First Lesson at OSH

Lesson 27
10-16-12
1.0 hours logged
30.8 hours total recorded in logbook

Tuesday morning, October 16th found me headed to Oshkosh to meet Joe Norris (who also instructs there) for my very first flying lesson out of Wittman Field through the EAA Employee Flying Club based at the Jack Mark hangar on 20th Ave. Many of you have probably driven by it many times before. Joe spent the first half hour giving me an orientation on the plane we'd be flying--an RV-6A. It is a homebuilt experimental and this one is equipped with a nosewheel instead of the tailwheel I'm used to on the Cub. This, along with the fact that the RV-6 is a low-wing airplane while the Cub is high-wing, is probably one of the most obvious differences between the two among many others as you'll see throughout this post.

Together, Joe and I went through the pre-flight. There are obviously different things to check than on the Cub, though certainly some items are the same. We pushed open the big hangar doors which open to the east and pulled the little plane outside, climbed in, buckled our safety belts which, in this plane, also include shoulder straps, and closed the canopy. There is a checklist for engine start-up which is somewhat more detailed than the simple "spin-the-prop" or "push-the-starter-button" method of the Cub. In the RV-6 you actually turn a key to start it! Imagine that!

We let the engine warm up a bit before taxiing then Joe let me practice a bit in front of the hangar. It's certainly a different feel. As with the Cub you steer with a combination of rudder and brake but the brake configuration is different--heel brakes in the Cub, toe brakes in the RV-6. One major difference between nosewheel vs. tailwheel aircraft that becomes immediately apparent is that when taxiing, you can actually see where you're going without S-turning as in the Cub. You can see over the nose! What a revelation! It's true I had to strain a bit as the cockpit of the RV-6 is quite deep and the seats rather low but I could see!

Joe called the tower and requested permission to proceed. The controller cleared us to taxi and we headed out down the taxiway to the end of Runway 9. The pre-takeoff checklist is also a bit more than the simple CIGARS mnemonic we use in the Cub but we checked almost the same things and finding everything in good order requested and were given permission to takeoff. How big the runway seemed! So wide! I advanced the throttle to full power and we were on our way. As Joe had predicted, it took a lot of right rudder to keep the nose pointed straight down the runway but at 90 mph, all it took was a little back pressure on the stick and we were airborne.

Other differences soon began to manifest themselves. Flaps for one thing. The Cub doesn't have any. This is one of those extra things to check on the checklists. The cockpit configuration is also different. For starters the seating is side by side rather than in tandem resulting in a roomier feel as well as a different look/feel when taxiing and turning in flight. In addition to this, since the throttle is in the middle of the panel rather than over on the left side as in the Cub, the right hand controls this while the left hand handles the stick. That definitely felt strange at first and is going to take some getting used to.

Even with all these differences, however, I found myself able to adjust fairly quickly. We exited the pattern and flew west of town to practice turns, slow flight and the like, just so I could get a feeling for the plane. As for its actual flight characteristics, I found it just as responsive to even the tiniest control inputs and just as eager to climb as the first time I handled the controls on a short flight earlier in the summer at a flying club meeting. It handles beautifully.

After close to an hour in flight, we headed back to the airport and were given permission to land on 18. Flying the approach right over town was a new feeling for me as a student pilot since HXF is pretty much in the country. It made me a slight bit uneasy as I wondered what we'd do if the engine quit here. I suppose we would have been close enough to the airport to glide in and still make it but it's definitely not something I'm used to flying out of HXF where there's plenty of fields all around where one might set down in an emergency and few houses. 

Again, that runway looked absolutely huge as we came down to meet it. Over the runway threshold, I flared--a bit to early perhaps--we floated for a few seconds, then I pulled the throttle and we were down with hardly a bump. It was so smooth in fact that I could hardly believe we were actually down! It was so easy! It seems that, just as it has been told to me over and over again, landings in the tricycle gear airplane are no trouble at all after having done them in a tailwheel aircraft. It shouldn't have surprised me I guess but I found it very exciting! Their predictions were correct! Part of this may be due to the airplane itself also however. When I voiced my surprise to Joe he told me that this plane is  "a real sweetheart" when it comes to landings and just all around. "Everyone who flies it, loves it!" he said.

After exiting the runway, we taxied to the self serve for fuel.  When we climbed out, we found that the wind had picked up considerably. "Good thing we flew early," Joe remarked.  When we'd finished fueling, we climbed back in, went through the engine start-up checklist all over again and Joe requested permission to taxi back to the hangar. You have to request permission to do anything at these towered airports it seems! Back at the hanger--I taxied the whole way with no trouble--we shut down the engine and headed inside to complete the paperwork. 

My first lesson out of OSH and in an RV-6 was complete. Adjusting to towered airport operation will take time but as for the flying, I have to agree with Joe that that RV-6 is a sweet airplane to fly. You know, I'm not quite sure but for some reason I think I now understand what is meant when they talk about the "RV grin" as I'm pretty sure I was wearing it as I left the hangar!