Steve Pierce
BENEFACTOR
Graham, TX
I have been doing a lot of thinking about this thread and I have a lot of random thoughts. Please don't take any of it as I am pointing a finger at any one person, I am just randomly throwing things out that come to mind.
First off I have noticed a lot of engineer types research things extensively. I was raised by one. My Dad never bought anything on impulse, be it a television or an airplane. The problems I see is getting good information. A good review at Consumer Reports doesn't always tell the whole story. That is one of the things I really admire about him. I can sometimes be impulsive and regret it later.
Second, stuff happens. About the time I think I am feeling pretty good about my abilities I get humbled. I had been doing the test flying on the Dakota Cub slotted winged Pacer and thought I had it dialed in pretty good. Had been putting it through it paces all morning and feeling pretty good about it. I took Cathy out for a familiarization flight to get her comfortable in it and on my first landing with her in the right seat just as we touched down the wing came up, I rolled in the aileron and then the nose went 90 degrees to the runway. I slammed in the power and realized very fast that we were way to slow and were going toward the ditch. I pulled out the power and got on the brakes and got it stopped. It was Saturday and several folks were at the airport and witnessed my off runway excursion and were quick on the scene. We got out and realized I had drug the wing tip and the elevator. That was a major humbling experience. I did it, no one else and I had to own it.
I have flown with a lot of people over the years and stuff happens for what ever reason. I always find it interesting the reaction and the individuals takeaway. That brings me to my third thought which is other peoples reaction. Everybody grabs a cell phone, takes a picture and posts it to social media. My first landing in my Thorp I had a bit of a crosswind, touched down nice and started rolling out and ran out of rudder. I did not have my feet positioned to get on the brakes and in the time it took me to get them I found the ditch perpendicular to the runway. To say I was pissed was an understatement. I got out, stormed over to my hangar and got my truck and trailer. When I got back to the airplane out airport manager was out there taking pictures with his phone. Having witnessed many of his incidents and not saving them for all of eternity I unloaded on him. Kinda like the X Cub that ground looped at Gainesville and got posted to the North Texas Aviators and Big Tire Pilots Facebook pages. I had worked on the airplane and the owner was 70 plus year old Citation pilot trying to master the tailwheel. There were 134 posts bashing him. My blood boiled and I posted that I hoped no one was around with a cell phone when they screwed the pooch. A few tried to justify their actions by saying they were learning from his mistakes but none could quote a constructive post. Luckily the moderator on both pages deleted the pictures and posts. I see a lot of that on Facebook, seems we get some sort of pleasure out of other's misery and maybe it makes us feel superior. It is a different story when something bad happens to you.
Anyway, I have figured out that everyone is different but I tend to gravitate more towards certain people but always find it interesting of others experiences to better understand them and what makes them tick. So much for my Saturday morning philosophical moment. Off to a memorial service to one of my greatest mentors.
First off I have noticed a lot of engineer types research things extensively. I was raised by one. My Dad never bought anything on impulse, be it a television or an airplane. The problems I see is getting good information. A good review at Consumer Reports doesn't always tell the whole story. That is one of the things I really admire about him. I can sometimes be impulsive and regret it later.
Second, stuff happens. About the time I think I am feeling pretty good about my abilities I get humbled. I had been doing the test flying on the Dakota Cub slotted winged Pacer and thought I had it dialed in pretty good. Had been putting it through it paces all morning and feeling pretty good about it. I took Cathy out for a familiarization flight to get her comfortable in it and on my first landing with her in the right seat just as we touched down the wing came up, I rolled in the aileron and then the nose went 90 degrees to the runway. I slammed in the power and realized very fast that we were way to slow and were going toward the ditch. I pulled out the power and got on the brakes and got it stopped. It was Saturday and several folks were at the airport and witnessed my off runway excursion and were quick on the scene. We got out and realized I had drug the wing tip and the elevator. That was a major humbling experience. I did it, no one else and I had to own it.
I have flown with a lot of people over the years and stuff happens for what ever reason. I always find it interesting the reaction and the individuals takeaway. That brings me to my third thought which is other peoples reaction. Everybody grabs a cell phone, takes a picture and posts it to social media. My first landing in my Thorp I had a bit of a crosswind, touched down nice and started rolling out and ran out of rudder. I did not have my feet positioned to get on the brakes and in the time it took me to get them I found the ditch perpendicular to the runway. To say I was pissed was an understatement. I got out, stormed over to my hangar and got my truck and trailer. When I got back to the airplane out airport manager was out there taking pictures with his phone. Having witnessed many of his incidents and not saving them for all of eternity I unloaded on him. Kinda like the X Cub that ground looped at Gainesville and got posted to the North Texas Aviators and Big Tire Pilots Facebook pages. I had worked on the airplane and the owner was 70 plus year old Citation pilot trying to master the tailwheel. There were 134 posts bashing him. My blood boiled and I posted that I hoped no one was around with a cell phone when they screwed the pooch. A few tried to justify their actions by saying they were learning from his mistakes but none could quote a constructive post. Luckily the moderator on both pages deleted the pictures and posts. I see a lot of that on Facebook, seems we get some sort of pleasure out of other's misery and maybe it makes us feel superior. It is a different story when something bad happens to you.
Anyway, I have figured out that everyone is different but I tend to gravitate more towards certain people but always find it interesting of others experiences to better understand them and what makes them tick. So much for my Saturday morning philosophical moment. Off to a memorial service to one of my greatest mentors.
