Flight Training
this is the training machine
Zlin 526F, build 1972, 180Hp linline-6, 1:6.3 compression ratio , consumes everything starting from 72 Octan.
WHAT A FACE! Tandem seated birds (caution blasphemy ahead! any RV-4 owners plug your ears) have to have inline engines enclosed in an slim endless cowling!
Retractable gear, fire extinguishing system, emergency canopy jettison machanism parachute and 5-point harness. Have a look at the spinner's little fanes. These drive a totally self-sustained constant speed mechanism - no oil pressure, no electricity required.
Doesn't this workplace look most fighter like?
After having done some traffic circuits I can imagine now how the P-51 or ME-109 drivers felt. The smell of gas and hot engine oil, forward visibility less than zero an taxiing around...
But traffic pattern is not what this machine is intended for. Spins, loops and turns - this is the world of the Zlin.
Contrary to the US regulations there is no tailwheel or complex-aircraft endorsement in the German PPL. However there is a requirement for a aerobatics license extension - and this is exactly I have in mind.
Two runs have to be presented to the examiner (figures to the left the first run, to the right the second run). Now this is what the examiner likes to see (some figures may not be translated correctly):
Not required are negative-g figures, flick-rolls and spins (however these are trained extensively).