The home page of James R Salazar

A couple of years ago we did get snow on Christmas eve in Houston but I doubt we’ll have a white Christmas this year. Still, it was nice to get some snow last night. (Somehow, it does help to get me in a Christmas mood.)

Snow in Houston is not typical and when we do get snow it is big news because we are not a city designed for low temperatures. For starters, a lot of our streets, bridges and overpasses have to be closed because of the ice that forms on them (some of our elevated off-ramps can turn into bobsled runs).

When I woke this morning, all of the snow had disappeared.

One of the things I love about Lola is putting the top down and enjoying a twisty road. I have always wanted to do something similar in an airplane. Well, today I finally got that experience.

For the past few weeks I have been flying a Citabria. Since the Citabria is a taildragger, most of my practice goes into landing the plane and maintaining control of it while it is on the ground – that is actually the most challenging part.

As I walk to and from the Citabria, I always walk past a couple of Boeing Stearmans and I always wonder what it would be like to fly them. The last time I was in the hangar, I stopped and looked over a Stearman, realized my birthday was coming up and decided seat time in the Stearman would be the perfect gift to myself.

December in Houston can be cold but nothing like up north. Despite this, I put on a t-shirt, long-sleeve thermal shirt, a thick wool turtleneck and a driving coat (helps to keep the legs warm) plus I brought along two pairs of gloves. I was not going to let the cold bother me. In the end, the cold was not so bad and I did not bother with the gloves. Even when I had my faces outside the windshield’s protection or my hands outside the cockpit (like when I was taking photos), the cold was not bad at all. What I did notice was how inadequate my Christian Dior sunglasses were against the wind when I was trying to see the runway ahead of me. The next time I may have to borrow a set of goggles or learn the proper technique for seeing what’s in front (apparently, I was not doing this right).

In this plane, being the pilot in command means riding in the back seat and my instructor (or passenger) rides up front. She is able to keep an eye on me thanks to a mirror at the upper left. Of course, since the Stearman is a taildragger and I am sort of pointed at the sky and my instructor is in front of me, my forward visibility is blocked (and I thought I had it bad sitting in the front seat of the Citabria with its compass getting in the way). Taxing to the runway means making s-turns to check what’s in front. On take off and landing, I am looking out the left side of the plane trying to find and maintain the runway centerline.

I flew the plane for most of the hour but I did ask Joy to take over the controls while I took photos. There was no way I could fly the plane and take photos at the same time: both activities required the use of both hands especially when I was holding the camera outside the cockpit (just think of what it is like holding your hand outside of your car as your doing a 100MPH). Actually, once you have your power settings dialed in, you really can fly the plane with one hand.

This plane is really a joy to fly. I love being in the open cockpit, feeling the wind, the smell of the plane and the sound of it. The real joy is how easy it is to fly: it really is a gentle giant. It was much easier to keep turns coordinated than the Citabria, required less input and it was easier to maintain speeds on approach. Of course, things got a little tougher when you were close to the ground and were trying to find that runway centerline!

After an hour of air work (a few stalls, following the Brazos at a 1000 feet to get comfortable with the plane’s response and a few landings), it was time to get back to the airport. Before starting the engine I had decided we would do some spins but the flight was so much fun and relaxing that I forgot about the loops until I shut the engine down. As I climbed out of the plane I decided I would fly the Stearman again … but I would first perfect my landings in the Citabria.

Thanks to my dad, I have a few pictures taken on take-off and landing.