I felt the need to detail that I only have 18hrs of dual instruction to this date ..because I know, on this board,
..someone would ask with the intent of sayin I am but a grasshopper in the sky (to put it kindly)
When it came to flyin Crazy Horse (a P-51D converted by Cavalier to TF-51D specs .. see
www.stallion51.com )
..I felt a lot like that lootenant in Aliens when asked how many combat drops he had done.
In the early years of Air Warrior I used to have a routine.
I would fly the Mustang for a month, then choose another type to fly for the next month.
Then back to the Mustang ..etc.
I wanted to become proficient in the Mustang
..and yet learn all the strengths and weaknesses of the other types.
Back then you paid by the hour for being online ..
..being in Victorville, I paid GEnie 6$/hr plus a $2/hr surcharge
..so $8hr was what it cost me to fly the friendly skies.
My average montly bill was in the $1500/mo range.
Every month.
Comes out to about 187hrs a month online.
I didn't spend a lot of time on the 'forums' altho..
..after several years, Kesmai let me open a sort of welcome wagon area
because I tried to help new players 'get into' Air Warrior a bit.
In any case ..figure about 150hrs 'flight time' per month.
Works out to 900 hrs Mustang time a year.
I had at least 5 solid years of that ..long before getting hired by Kesmai as Lead Artist.
So when Lee Lauderback asked me how many hours I had, total .. I asked him:
'Simulated or actual?' with a huge grin.. it was a Kodak moment
After we did the hour in Crazy Horse doing everything I had ever dreamed of doing in a Mustang,
he let me land it. Even with crazy wind shear on final it was almost a non-event.
I mean ..no one was shootin at me the entire time. Skate.
And .. the frame rate was great, sound was just right, no jerkiness in horizon when doing a roll or loop,
..and the textures were spot on. -evil grin-
Even simulated strafing runs followed by pop-up and roll onto target matched the numbers in Air Warrior's Mustang.
(we were over Naval Weapons Training Center, Florida ..even spent a bit of time at tree top *and lower* near 400 indicated)
When it came to land, final was full flaps, gear, steady rate of descent, and over the fence at 100ias,
80ias on the flare, and she greased in on the mains with the tail settling smoothly as we slowed.
Done that more than a few times in Air Warrior.
Usually with someone in the pattern tryin to shoot me
So ..durin debrief Lee asks: 'No roadkill, how many hours have you flown?'
I replied: 'Counting this one, 18 actual'
He said I did better than a lot of pilots with thousands of hours and I seemed to 'wear the airplane.'
I told him I flew the Mustang a *LOT* in Air Warrior ..for years.
Yes .. a sim with decently accurate numbers for a type will teach you enough to be 'comfortable' about what to expect in the real thing.
ie: sight picture for what a good approach looks like .. just for one.
Even if you just have 18hrs actual
Since Lee is CFI in type, it's in my logbook ..1.0 hours of aerobatics, TF-51D
He said I could solo Crazy Horse the next time I went up.
I am a Dweeb, but .. not as much as some like to think.
I also have two years of college level aeronautics from Embry-Riddle, 4.0 GPA
I learned why my R/C scale Spitfire would torque roll on takeoff seemingly at random even.
Same reasons the real ones do ..and we still lose them that way occasionally
Seems the stall wave propagation on the elliptical wing blanket ailerons long before the wing actually gives up flying.
High angle of attack with high throttle setting is a recipe for disaster in a Spit.
(like .. for a missed approach or go around, f'instance)
I also designed and flew my own gliders, U-control, and R/C aircraft from grade school on up.
-just sayin (tm Pasha)
-Frank aka GE
