![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
I fiiiiiiiiinally did it. I went up for the first session of my BFR!
Previously I'd been thinking of doing the BFR in a Citabria, a tailwheel aircraft with some aerobatic capability. This would kill two birds with one stone: I'd be legal to fly as pilot-in-command, and I'd also be checked out by the flying club to fly an aerobatic airplane. I could fly upside down again!
But that's probably not the most efficient way to go about it. This time I'm doing the BFR in a Piper Warrior, the same kind of plane I once owned and also the type in which I took my checkride. I'm very familiar with Warriors. I should be able to get the basics down more quickly in those. Then I can transition to the Citabria again... and one day, get back into a Pitts.
Several days ago Rob and I chatted about some of the instructors he knows at West Valley Flying Club. I needed someone who wouldn't destroy what little confidence I have left, but who also wouldn't let me get away with anything sloppy or unsafe. That's a difficult line to walk. Rob recommended Benjamin Mendelsohn, a guy I hadn't met, as someone who was likely to be able to achieve both these things.
I'm happy to say Benjamin seems to be a GREAT match for me. He's friendly and outgoing, he's laid back, he's quick with a compliment, and he absolutely will not check off an item on his list until I do it well. He liked my preflight *and* he added a few things to it. He complimented my airwork *and* he made me do several things again.
He particularly didn't like my stall recoveries. That's good; I don't like my stall recoveries either. (Too much acro work, sadly. An acro judge WANTS to see the nose come way down. This is sooooo not what should be done in a "real" (unintentional stall) recovery! MUST retrain myself!)
Other than those, he has no major complaints. He says I'm doing better than some people who are current. (That's downright scary.) I haven't lost as much as I'd thought. My landings wouldn't have hurt passengers or plane.
My landings also weren't pretty by any stretch of the imagination. I'm rusty. I'm not up to passing a private pilot checkride today. We'll whip me back into shape.
Now I gotta schedule the next one.
Previously I'd been thinking of doing the BFR in a Citabria, a tailwheel aircraft with some aerobatic capability. This would kill two birds with one stone: I'd be legal to fly as pilot-in-command, and I'd also be checked out by the flying club to fly an aerobatic airplane. I could fly upside down again!
But that's probably not the most efficient way to go about it. This time I'm doing the BFR in a Piper Warrior, the same kind of plane I once owned and also the type in which I took my checkride. I'm very familiar with Warriors. I should be able to get the basics down more quickly in those. Then I can transition to the Citabria again... and one day, get back into a Pitts.
Several days ago Rob and I chatted about some of the instructors he knows at West Valley Flying Club. I needed someone who wouldn't destroy what little confidence I have left, but who also wouldn't let me get away with anything sloppy or unsafe. That's a difficult line to walk. Rob recommended Benjamin Mendelsohn, a guy I hadn't met, as someone who was likely to be able to achieve both these things.
I'm happy to say Benjamin seems to be a GREAT match for me. He's friendly and outgoing, he's laid back, he's quick with a compliment, and he absolutely will not check off an item on his list until I do it well. He liked my preflight *and* he added a few things to it. He complimented my airwork *and* he made me do several things again.
He particularly didn't like my stall recoveries. That's good; I don't like my stall recoveries either. (Too much acro work, sadly. An acro judge WANTS to see the nose come way down. This is sooooo not what should be done in a "real" (unintentional stall) recovery! MUST retrain myself!)
Other than those, he has no major complaints. He says I'm doing better than some people who are current. (That's downright scary.) I haven't lost as much as I'd thought. My landings wouldn't have hurt passengers or plane.
My landings also weren't pretty by any stretch of the imagination. I'm rusty. I'm not up to passing a private pilot checkride today. We'll whip me back into shape.
Now I gotta schedule the next one.
no subject
Must resist... must resist...