Now that is FUN! I had my first aerobatic lesson today with Mike Love at Morey Airplane Company in Middleton in a Cessna Aerobat. It lasted all of 30 minutes, but was some of the best minutes of my life! This also marks the first time I ever wore a parachute, but fortunately did not have to use it.
The Cessna 152 with 2 guys and parachutes is a pretty cramped place to be, but is workable. Thankfully Mike is much smaller than me, but we only carried a minimal amount of fuel for the hour we planned to fly. Even though I was having some serious fun, my stomach told me to head for home after 20 minutes. I don’t get sick on planes (when they are flying properly), but do get sick on boats, and know that when you start feeling queezy that is your body telling you it’s had enough. I am sure my endurance will improve as I get more and more used to flying like this. I was warned that aerobatics is like crystal meth, do it once and you’re hooked! I am officially an addict!
We only flew about 8 miles from the airport, just west of Cross Plains, using highway 14 as our major landmark. Mike demonstrated the aileron roll first while I followed him through with the controls. Then it was my turn. Two rolls to the left, then one to the right, each slightly better than the one before it. I honestly never knew the yoke would twist that far! I feel like I am getting the hang of this, but also know the aileron roll is probably the simplest of all aerobatic maneuvers. My stomach was only slightly pissed off following these four rolls.
Mike wanted to try a loop. Like before, he demonstrated the first one to me and then offered to let me do one. My stomach said no, and an uncontrolled “I want to go home” came out of my mouth. I was not sick, and did not get sick, but was REAL close and had had enough for today. Mike said this is totally normal and I will quickly build up a tolerance for the G-forces and unusual attitudes. I can’t wait to test his theory 🙂
The flight home was short and simple and the crosswind landing pretty good. I was all smiles on the outside, but my stomach was still doing aileron rolls. The total flight from engine start to stop was 30 minutes. Next time I will go for 45. Mike was kind enough to videotape this experience for me and now I will share my facial contortions with the world. Yes, that is the look of fear on my face, but also the look of tremendous fun and education.