A month ago this plane refused to start for me. The second time I tried to go flying in it, the gods of clouds had other ideas.
Third time lucky, it was perfect blue skies – All the Extra EA-200 had to do was start!
I would be flying with the clubs’ Chief Flying Instructor, so a screw up in the plane would probably find its way back into my Cessna file, but in reality this flight was more about flying something a bit different, a lot more responsive and just getting up there and doing some absolutely mental maneuvers that you wouldn’t dare do in many other planes.
The knowledge that I was doing my PPL with the club seemed to help, a quick read through my file showed I’d at least know what the controls all did when I got up there, so we could skip the real basics. He asked what I’d like to do….. “Anything but straight and level flight.”
Take Off
I was expecting good things from this plane, what I wasn’t expecting was to “back track” (taxi the wrong way up the runway, right to its edge), turn around and then go screeeaaaming down the runway at full pelt.
Forget steady climb, we were near vertical and at 1000ft before you could say “Wow”.
The take off and rate of climb this plane has puts other planes in their place.
We made a sharp turn to the north east and headed to an area of fields.
Controls, Rolls and Loops
Once we hit 3000ft, I was given the controls to just have a feel of the plane and see how much more responsive it was then the Cessna. I was told I’d probably only need to fly it with 3 fingers.
With a few shallow but fast turns I’d convinced myself my instructor was very far from wrong……. This plane flies soooo elegantly, just point it where you want to go and it goes (immediately!).
The Extra 200, even though it is the smaller brother of the EA-300, just responds to any control input instantly and gains or drops altitude like a rocket ship!
My instructor took the controls and performed an aileron roll, then promptly let me repeat the exercise.
Next we tried some loops, getting to about +2 – 2.5 G as we came out of them.
I was then basically let loose with the plane for a few minutes to try pretty much anything I wanted to do. Even though I suspect there’s nothing much you can do to badly wrong in that plane from 3000ft, I did keep asking “Are you ok if I roll…….are you ok if I loop?” Firstly I didn’t want to do a maneuver without sufficient airspeed.
For something a bit different, I banked the plane on to a 90 degree turn, pulled back on the stick and put the Extra into as tight a turn as you’re ever going to get (much tighter than anything a Cessna can do!!). After which the instructor asked if I did any simulator work, because most people don’t do that sort of thing on a trial lesson – I’m not sure if he meant it as a complement (Good to do something a bit more fun then straight and gentle turns etc.) or as a dig (you’ve picked up some bad habits during 90 degree turns). We only lost 500ft, it was fun and there’s not many planes you can jump in and be allowed to do that sort of thing in, so I’m sticking to it being a compliment 🙂
Straight and Level Flight: Inverted
A quick talk through of how to do it and then it was over to me to put it into a roll and then that just as we approached being inverted, pushing hard forward on the stick and leveling off.
We’re now flying straight and level, but upside down.
I’m no longer attached to my chair and only the safety harnesses are essentially keeping me in the plane at all!!
We flew like that for maybe a mile.
For me this was the best thing we did in the lesson, it was amazing to just be hanging upside down and see the plane just flying absolutely straight and level while inverted. Being able to look down and see cars on the main roads driving along, thinking “if only they looked up, how strange must we appear from down there!”.
Insane Rolls and Tail Slipping
To end the lesson my instructor took over and gave me a demo of how insanely fast the Extra will roll if you wanted it to – betting I couldn’t keep count.
He wasn’t wrong, after about 9 rotations in as many seconds, I’d given up counting and was just enjoying it too much.
For the finale he put the plane vertical, climbing straight up, before taking the power back to idle and then letting the plane literally “slip” out of the sky backwards! Looking out the window, you’re essentially falling back through the sky while pointing vertically up. Before spinning the plane back round to point straight for the ground, putting power back on and pulling out of the maneuver.
We’d managed to get the G-force meter up to a touch under 5G.
Touch and Goes
Heading home, to burn the last of the fuel we did a few touch and goes. A landing followed by full power and then back into the air. The first of which had to be aborted due to a Cessna not leaving the runway quick enough – I was flying with the clubs chief flight instructor, so although I was thinking “we’re leaving this abort a bit late”, I’m sure he knew exactly what he was doing and to be honest in an Extra it’s so manoeuvrable and has so much power in reserve you have lots of time to make decisions.
After we’d landed, my instructor went back to work and did his day job – I on the other hand was in a world of excitement and the beginning of a major headache, caused more by the constant vibration of the plane, then the spins, rolls and mad maneuvers I think. Nothing a coffee couldn’t fix……
I’d recommend going up in an Extra to anyone, if not for the fun you’ll have doing maneuvers, for a familiarisation of how insanely responsive they are.