What?

(3)

Been so preoccupied recently with finding a defense to the latest attacks (tap) that I have not been thinking about esoteric stuff like, 'The Epistomological Implications of Lysergic Acid Di-ethylamide Intoxication.' Nor have I been making notes during the week for use as possible themes for Friday Night, so I'll just have to 'wing it' from here.

Speaking of, 'winging it,' Clicked had a fun video of Bob Hoover pouring a drink in the cockpit of 'Twin Commander' as he maneuvered that airplane through a barrel roll. The piece was intended to illustrate the principle that gravity and acceleration have similar effects. As I watched the piece I was reminded of the one occasion when I actually got to fly a Twin Commander. A former instructor of mine, Dave, offered to take me on a round trip to Breckenridge (?) in the airplane he had been hired to fly on a quasi-scheduled basis. I jumped at the chance, of course, because I knew that Dave would let me get in a little time at the controls.

Sure enough. Dave gave me the controls at a safe altitude (over 12,000 feet) as we approached the Continental Divide. I flew the airplane for a while, maintaining altitude within about +-100 feet. Boring. So, as a ploy to convince Dave that he should probably resume control I asked him to estimate the G-load for an accelerated stall in this airplane at our current cruising speed. Dave said, 'What?'

I said, 'Accelerated stall' and pulled back on the yoke. The nose pitched up and the entire airplane shuddered as the smooth airflow over the wings became suddenly turbulent. I then relaxed back-pressure as Dave, in a panic, resumed control.