Victor

About a year ago I started thinking about buying my own personal plane. I wanted to have a plane I could fly at a moment’s notice and not have to schedule days or weeks in advance. I also wanted something with better performance, i.e. would climb and cruise faster, and could fly comfortably over the 10,000′ Sierra Nevada Mountains.

In early 2006 a friend, Mike Eynon, told me he was selling his 1974 Citabria. It didn’t appeal to me at first, because it was a high wing plane and it was smaller than I thought I wanted. I had flown in it one other time, but he took me up for another ride. We were barely rolling down the runway before it left the ground. It climbed easily at 1,000′ per minute. It sure had plenty of power. He let me take the stick to see how it handled. I was used to a yoke, so it didn’t feel very comfortable at first. I let him do most of the flying. But even with Mike flying the plane, I could tell it was very maneuverable. And it had great visibility. The Citabria is similar to a Piper Cub, in that it has a narrow fuselage and tandem seating, with the passenger sitting behind the pilot. Both side windows are only inches from your shoulders, so you have a great view from either side. I felt more one with the plane, rather than a body sitting inside of a plane and looking out. It was what I imagined it was like to be a bird. I thought to myself, “This is why I learned to fly!”

In April 2006 I bought Mike’s Citabria. It happens to be a tailwheel plane, which I didn’t know how to fly at the time. So I started taking tailwheel lessons in my own plane. After about 25 hours of mostly takeoffs and landings over a month or so, I was finally signed off for the tailwheel. Using a stick felt weird at first, but very soon became very intuitive for me. A stick gives more precise control, which is why fighter jets all have control sticks instead of yokes.

I’m thoroughly enjoying my new “taildragger” and fly it every chance I get. I’ve flown it several times now to Fresno to visit my mother; to Pine Mountain Lake to visit Eric and Nealy; to Cloverdale to visit Kenny, Ellen, Scott and Sarah; and to various other places just because they’re there, like Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Harris Ranch, Half Moon Bay, Napa, Red Bluff, and even Orland International to visit Sy and Melissa.

With urging from Leslie, I’ve decided to give my plane a name. In pilot-speak, my tail# N8571V is pronounced “November-8-5-7-1-Victor.” So now I call him Victor.

But once again I’m feeling the need to stretch my wings. Fortunately, I have an opportunity to fly myself to Salt Lake City in June to attend the Rotary International Convention. Stay tuned!

Happy flying!

Sky King