Pilot Profile: Av8tor98

**av8tor98** · 12-28-2012, 10:35 AM

Hi all,

I began my adventures in aviation in 1989 at M04 in Tennessee. My step father, a CFII/MEI, was my mentor and instructor. During my private pilot training in a C-150, I got the idea of getting some spin training in Springfield, Tenn. so my step father and I would fly over to Springfield in a Grumman Tiger on the weekends to get the training. Spinning a Decathlon got boring after a while and I decided to expand into more advanced aerobatic maneuvers. Before I got my PP rating, I had amassed 40 hours of aerobatic training

P It was well worth the time and extra money spent. A year later I got my instrument/MEL and commercial ratings....having flown a variety of aircraft along the way....C-172, C-177RG, Piper Cherokee Six, Piper Colt, Bellanca Super Viking, Beech T-34 Mentor, Clip Wing Cub, Beech V-tail Bonanza, Piper Seminole, Piper Seneca and T-41. In early 1990 I joined the International Aerobatic Club/EAA Chapter 27 and decided to strap on a friend's Pitts S2B. This began a short-lived adventure into competition aerobatics on the local level....lasted only 2 seasons. I never competed beyond the Sportsman category. After that I was a Contest Director for one season. Through the IAC and EAA, I got to meet alot of interesting people and got to fly in a variety of aircraft like the Cap-10, Pitts S2B, clip wing Taylorcraft (180HP), Boeing Stearman 220, T-6, and eventually Edge 540 2 seater owned by Kirby Chambliss.

I left a banking career in 1994 to pursue a career in aviation...whether flying or not. I put my degree in Professional Aeronautics (ERAU Daytona) to use in the air cargo industry as an aircraft advisor...flying around the north central and northeast regions of the US on C208s and ATR-42/72s. My focus is safety and making sure the airline is operating safely, legally and reliably in those areas. I continue to go through the recurrent training for the C208 and ATR-42 but do not fly as a scheduled pilot. Instead, I observe all of the contract pilots who do operate the aircraft for us. It's not a cookie cutter type job and encompasses a variety of aspects in aviation. The diversity keeps things interesting, to say the least.

Aviation is certainly in my blood....whether in the real world or virtual world, I never grow tired of it. Glad to be a part of this community.

***danl*** · 12-30-2012, 06:54 PM

Thanks for posting the profile Joesph. I enjoyed reading it as I'm sure others will also. Sounds like you've had a very diversified career all the way from the C-150, through the Aerobatics to more senior positions as director and now cargo industry aircraft adviser.

I've heard that doing any kind of training in Aerobatics helps a person become a better pilot. My own instructor suggested I take a few Aerobatic lessons at Hanscom Airforce Base. I never ended up doing it though. Michael Goulian use to fly out of there and some instructors gave lessons at one time. I realize a person is able to actually experience extreme attitudes and how to deal with them but I've always wondered what aspects of training in a Decathlon or a Pitts help a person be a better pilot in a non-Aerobatic aircraft like say a C208 or ATR-42 or for that matter a B747.

You've flown some great aircraft and certainly have a wealth of experience in aviation. More than that though, it appears you're doing exactly what you love to do and that's what counts.

Thanks for sharing with us. Feel free to share any interesting photos sometime that feel might be interesting.

This wasn't you right ?

Dan
danl@flightsim.com

**av8tor98** · 12-31-2012, 09:43 AM

Thanks, Dan. As for the Decathlon pic you posted, I never flew one that low to the ground and upside down....haha! I never strayed from the dimensions of the aerobatic box

) I will reveal something about my aerobatic days that I was totally embarrassed about. During the first day of my first competition in the basic category, I over-rotated what was suppose to be a one revolution spin by 30 degrees....by the time I straightened up the Pitts and throttled up, the airplane was screaming going downhill (due to lack of timing myself after throttling up). I pulled the nose up too quickly, greyed out a bit and knew that I was about to bust the boundary of the box. I yanked and banked so hard that I greyed out again. Needless to say, I won The Chief Turkey Award for that maneuver

P I came within inches of busting the box and costing myself more points. I learned a valuable lesson that day and certainly redeemed myself the next day.

Upset training or unusual attitude training is valuable for any pilot....no matter the experience of the pilot or the type aircraft being flown. I know many professional aviators who continue getting this type of training. One never knows when he or she may need it. In my case, I panicked when I was introduced to a spin in a C-150. I let go of the yoke and my step father took over. I immediately knew that I need to conquer that fear of potentially spinning an airplane, and more importantly, how to deal with it should the situation arise. As stated before, it was an invaluable part of my training as a student pilot.

**lnuss** · 12-31-2012, 11:37 AM

...but I've always wondered what aspects of training in a Decathlon or a Pitts help a person be a better pilot in a non-Aerobatic aircraft like say a C208 or ATR-42 or for that matter a B747.

Dan,

Any training or experience beyond the norm helps you to understand flying better, to better understand the limits of, not only the aircraft in which you learn this, but also of others. You'll have better, more precise control of all aircraft you fly and, like tailwheel (or other specialized) training, you gain improved capabilities as a pilot.

Let me give you one possible example: When you receive spin training, so that you can enter and recover from a spin (you don't have to go to precision spins), you learn what it looks, feels and sounds like as you get near a spin, thus that early recognition may prevent you from getting into a spin in certain situations.

And these things you learn hold true for most, if not all, aircraft -- some DO apply to all, such as recovering from a wake turbulence-induced upset.

I could ramble on, but I think you'll get the idea.

**av8tor98** · 01-25-2013, 02:41 PM

Finally got around to posting a few older pics from the laptop I'm using right now. Have more current pics on my home pc:
The second pic was taken after completing day one of flying Rolls-Royce's own version of the T-34 Charlie....parked under the canopy at Wilson Air Center at KMEM. The test pilot for RR brought the airplane to MEM to demonstrate it for potential buyers. Of course I got lucky and was able to get a couple of hours in the airplane over a two day period. I had a great deal of fun flying this airplane! Pic#3 is from arriving in KSAW during a bad winter day and the last 2 are over Michigan and Wisconsin. I do have tons of pics to share from over the years and will gladly post more later.

**av8tor98** · 02-25-2013, 10:44 AM

Here are a couple of more from days gone by

**av8tor98** · 03-01-2013, 03:57 PM

I spent over 2 hours in the Boeing 777-200 simulator at FedEx last night...what a GREAT flying airplane! Performed a number of takeoffs, touch-n-go's, ILS approaches and seeing what the airplane can do in various phases of flight. A far cry from the Caravan of course but wasn't difficult to land at all! All of the flying was done at VHHH. The scenery was awesome!

**lnuss** · 03-01-2013, 04:03 PM

Nice -- thanks, Joe.

**av8tor98** · 03-01-2013, 04:25 PM

My pleasure! I have several vids too, but one of them I know can't be posted here. I've got to figure out a good way to get a couple of them posted though.