I purchased my RV-8 back in June after a 20 year hiatus from flying. I'm low time overall (160 hrs) and low tailwheel time (40 hrs) so I've been doing a lot of poking around to find training. Many people recommended Bruce. Initially I scoffed at the idea of going all the way from NJ to TX just to get some RV8 time, but after some thought and speaking with Bruce on the phone I decided to bite the bullet and go for it.
I arrived in Houston with no expectations, just eager to actually get into the front seat of an 8, as I've only flown mine for a few minutes from the back seat before I tore it down to fix some minor issues. When I got to Bruce's secluded grass strip out in the sticks of South Texas, he greeted me with a cigarette and a cup of coffee. I immediately liked him.
He was no BS, straight to the point, and didn't waste a minute of my time. He spent as much time as I needed explaining the do's and dont's of flying an RV8, in a way that I could wrap my simple mind around.
After about an hour of ground school and getting the plane ready, we headed skyward. We started out with just the basic slow flight/stall routines, then base to final stalls and accelerated stalls. He let me mash the thing around to see what happens, and wanted me to find the edge of control and understand what happens when you exceed it. He let me just fly the airplane however I wanted. What an amazing machine.
Bruce gave me the controls from taxi to takeoff, landing and parking, and never touched them again for 3 days unless I really screwed up bad. With my 20 year hiatus, I've noticed a marked change in how instruction goes nowadays vs then. Instructors now are far more cautious, insurance companies and lawyers have shrunk the risk envelope to a pinhead, and nobody will ever let you hang it all out and just see what happens. It's very rare to find a guy who let's you screw up.
The next two days were filled with non-stop touch and goes, landings in every configuration, emergency procedures, light aerobatics, short trips and generally teaching me how to handle something that flies at 190mph vs the 130 mph aircraft I've been flying thus far. By the end of the second day, and about the 7th logged hour, Bruce blessed me as competent enough to fly my own plane, but I opted to stay and fly a 3rd day since I was in town anyway, and was having such a great time. We spent the 3rd day dodging inclement weather and running a short cross country up to Conroe to pick up some log books and a battery that Bruce needed, shooting some crosswind landings on the way up and back.
For a living I own a High Performance Driving School. I teach everything from Novices to Seasoned Pros how to hustle a race car around a road course. I know a bit about teaching skills to handle dangerous, high pressure situations. Myself and Bruce share exactly the same philosophy when it comes to training muscle memory and quick decision making: You must make small mistakes to learn. You cannot baby, nanny, or sugar coat anything.
This was the best flight training I've ever had. Bruce is very good at driving home his point in a way that you just will not forget. He lets you make mistakes and get right to the edge before he reigns you in, making every screw up something you won't soon forget. While we mostly did 3 point landings, he made sure that we were training something every second that the engine was running. He taught me about pattern entries, ATC work, weather, engine management, engine-outs, and lot's of emergency procedures. All of it as it relates specifically to my RV8. I never once felt that he was hovering over the controls, or worried that I would ding his pretty airplane. The pinnacle of it all was the end of the third day of flying, in rough and gusty weather, where Bruce asked me to make a wheel landing after 3 days of non-stop 3-points. As we were rolling out, he asked me if I'd rather wheel it or 3-point. Without question I preferred the 3-point.
Our post-flight evenings were spent discussing everything from aviation to race cars and women over a beer or margarita. Bruce is a fun guy to be around, and he made me feel welcome and comfortable during my entire stay. If I had the time, I'd have stayed and flown another 3 days. I went home a much better pilot, confident I was ready to fly my airplane. I also feel I made a friend, and will definitely make it a point to stop in and see Bruce again.
If you are looking for RV8 training, and want to learn how to 3 point this thing, and especially why, go see him. It's money well spent, you will have zero regrets.
I arrived in Houston with no expectations, just eager to actually get into the front seat of an 8, as I've only flown mine for a few minutes from the back seat before I tore it down to fix some minor issues. When I got to Bruce's secluded grass strip out in the sticks of South Texas, he greeted me with a cigarette and a cup of coffee. I immediately liked him.
He was no BS, straight to the point, and didn't waste a minute of my time. He spent as much time as I needed explaining the do's and dont's of flying an RV8, in a way that I could wrap my simple mind around.
After about an hour of ground school and getting the plane ready, we headed skyward. We started out with just the basic slow flight/stall routines, then base to final stalls and accelerated stalls. He let me mash the thing around to see what happens, and wanted me to find the edge of control and understand what happens when you exceed it. He let me just fly the airplane however I wanted. What an amazing machine.
Bruce gave me the controls from taxi to takeoff, landing and parking, and never touched them again for 3 days unless I really screwed up bad. With my 20 year hiatus, I've noticed a marked change in how instruction goes nowadays vs then. Instructors now are far more cautious, insurance companies and lawyers have shrunk the risk envelope to a pinhead, and nobody will ever let you hang it all out and just see what happens. It's very rare to find a guy who let's you screw up.
The next two days were filled with non-stop touch and goes, landings in every configuration, emergency procedures, light aerobatics, short trips and generally teaching me how to handle something that flies at 190mph vs the 130 mph aircraft I've been flying thus far. By the end of the second day, and about the 7th logged hour, Bruce blessed me as competent enough to fly my own plane, but I opted to stay and fly a 3rd day since I was in town anyway, and was having such a great time. We spent the 3rd day dodging inclement weather and running a short cross country up to Conroe to pick up some log books and a battery that Bruce needed, shooting some crosswind landings on the way up and back.
For a living I own a High Performance Driving School. I teach everything from Novices to Seasoned Pros how to hustle a race car around a road course. I know a bit about teaching skills to handle dangerous, high pressure situations. Myself and Bruce share exactly the same philosophy when it comes to training muscle memory and quick decision making: You must make small mistakes to learn. You cannot baby, nanny, or sugar coat anything.
This was the best flight training I've ever had. Bruce is very good at driving home his point in a way that you just will not forget. He lets you make mistakes and get right to the edge before he reigns you in, making every screw up something you won't soon forget. While we mostly did 3 point landings, he made sure that we were training something every second that the engine was running. He taught me about pattern entries, ATC work, weather, engine management, engine-outs, and lot's of emergency procedures. All of it as it relates specifically to my RV8. I never once felt that he was hovering over the controls, or worried that I would ding his pretty airplane. The pinnacle of it all was the end of the third day of flying, in rough and gusty weather, where Bruce asked me to make a wheel landing after 3 days of non-stop 3-points. As we were rolling out, he asked me if I'd rather wheel it or 3-point. Without question I preferred the 3-point.
Our post-flight evenings were spent discussing everything from aviation to race cars and women over a beer or margarita. Bruce is a fun guy to be around, and he made me feel welcome and comfortable during my entire stay. If I had the time, I'd have stayed and flown another 3 days. I went home a much better pilot, confident I was ready to fly my airplane. I also feel I made a friend, and will definitely make it a point to stop in and see Bruce again.
If you are looking for RV8 training, and want to learn how to 3 point this thing, and especially why, go see him. It's money well spent, you will have zero regrets.
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