Jim’s Botched Hammerhead in the Pitts

Think Acro Camp is all about beautiful and coordinated flying? No-sir-ee bob!
In this outtake, camper Jim Rodriguez botches a hammerhead. Ugly, ugly, ugly!
But how are you going to learn how to do it right if you don’t do it wrong every once in awhile? And, perhaps more importantly, you’re going to botch a maneuver every now and then. You might as well see what botched maneuvers look like and learn how to recover from (and eventually laugh at!) them. I can’t think of another IP or airplane that I rather have it happen to me in. Jim is in great hands with Don and the Berz Pitts.
Folks, Acro Camp is about real people who are a lot like you hanging it out there on the edge and getting a good snootful of what’s up there. It’s a genuine story of transformation and growth. Botched, beautiful, and otherwise. I can’t wait to share it with you!

Acro Camp is a Go! (With Date Shift: Ground Thursday 13 May and Flight Friday-Monday 14-17 May)

After several days of agonizing over the weather progs, talking to Don and Barry, and retaining a meteorologist (and nearly retaining clergy) we made the call this afternoon: Acro Camp is on!
With a minor adjustment . . . Thursday is looking like a wash. Thunderboomers, 60% probability of precip, likely low ceilings, etc. Yuck. But big flyable windows seemed to exist for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. And Monday. So we slid the camp one day back. Ground school will be the afternoon/evening of Thursday, 13 May. Flight days 1-4 will be Friday-Monday 14-17 May.
We think that the adding the Monday flight day will give us a better chance of getting good footage of everyone and maximizing the opportunities for everyone to develop and grow on camera as much as possible over the course of the camp. Most of the campers will simply slide with the schedule. One can’t because of prior commitments, but we’ll try to get that camper up on Thursday for some pattern work in the Citabria if it lifts a little. And we think it will at some point
In pre-production news, Don and I went out Sunday evening and flew the camera and audio solutions for the Pitts. That was the only big issue that I had hanging over my head. Todd and I spent a big chunk of the day last Sunday at Berz Flight Training going over mounts and I was 90% sure that we were going to be okay. But I don’t like flying a tech solution for the first time in production. I really wanted to go out and fly the solution now in pre-production.
Boy, is it ever going to be cool. The cameras worked beautifully. Great images. Both on the flight with both Don and me and on the flight where Don flew some smoke for the heck of it. I think we’ll angle the main camera down a little if we do another solo flight with Don. But everything is looking good otherwise. Good framing, good tech checklist, and good images.
If you plan to stop by and see us during production, please bear in mind the new schedule. Flying Friday to Monday. And read the What to Expect If You Show Up post from a few weeks ago before showing up.
If the weather is less than what we’re looking for and we’re running out to fly between gaps in weather systems, we’re going to be aggressively turning the airplanes. It’ll look like a stinkin’ NASCAR pit lane out there on the ramp. And we might ignore you more than you (or we) would like. Please be assured that we love you and are eternally grateful for your interest. But we’re making a movie and we’ll mercilessly mow you down where you stand to get to a returning airplane to help turn it around. Would you really want us any other way?
We’re going to make a magical thing over the next few days. I love this cast. Amazing people, every one. I love the IPs. I’ve flown with each and have the utmost respect for their instructional skills and their ability to carry the message of GA to the masses. I have a crackerjack crew. Will Hawkins. David Allen. Rico Sharqawi. (Need I say more?) Roger Bishop (new media and social media’s Enoch Root) is slated to hang out, advise, and rock out. Jack Hodgson is going to cover it. MyTransponder.com‘s Rod Rakic is planning to stop by. You’re going to follow it.
We’re prepared. We’ve even done everything we can. The rigs are tested. the equipment, beverages, and knick-knacks are staged. We’ve even done all we can to deal with uncontrollable factors like the weather. Just watch us now.
Are you excited? I’m excited!
Speed and angels! Invertor et Vomens! Smoke on!