Commemorative Air Force(CAF) on the day of our scheduled flight, the weather was all but cooperating. It was the middle of May and it was cold, overcast and worst of all, drizzling. The only good thing was that, technically, the conditions were still VMC. But in all honesty, the most I expected out of the day was a tour of the CAF museum. We checked in and were introduce to our pilot for the day. "I prefer these conditions over a bright sunny day," were his words. Ok, so I guess we were going to fly. As the pilot was gathering his gear, his a large downpour developed. We would have to wait. Here comes thatWhen we drove up to the Camarillo tour.
In the CAF museum they had plenty to look at while we waited: An F8F bearcat, A6M3 Zero, B-25 Mitchell, C-46 under restoration and more. The museum also has a ton of WWII paraphernalia. Definitely worth just visiting the museum alone for the small price of a donation.
Once the rain passed the pilot took us out to the aircraft and asked us what we wanted to do with it. After all it was "our flight." "Stick time?" I asked. "Sure," he replied. My dad got to fo first and he was strapped into the aircraft. I sat back watch, snapping pictures and just waiting for my turn. His flight lasted twenty minutes and soon my time had come.The Flight
I was strapped into the backseat of the aircraft and given a safety briefing: This is how the canopy open, the barf bags are over there, don't bother with the parachute, you won't have time to open it... The ATIS gave us our weather: 10 mile visibility, ceiling at 3800ft, 5kt winds out of the west. We were all set to go.
With permission we taxied out to the run-up area. From there the pilot let me taxi to the runway. He took off in short order while I followed along with my hands on the controls. At 500ft agl, he gave control over to me. I was flying the airplane. My first few turns were quite uncoordinated as I skidded around the sky trying to determine how much rudder to give the aircraft to keep the ball centered. The feel of the control were much different then my joystick and pedals at home. The feedback from the aircraft gave a completely different feel to moving any of the control surfaces. The rudder was especially stiffer to move compared to the Saitek pedals I have.
We practiced some steep turn, each getting progressively steeper. (Apparently, I wasn't being risky enough, but I didn't want to do 60 degree banks without doing a 59 degree first) Finally we did some stalls. This didn't go to well. I was so engrossed in how the plane reacted post stall that I didn't bother with the whole recovery part. Not good. I was watching the left wing drop off and tried to correct with aileron(don't). The right wing soon dropped and the plane entered a spin. It wasn't until then that I release back pressure and handed control back to the pilot. I did a few more with better results, and soon it was time to return to the airport.
The pilot had me turn back in the direction of the airport while he contacted the tower. Requesting a landing on runway 26, we were given a straight in approach. The pilot wasn't satisfied and had something else in store for me. "Requesting a 360 overhead approach," he inquired and recieve permission for. I had no idea what a 360 overhead approach would be. He told me to aim for the runway and descend 2,000 feet to pattern altitude...without decreasing the throttle. Our speed increased to 160 knot by the time we reached the threshold. My vague suspicion of what the 360 overhead approach consisted of was confirmed when the tower announced,. "Break at the number." The pilot took control of the aircraft, banked hard left and pulled into a steep turn. Meanwhile he managed to drop the flaps and gear. By the time we finished the 360 degree turn we were configured for landing right on glide slope. With a smooth flare, he settled the aircraft down with barely bump. He gave control to me one last time to S-turn our way back to the hanger.
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