{"id":3306,"date":"2015-04-10T06:15:48","date_gmt":"2015-04-10T13:15:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.mechadigital.net\/?p=3306"},"modified":"2021-08-26T20:37:56","modified_gmt":"2021-08-26T20:37:56","slug":"127-passing-it-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/127-passing-it-on\/","title":{"rendered":"#127 Passing it On"},"content":{"rendered":"

We humans are kinda special.\u00a0 We have opposable thumbs.\u00a0 We also have the ability to communicate knowledge to each other.\u00a0 We can pass it on.\u00a0 It speeds up our learning.\u00a0 Caveman Grock didn\u2019t have to experiment in order to know that a rock hurled at his head would hurt like hell.\u00a0 His pal, Urg, explained that when HIS mate, Urgette, smacked HIM on the head with a rock, it really smarted.<\/h3>\n

And so it is with us.\u00a0 When one of the airport bums advised, \u201calways turn the fuel off when yer proppin\u2019\u2026 it\u2019ll keep the plane from going too far if it gets away from you!\u201d, he had put that uniquely human capability to use.<\/h3>\n

I was flying with an advanced student and we were working on his forward slips.\u00a0 It\u2019s a maneuver that can be much more complicated– and useful– than most pilots think. that\u2019s why most pilots can\u2019t do forward slips very well.\u00a0 We\u2019d entered them from turns to the left and right. I was explaining to him how the forward slip can not only be used to steepen an approach without increasing airspeed but, because it uses drag to perform its magic, it can also be used at \u201cthe bottom of the hill\u201d to slow an airplane while it\u2019s in the landing flare.\u00a0 You can land a lot shorter if you stay in the slip until right before touchdown.\u00a0 He told me that he was afraid of that technique\u2026 he didn\u2019t want to touch down in a slip.\u00a0 \u201cHey\u201d, I retorted, \u201cno guts, no air medal!\u201d<\/h3>\n

I\u2019d done it again.\u00a0 Without even thinking, I\u2019d quoted another flier.\u00a0 \u201cNo guts, no air medal\u201d was a favorite saying of Bill Warren.<\/h3>\n
\"Bill<\/a>
Bill Warren<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My thoughts turned to all the knowledge that\u2019s been stuffed into my head by others.\u00a0 It often takes the form of quotes.\u00a0 I started to add them up in my noodle.\u00a0 Yikes!\u00a0 I\u2019m constantly spouting out these little gems.<\/h3>\n

When I\u2019m in the cockpit, acting as a flight instructor, much of what I\u2019m telling my students originated with others.\u00a0 If I talk about \u201cG\u201d force and its little-understood role in stall speed, I\u2019m usually quoting T.J. Brown or Mike Van Wagenen.\u00a0 One of my favorite examples is \u201cthe pilot\u2019s pilot\u201d, Bob Hoover.\u00a0 I can\u2019t think<\/h3>\n
\"Hoover,<\/a>
Bob Hoover<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

of how many times I\u2019ve used Bob\u2019s routine of pouring a glass of iced tea in the middle of a slow roll to reinforce the importance of practice.<\/h3>\n

It was Tom Jones who once<\/h3>\n
\"roll<\/a>
Brian Lansburgh (L) and Tom Jones (R) in the performance of “The Champ and the Chump” airshow act.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

said, \u201cNever do a stunt for the first time in front of a crowd\u201d.\u00a0 It seemed simple, but I\u2019ve seen violation of that little rule really mess a performer up!\u00a0 I\u2019ve certainly passed THAT little piece of advice on to others.<\/h3>\n

When a flier is moving his controls like crazy and accomplishing little, I\u2019m inclined to ask him, \u201care<\/h3>\n
\"DSC03647\"<\/a>
Kat Haessler (L) helping Colly Rosenberg into the 2-33.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

ya churning butter?\u201d and refer to glider instructor Kat Haessler, who used that term to describe useless control inputs. By the way, her somewhat snarky question was aimed at me.<\/h3>\n

When my friend, Tom Jones, was killed, his spirit came to me and confessed, \u201cI just f—d up!\u201d\u00a0 That confession hammered home the importance of admitting my own mistakes.\u00a0 To this day, when I object to a student\u2019s offering of excuses for his screwups, it\u2019s Tommy I\u2019m thinking of.\u00a0 It\u2019s his truth and honesty that I\u2019d like to emulate and to encourage others to as well.<\/h3>\n

