amen capt jack
tonight i was looking through some old photos i took down in florida at this big airplane convention/airshow/event called sun n' fun. on the second day, i went for a flight in a pitts special. on the last day i was there, i found one for sale for only $29k. so, looking at the photos of this pitts that was up for grabs threw into a tailspin of thoughts and dreams and everything. unless you fly, and unless you know what it means to fly, and unless you know what i mean when i say that, you probably have no idea why this little thing means so much to me. i decided i would attempt to explain.
first off, a pitts special has one purpose. it is designed to be an aerobatic airplane. its not something youll take the family on trips with, you can only fit two people in special models of it. that being said, it is quite squirrely. a normal cessna that fits four people will fly really comfortably and handles somewhat like a jeep cherokee would if it were an airplane. can you roll it upside down? you can roll a 707 upside down (its been done, its hilarious) so yes you can roll at cessna upside down. the airplane wont like it, and youll be uncomfortable as hell trying to keep it flying properly but you can do it. the pitts is just as comfortable flying upside down, sideways, biways, and if youre sean tucker, backwards at 100mph (yup, backwards).
so this little thing is limited as far as what you can use it for. in truth, there is only one thing you can do with it. but, that one thing is so far beyond the normal envelope of what the normal person will experience, is so pure and honest in its goal, and demands such a high level of skill, that you can spend a lifetime pursuing it before you achieve it. i have always said that the goal is in the process. the process in this case is the pursuit of perfection and complete fluidity in the air. the result of the process is complete and utter freedom.
when you take off in a cessna, it will lurch forward down the runway and ease into the air. when you roll into a turn it will be nice and easy. if you roll enough, the nose will drop and your speed with increase and youll stress your arm pulling the yoke into your stomach. when you take off in a pitts, pushing the throttle forward it feels like something is grabbing you by the chest and pulling you through the canopy. it jumps into the air and begs to play. if you want to roll, it will roll as fast as thought and will go anywhere, and do anything you could possibly imagine.
what the pitts is, is freedom.
you have to be in complete control, know your limits, know the limits of the airplane, know what you can do and know when to stop. you also need to recognize and understand what you are risking, and be willing to risk that. doing this sort of thing is admittedly a little more dangrous than taking a southwest flight to florida. people die every year doing this sort of thing even after doing it for years and years. art scholl, bobby younkin, jimmy franklin, nick nilmeyer, they all built their lives on this and they all augered in. it is completely unforgiving, and equally demanding. there is something morbidly attractive and beautiful about that though. if you screw up as a banker you might get fired, and someones account might be screwed up for a day. a musician can play the wrong note and get embarassed. if i screw up, i will die. that is a big incentive not to screw up. as george said though, death is a small price to pay for looking that shit hot.
so, in the end, the pitts is perfection, it is a vehicle to reach perfection. in the final sense, it is the embodiment of my definition of freedom.
now bring me that horizon....
first off, a pitts special has one purpose. it is designed to be an aerobatic airplane. its not something youll take the family on trips with, you can only fit two people in special models of it. that being said, it is quite squirrely. a normal cessna that fits four people will fly really comfortably and handles somewhat like a jeep cherokee would if it were an airplane. can you roll it upside down? you can roll a 707 upside down (its been done, its hilarious) so yes you can roll at cessna upside down. the airplane wont like it, and youll be uncomfortable as hell trying to keep it flying properly but you can do it. the pitts is just as comfortable flying upside down, sideways, biways, and if youre sean tucker, backwards at 100mph (yup, backwards).
so this little thing is limited as far as what you can use it for. in truth, there is only one thing you can do with it. but, that one thing is so far beyond the normal envelope of what the normal person will experience, is so pure and honest in its goal, and demands such a high level of skill, that you can spend a lifetime pursuing it before you achieve it. i have always said that the goal is in the process. the process in this case is the pursuit of perfection and complete fluidity in the air. the result of the process is complete and utter freedom.
when you take off in a cessna, it will lurch forward down the runway and ease into the air. when you roll into a turn it will be nice and easy. if you roll enough, the nose will drop and your speed with increase and youll stress your arm pulling the yoke into your stomach. when you take off in a pitts, pushing the throttle forward it feels like something is grabbing you by the chest and pulling you through the canopy. it jumps into the air and begs to play. if you want to roll, it will roll as fast as thought and will go anywhere, and do anything you could possibly imagine.
what the pitts is, is freedom.
you have to be in complete control, know your limits, know the limits of the airplane, know what you can do and know when to stop. you also need to recognize and understand what you are risking, and be willing to risk that. doing this sort of thing is admittedly a little more dangrous than taking a southwest flight to florida. people die every year doing this sort of thing even after doing it for years and years. art scholl, bobby younkin, jimmy franklin, nick nilmeyer, they all built their lives on this and they all augered in. it is completely unforgiving, and equally demanding. there is something morbidly attractive and beautiful about that though. if you screw up as a banker you might get fired, and someones account might be screwed up for a day. a musician can play the wrong note and get embarassed. if i screw up, i will die. that is a big incentive not to screw up. as george said though, death is a small price to pay for looking that shit hot.
so, in the end, the pitts is perfection, it is a vehicle to reach perfection. in the final sense, it is the embodiment of my definition of freedom.
now bring me that horizon....
posted by Chris Porter at 11:45 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home