Today's lesson--well, I was wondering how I'd hold up, after this morning's cross-country trip. When I got to Greenwood's hangar the big round thermometer hanging on the back (interior) wall read 99 degrees--so it was warm enough.
He took off as always and turned it over to me to make a downwind departure to the north. I climbed to 2500 feet while heading for the powerline that runs up toward Kings Dominion. The Pitts was so much more fun to fly than that C-172, light and responsive, but I was surprised to find that I wasn't overcontrolling. John had me do a loop first, then a couple of hammerheads. I finally managed to point the nose completely straight down at the ground without his prompting (or, rather, before he prompted me). A slow roll was next.
And then--the best fun--putting together a loop and a slow roll and a hammerhead in one continuous maneuver. I'd done two together before, but three was really fun, really flying.
After that there were some cuban-eights and four-point rolls, and it
was time to go home. I did another slow roll on the way.