7/23/05

Dave,

I wanted to take a moment and reflect on a wonderful week of Primary Flight Training with you.

As you know, I actually soloed 2 years ago, have not had too much time to fly, and I thought my challenges were poor eyesight, little depth perception, and thinking too much during the landing approach.

After only two days with you, it was quite evident that none of the above issues were effecting my flying capabilities. The real issues were:

1. I did not have a 'plan' to fly.

2. The airplane's movements were controlling me....I was reacting to the plane, not Controlling it!

3. I did not fly a consistent pattern, and thus, did not have consistent turns during the base leg, and
therefore had no confidence in my final approach without known ground references.

4. Landings are really nothing more than a good low pass where you cut the throttle!

I was extremely impressed with your approach and methodology to Primary Flight Training. I have had a lot of 'advice' over the past two years, but no one made any effort to work on the pure basics with me.....'just go fly the plane and if you crash, it is just part of the learning curve'........I now realize that with attention to consistent patterns and ground references, there is no need to get into a situation where a crash can occur.

When I realized what you were trying to accomplish in Primary Flight Training, I had the 'Ah Ha!' moment and it all sunk in. I think the real testament to how much I improved over the 5 day course was when you brought out the Super Stick with the symmetrical wing and tail-dragger landing gear. I took off using the 'basics' we had practiced and I found little or no difference to the high wing, tricycle gear trainer I have been used to....it was the BASICS that got me to doing simple aerobatics by day 4 of the course! I am now looking forward to taking the Sport Aerobatics course.

By the way, I found your Flight Manuals to be an excellent addendum to the flight training instruction, and a great way to 'refresh' my understanding of specific points made during the actual flying sessions!

Thanks again, Dave, for revamping my passion for the hobby and taking me to the next step of flying in only 5 days.

Regards,

Jeff Wallach. Dallas, TX