by Adam the Akrodude » Tue Apr 15, 2014 10:34 am
Hi Wally
Dude, that's practically porn for me! Beautiful little S-1S Pitts and those Buckers - phew, has it gotten a lot warmer in my office all of a sudden? Really great shots of aeroplanes I'd love to fly one day. I've never had the opportunity to fly a single seat Pitts and I've read such great things about the Bucker Bu-133, it being along with the Pitts the best snap rolling aeroplanes ever built. For those who don't know what a snap roll is, it's a very "dynamic" and very rapid type of roll and enormous fun!
Love the shots showing the Pitts about to land - the most critical point in Pitts operation. My first attempt at landing a Pitts resulted in two very near runway excursions and came very close to a ground loop - I practically soiled myself! In the flair, you completely lose sight of the runway ahead and just see instrument panel. This takes some getting used to and you end up "using the Force" to land - well, it's a matter of re-calibrating where you look and judge height - out to the 45's to judge height and edge of runway, all the time being ready on the pedals to catch that swing, which a Pitts will want to do at any split second! These are thoroughbred aeroplanes and can be best described as huge FUN with wings! These aeroplanes don't offer much in the way of forgiveness for being mishandled. You are rewarded with a slap across the face big time if you screw up. Once I screwed up a loop by not pulling hard enough on entry and was rewarded with the aeroplane departing into a inverted spin when almost over the top of the loop. It was a real WTF just happened moment! That sort of thing does make you learn - far better than a instructors glove slapping you across the face on the ground!
Cheers and thanks for the great shots. I'm off to take a very cold shower now!
Adam