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August 28, 2005
Another fine day of formation flying
Shelter Cove was to be the site of another Grumman Fly-In, but ended up socked in. Wisely, we decided to meet in Ukiah to then proceed onwards, so we could elegantly change our plans to stay in the sun and practice there.
Four planes participated: Wolfgang Pollak, John Bunker, Colin Aro and myself. Our first session was:
- element take-off,
- element rejoin,
- climb to altitude,
- echelon,
- breaks and rejoins.
We were all somewhat rusty, and the first rejoin was a gaggle. As time progressed, we all found our groove and things started looking good. The best part was the appreciative radio calls from the ground as we did our initial. There may be hope that we may become presentable someday.
Me being the junior member, I was #4 all the way - there are inconveniences and advanatages to that - yes, one has to scramble to keep up, since being on the outside of turns means that the speed changes are considerable, but on the other hand I didn't need to do much thinking or planning. Following orders suited me just fine, had enough to do to keep in position.
After a hearty lunch at the blue bird diner opposite of the terminal building in Ukiah, Colin Aro and John Bunker decided to return to Reno. Wolfgang and I decided to fly back to the South Bay, and I again was wingman, no thinking required.
We tried some echelon turns, and they are bizarre. I'm not sure I like them, they seem unsafe. I'll need to go up with an instructor someday to make sure I know what they are supposed to look like.
The best part of the return flight was our transition through SFO's class B airspace along 101. We had lots of opposite direction traffic, therefore lots of knowledgeable spectators - very motivating to stick to my station like glue. It helps that I know the transition very well, so was able to anticipate all turns.
No photos, sorry. I was happy to be solo, no distraction whatsoever.
Posted by Christian Goetze at August 28, 2005 10:46 AM
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