>>Do your high-speed taxi training after your plane has flown with a "genius"
>>pilot.
Mark;
Very thoughtful response. Thanks. I am an A&P and a commercial pilot, so this
question comes up every time we do a repair or modification on an
aircraft...who should test-fly the plane? Who is paying me to take another risk
in another beater Cessna 150? Which reminds me of a story...
When I was young and inexperienced in flying, I found myself in a gyrocopter
at the end of a country airstrip, planning a high-speed taxi run to "get the
feel" of my new ship. I had been running up and down the strip with partial
throttle, learning to power up the rotor by gradually feeding in pitch as I
advanced the throttle bit by bit. It was clear to me that I had good
directional control, and I could feel the kinetic energy being stored in the
rotor, so the next step was to gradually transfer weight from the wheels to the
rotor with a little back pressure on the stick. What I didn't know, was what
the very-brave and very-human pilot would do when the plane rocketed upwards at
very low groundspeed with a fully spooled rotor. What a view as I lifted off!
What an unforgettable experience! What an expensive, valuable lesson! I never
did find my glasses or shoe ( wear laced shoes, not loafers, oh! and a helmet,
not a baseball cap). Learn from other's, or relearn on your own...I was very
lucky. Will you be?
