Larry & netters,
I can relate to the over controlling or lack of proper inputs in a new
aircraft. If I can take alittle time from everyone, maybe this example will
help to inform the first time flyers of any aircraft, but especially the test
pilot of his own KR, what he might experience.
I was getting my taildragger endorsement, flying with a CFI/Examiner
friend of mine, in a Citabria. This was my first time with a stick where I
would be PIC. The sight picture was not too much different on the ground
because I don't see much in a C172 on the ground anyway. I am very short at
5'5" and have my seat all the way down in the Cessna, so the lack of visibility
did not bother me. The different placement of the controls within the cockpit
WAS alittle to get used to. We taxied out, did the runnup, and went to take
off. Now one must remember that I was current, and flying 7 days a week at
least once a day. Yet when we taxied out onto the runway, I was still all
jittery inside like a little kid on Christmas Day! I advance the throttle,
rolled a couple of hundred feet, brought the tail up on instructions from Steve
in the back, and the plane left the runway. I became so caught up in the
difference in the way it felt, how it looked outside, and the change in climb
rate, that I forgot to check airspeed and completely forgot about maintaining
the traffic pattern, or even wind correction for upwind in the pattern. And on
top of everything this aircraft made the 12 th different aircraft type that I
had flown to date. You would think that flying a new aircraft would be
somewhat routine after this many different ones, but it wasn't. As a matter of
a fact I was very caught up in the basics of flying it, and probably would not
have seen anything wrong with the instruments for several minutes after they
registered such information to me. This is an important impact of information
overload that occurs during this first initial orientation that I pass on to
other new KR drivers. Like Larry Flesner pointed out, he is so focused on his
landings that he still doesn't know his touchdown speed. This is my point.
And if you have never had time in a tandem seat aircraft before, and you build
a center seat KR1, you will add to the experience by suddenly being sitting on
the axis of rotation in bank, and this will initially feel very different as
well. All these different sensations and events happening at once will cause a
great deal of distraction and dramatically lower your ability to cope with even
the most routine additional tasks because of being nearly on overload. This is
why it is recommended that if you are not current, have someone else test fly
your plane for its first few flights, and then get current before you attempt
to transition into your airplane.
Landings in a taildragger are even more strange to get used to because you
have to do exactly the wrong thing for a tri-gear setup, which is what most
aviation trainers are tri-gear, and that is to land level on the mains for the
wheel landing, in order to have the proper amount of control in crosswind
situations. It is my understanding from recent posts that the KR really just
about always needs to be wheel landed due to its tendency to want to float if
you try to flare it to a 3 point.
The purpose of this post is to hopefully shed some light on the specifics
of why several of us are recommending a slow gradual testing period leading up
to the first flight, instead of having that accidental first flight with
virtually no familiarization with the airplane. It may seem to delay the
thrill, but I believe that Larry and several others can attest to the fact that
they were just as thrilled, and probably had a LOT less anxiety when they
finally went airborne the first time. I would also add one more note to those
approaching their first flight, especially if they are low time. When I am
teaching a new student how to land an airplane, I will typically introduce them
to the flare attitude at say 3000 feet and have them get the airplane right on
top of the stall, then power up and do it again over and over until they are
comfortable with the low speed handling, and attitude/sight picture of the
airplane. If we are just staying in the pattern the first few attempts at
landing are made where we fly the plane into ground effect, and then I set the
power at about 25% and tell the student to just fly in ground effect, and tell
them don't let the airplane land. This gets them used to allowing the airplane
to lose its flight speed and quit flying, instead of trying to force it to land
at a certain time or place. Now they are getting a feel for what the airplane
is going to do in ground effect in alot greater volume then they would with ten
landings, because instead of seconds in the flare, they spend a full minute or
so in ground effect. Usually the airplane will kiss the mains once or twice
but stay in ground effect allowing the student to build skill in the control
necessary in ground effect, what I like to call the point of transition, where
the airplane transitions from flying to taxiing. I also tell them when they go
on their first cross countries to another airport to plan on NOT landing the
first time they make the approach, but rather get a feel for conditions and
leave in enough power to fly down the runway in ground effect. If things look
great, pull the power and touch down, if not, go around and try setting it up
again. AOPA published a statistic that documented the fact that a pilot who
goes around when a landing isn't right has an 80% greater chance of making a
good landing the second time around in a familiar airplane, due to the
experience learned from the first approach. These are important things to
mentally rehearse before that first flight. All too often we get caught up
with having to make every landing work, and always touch down. On your first
few flights you need all the pressure OFF of you as you can take off, so don't
add mental strain by feeling like you HAVE to land this time around and so
forth. Make several passes and educate yourself on how your airplane behaves
in ground effect. As Larry Severson pointed out, just because you have hours,
or are even current, as I was here, doesn't mean you are proficient in this
aircraft. Take it slow and deliberate. If you will remember, your first
lessons went the same way, one bite at a time.....
Sorry it got long, but felt it was important.....
Colin & Bev Rainey
KR2(td) N96TA
Sanford, FL
crain...@cfl.rr.com
or crbrn9...@hotmail.com
http://kr-builder.org/Colin/index.html