When a tailwheel student observes that he can\u2019t see straight<\/h3>\n
\"Oliver<\/a>
Steve Oliver<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

ahead, I usually quote Steve Oliver.\u00a0 \u201cIf you can\u2019t see the runway to the left and you can\u2019t see it to the right, it must be right in front of you!\u201d<\/h3>\n

I\u2019m often exhorting my students not to skid their turns because the skid, combined with the stall,<\/h3>\n
\"DSC00221\"<\/a>
Instructor Dale Masters sits behind Hooper Lansburgh shortly before soloing him.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

results in the spin.\u00a0 More and more I find myself quoting glider instructor Dale Masters, when he does his best Frankenstein Monster impression and intones, \u201cSlip GOOD; skid BAD!\u201d<\/h3>\n

I suppose it\u2019s because I spent so much time with ol\u2019 Bill that his words make up the bulk of my recalled quotes.\u00a0 His pet peeves have also become mine.\u00a0\u00a0 When a student is wandering to an airport and we can both clearly see it\u2026 way the hell to one side, I often quote Bill:\u00a0 \u201cIf you\u2019re goin\u2019 to the airport, Go to the flippin\u2019 AIRPORT!\u201d<\/h3>\n

To the student complaining that the inclinometer has a piece of tape over it, I quote ol\u2019 Bill once more:\u00a0 \u201cFeel yer butt!\u00a0 That\u2019s how you coordinate, not by looking at that stupid ball!\u201d (To many female students, Bill would also add, \u201cbetter yet, let ME feel yer butt!\u201d.\u00a0 I will confess that I am occasionally tempted to use that phrase myself!).<\/h3>\n
\"xkDtNYI56uT_Esi5rw2VwAqXO-8zjPh5S5p4XLAMkWLfJMfHwRq6I5E4CB-a\"<\/a>
Bill with his 200HP Chipmunk<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And it was Bill from whom I first heard the old wheeze, \u201ca guy goes to the doctor and says, \u2018doc, it hurts when I go like this\u2019 \u2026 the doctor says, \u2018then don\u2019t go like that\u2019\u201d.\u00a0 I use that one all the time when I urge fliers to simply change their ways instead of committing the different screwups that people make when controlling airplanes.<\/h3>\n

And it\u2019s not just quotes that have stuck with me.\u00a0 Don Madonna gave me an example of comportment\u2026 he was just so damned<\/h3>\n
\"DF-SN-82-02813\"<\/a>
Don Madonna, in one of the very few pics I could find of him.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

fun to be around. \u00a0He was the only guy I knew who had a camo tuxedo. \u00a0He also provided me with one of the best examples of the fighting man\u2019s point of view when we once discussed the war in Viet Nam, which I was much against.\u00a0 \u201cThey were killing our guys!\u201d Don exclaimed, and in so doing explained why he fought.\u00a0 I understood perfectly.\u00a0 I\u2019ll pass some of Don\u2019s wisdom on to my kids.<\/h3>\n

Tom Sanco used to describe various aerial adventures and use the phrase \u201c\u2026 and the stall warner was playing \u2018nearer my god to thee\u2019\u201d.\u00a0 That one always cracked me up.<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

And, of course, there\u2019s my pal, Earl Cherry, who so beautifully understated the role of a pilot and<\/h3>\n
\"Earl<\/a>
Earl Cherry, just “flyin’ da plane”.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

demonstrated humility.\u00a0 When a reporter, fresh from interviewing Earl\u2019s wife who was the wingwalker in in his classic wing-walking act asked Earl what role he performed, Earl answered, \u201cI just fly da plane.\u201d<\/h3>\n

Don\u2019s gone now, killed in a Foland Gnat.\u00a0 Tommy Jones is gone now, killed in an SU-26.\u00a0 Bill Warren is gone now.\u00a0 He keeled over while slurping a beer after a day of flight instructing.\u00a0 Mike Van Wagenen and T.J. Brown have both gone West.<\/h3>\n

But many of my pals are still around and I\u2019m still absorbing their words as well as their philosophies and passing them on to my students. \u00a0The number of people who’ve influenced me is simply too large to include here in this article.<\/h3>\n

I\u2019m still impressed by our opposable thumb\u2026 and our ability to pass it on.<\/h3>\n

Happy Swooping!<\/h3>\n

Brian<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The words were hardly out of my mouth when I began to think about how often I quote other pilots. \u201cHoly Cow\u201d, I thought. \u201cI\u2019m just a flippin\u2019 tape recorder!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3309,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[35,67,174],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3306"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3306"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3306\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}