After a three-year gap, I’ve taken to the air again in a power plane. I went up in a Citabria, a two-seat tailwheel aircraft, with an instructor. I needed to have a Flight Review, a two-yearly requirement from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.
I flew with instructor Jim Drinnan, who is even older than I am and is a bit of a grumpy legend at Camden airport. We had fun doing stalls and steep turns, then lots of circuits and a simulated engine failure before he sent me off solo again.
Citabria MWY at Camden
This was the first time I had flown a Citabria. It is good fun, it flies very slowly and floats in gently for landings at 60 knots. It was a very calm day which made the job of landing much easier than when there is a breeze blowing.
I chose to fly the Citabria because it behaves a bit like a Piper Pawnee – the glider tow plane that I hope to be flying for my gliding club at Camden. I now need to do a glider towing endorsement.
