But, man, it was a LONG wait!
David.
