Vintage Instructor THE
BY Steve Krog, CFI
Do You Know What You Don’t Know? Flying is a lifelong learning experience!
S
everal days ago, late in the afternoon, two young pilots stopped at my hangar. Introductions were made, and then both expressed interest in obtaining some tailwheel instruction and earning tailwheel endorsements. I asked each to tell me of their flight experience. One had about 80 hours in a Cessna 172 and an Ercoupe, while the other said he had about 120 hours in the 172 and a Piper Arrow. He added that he knew about everything there was to know about flying a 172. These enthusiastic young men brought back memories of my early flying days and my good friend Step. You may recall that I’ve written of my friend “Step” (Stephen DeLay) and our flying adventures together, especially our flight and learning experience on the way to California. Within several weeks of obtaining our private pilot certificates and a round-trip flight to Southern California, we both wanted to get checked out in every different available airplane based at the airport. After all, we were new young “hotshot” pilots and had a piece of paper in our pockets to prove it! But with so little flight time accumulated, “We didn’t know what we didn’t know!” All of our flight training was done in Piper Cherokee PA-28s, -140s, and -180s. Naturally, we both wanted to fly a high-wing airplane. Al Nelson, Nelson Flying Service, was our first stop. Al, an old barnstormer from the 1930s and, at that point in time, a recently retired crop duster, had a Cessna 172 for rent. It didn’t take long for either Step or me to add that airplane to our respective logbooks. With the checkout came the opportunity to fly for the local college sky-diving club. Several days later I was called and asked to fly for the club. The old 172 served as the jump plane; the right door was removed, as well as all seats except the pilot seat. After a quick preflight inspection, I jumped into the left seat and three good-
sized guys with full parachute packs piled in on the bare floor in the back. The jumpmaster sat on the floor next to me. Before I could start the engine, though, Al appeared out of nowhere and tactfully asked me to join him in the office. It was there that I learned a valuable lesson, explained in some rather salty language. Al made it very clear that I must first calculate a weight and balance before flight. No big deal, I thought. After all, the sky-diving club had done this in the past. Sure there was an extra body on board, but all the seats had been removed, as well as the door. That should about equal out, shouldn’t it? After doing the calculations, I realized a serious error was about to be made. Over gross weight with a far aft CG, I could easily have harmed us all! In my haste to fly, I didn’t know what I didn’t know. But I learned a valuable lesson that day, and old Al probably saved my life! The FBO where Step and I learned to fly also had a Piper Super Cub PA-18-150 used for primary training in the Aerial Applicator curriculum. We both wanted to get checked out in the Super Cub, and after much cajoling, the FBO finally relented. Some flight hours and days later, both Step and I were signed off to rent the Super Cub. Several weeks later we rented the Super Cub for one hour, each getting 30 minutes of flight time. After making two full-stall landings, I tried a wheel landing. It was beautiful, probably the best wheel landing I’d ever made. Then I turned my head to make sure Step recognized my perfect landing. In doing so, the Super Cub decided to teach me a lesson. Instantly I was doing S-turns before exiting the runway. Before coming to a complete stop, the nearly new aluminum prop had become a “Q-tip” prop. After moving the Super Cub to the shop, the FBO took me into his office and gave me a few minutes to
Al, an old barnstormer from the 1930s and, at that point in time, a recently retired crop duster, had a Cessna 172 for rent.
36 JANUARY 2012