Testimonial

12/9/07

Dave,

I wanted to take a minute and thank you for the aerobatic training I received this summer. I have had several great comments from club members since attending. I had a very good feeling that I had done the right thing (enrolling) when I watched Seth Arnold perform at our Columbus Imac Challenge earlier this spring. This is probably no secret to you, but I can't think of anything that has impacted my flying in such a positive way in 22 years of flying.

Our club had a pylon race this fall and it was decided to have the planes broken down into two groups, pylon and 'run what you brung'. I do not have a pylon plane so I decided to bring my trusty Sig Kadet. I thought this would get some laughs as we were all there to have some fun. To my surprise I not only won the first heat but the next three! Many of the planes I competed against were capable of much faster speed than the Kadet. I had never been to a pylon race before this, but I learned something interesting. Pylon racing is not all about speed! As you would say 'fly parallel to the runway'. The last race was a nail-biter. The plane I was flying against was a 40 size mid wing with a 60 size motor. My evolution 46 didn't have a prayer. We took off and the mid wing was very quick to get off the ground and around the first pylon but failed to consistently turn. After about 3/4 of the laps were completed, I had steadily worked ahead by half a lap. Unfortunately, on the last lap the other plane overtook the Kadet by about 4 feet! I got some interesting looks after that.

My goal for next year is to start Imac (not pylon racing!). I am looking forward to getting more instruction for next year. I actually feel comfortable flying knife edge now as this was one of my goals for the year. Lately, I have become comfortable with the slow roll as it seems like a natural progression from knife edge and hesitation rolls. All I can say is, the DAS system really works!

Thanks again for your help and I will see you next year.

P.S. Please enroll me for the first available aerobatics class.

Sincerely,

Ron Graham. Ashley, OH