Butt cheeks
Getting real with essential stick-and-rudder skills
Shorts and T-shirts, open cockpits, and sticking to the vinyl seat cushions. It’s the best time of year for flying—getting up early before the heat sets in and flying smooth morning air or ending the day as the sun sets over the horizon. That cold drink at the end of the flight. Friends hangar-talking around a campfire. Taking someone flying for the first time. Practicing our stick-and-rudder skills and sharing our knowledge.
I recently had the pleasure of sharing my knowledge with one of our AOPA staff members, a young pilot in our video production team, Michelle Walker. She’d been a sport pilot for a few years, flying and owning a Cessna 140 with her husband, Patrick, and building a solid set of tailwheel flying skills. In the spring of this year, she completed her private pilot certificate, so it was with great pleasure I went flying with her in the AOPA American Champion Citabria for a video series. At first, I was simply going to be recorded flying and talking about key stick-and-rudder skills I had learned over the years (I’ve been a CFI since my college days), but the team suggested instead that I play the role of instructor with Michelle as my student. What a great couple of flights they were, too.
I believe in a lifetime of learning, and of having fun while doing so. Michelle and I flew in the skies around AOPA headquarters at Frederick Municipal Airport (FDK). I was in the back, so my view was limited, but Michelle knew what she was doing. I guided her through what I think of as “core” stick-and-rudder skills including Dutch rolls, falling leaf stalls, wingovers (non-aerobatic since we were not wearing parachutes), spins, and slips. We flew at about 5,500 feet agl and being unable to see the front panel, I relied primarily on the “seat of my pants,” using my butt cheeks to feel whether we were coordinated, all the while encouraging Michelle to settle into her seat to really “feel” her flying as well. In the video series, you can almost hear me smiling and see her grin as she executes terrific spins and eventually aces a three-point landing (youtube.com/@flywithaopa).
Some of these accidents we’ve been seeing lately are occurring, I believe, because we’re not getting our stick-and-rudder practice sessions in.
Practice, they say, makes perfect, but I really think what it does best is to make one comfortable with the unexpected. Some of these accidents we’ve been seeing lately are occurring, I believe, because we’re not getting our stick-and-rudder practice sessions in. We should be taking the time to build our skills no matter the aircraft we are flying. Michelle and I practiced our skills in a Citabria, but whatever you’re flying, you should be practicing these same skills—in your Cessna 172, Beechcraft Bonanza, or Piper Meridian. And the best thing about practice is that it’s not about being perfect, it’s about getting better—and whenever you do mess something up, you have this magic erase button, otherwise known as the throttle, that allows you to do it all over again.
Aviation is supposed to be fun. Being a safe pilot is about constantly learning while also approaching the learning in a way that keeps it fun. So, while I have been spending my first few months on the job getting to know our members and what they need, as well as advocating to help preserve the world of general aviation that we all love, I’ve also been sure to keep practicing and improving on my flying skills. As we lean into the beautiful days of summer, please join me in getting out to fly, and use some of those flights to do a bit of skill building, while also finding ways to mentor and coach others who would surely benefit from their own skill-building exercises as well. I know my practice sessions with Michelle were as beneficial to me as they were to her. We finished our flight and declared victory on the day. Every flight should feel so good.
