No Visible Horizon

[djpacro]

The book by Joshua Cooper Ramo.

 

Subtitled: surviving the world's most dangerous sport

 

It seems to me that the subtitle was chosen to entice the public to buy the book but when it was released nearly 10 years ago it was severely criticised amongst the aerobatic community for just that reason. It was only about a year ago that I got to read after a friend bought it for $1 at a sale.

 

You can read parts of it online at: http://books.google.com.au/books?id=tNbZd8-rBfwC

 

The book is described as “An eloquent firsthand account of the sport by a skilled aerobatics pilot details his own and other pilots' thrills, fears, and misgivings about the dangerous sport and its history.”

 

At the time I thought that it was a good read, certainly excellent value for $1. It was about his decision to get into serious aerobatic competition flying and compete at the National Championships.

 

Why did I bring this up now?

 

Firstly, some of my friends have recently purchased “serious” aerobatic aeroplanes with the intent of doing something similar. I thought that this book would provide some inspiration for them. Perhaps a bit of a caution as well.

 

Secondly, Ramo's coach was former Soviet pilot Sergei Boriak. I met Sergei for the first time late last year and had the opportunity for some coaching myself.

 

Here's an extract from the book:

 

“Boriak has a test for me. We are going flying for the first time and he wants to know will I get sick and will I be afraid? Fail or Pass.

 

“What do you want to do?” I ask him over the intercom. “You fly,” he shouts back. Your plane.” I feel a bit of relief. I glance at my watch as we take off. 10:45. If I am lucky, this will be over by 11:00. It’s a terrible attitude.

 

I level off at 3,000 feet. I want to get a sense of how she flies and one of the best ways to do this is to slow down to the point where the wing doesn’t have enough air moving over it to keep flying. It is like feeling up a girl during a slow dance, an easy way to see where you can put your hands and how this mystery is likely to react. And as the speed bleeds off we settle down into a stall. I calmly pop the nose down to pick up airspeed and stop the stall. We are flying again. The whole experience is very benign, almost no g’s pulled.

 

“Goot. Let me have plane for moment.” From the back seat, Boriak sounds happy, childish almost. “You must have plane trimmed just right to fly.”

 

Suddenly the sky is torn away. Sergei slams the stick forward and we are screaming earthward on a pure vertical line. The power is full forward. We are losing more than 5,000 feet per minute. Now 7,000. The meter runs out of room. I can make out branches on the trees below. I can see leaves. At 300 feet, Boriak slams the stick back with a tug that puts six times the force of gravity on our bodies and throws us into our seats with a thud. I relax for a moment. Mistake. Wham, Boriak is back on the stick hard, cranking us straight back up into the sky at about seven g’s.

 

Boriak sets the nose on a vertical upline. I float in the cockpit as he slams the stick to the right and we begin twisting up through the sky. As the plane teeters on the edge of a stall, Boriak taps us over into a dive and we are screaming earthward again. Twenty-one thousand feet per minute. Straight down.

 

I don’t feel sick. And I find that as the ground races up at us, as Boriak whips the Sukhoi around with forces that would pull an ordinary airplane apart, that I feel no fear. I look for the fear in myself like you might look for keys or a misplaced wallet. But it is nowhere to be found. Wham! He cranks us back into the sky. In this furious rummage of my soul, I have found a hint of real pleasure. Bam! We are level again, 300 feet, 250 miles an hour. “Okay, ” Sergei says. “Plane trimmed. All yours. How you feel?” It is 11:00. I am ready to learn to fly.”

 

 

[Tomo]

Gee, what a riveting book, I'll have to think about getting that now...

 

Edit:

 

Couldn't help it, after reading more I ended up getting a copy off Ebay, 17 bucks incl postage from the US

 

 

[djpacro]

When you've read it, Tomo, how about a review here?

 

(I wrote a detailed review when I read it some time ago - my vague recollection is that it was online here in the old blog and got lost - or I am going senile and it was elsewhere or nowhere.)

 

 

[Tomo]

When you've read it, Tomo, how about a review here?(I wrote a detailed review when I read it some time ago - my vague recollection is that it was online here in the old blog and got lost - or I am going senile and it was elsewhere or nowhere.)

Sounds like an idea, can't wait for it!

 

 

[kaz3g]

The book by Joshua Cooper Ramo.Subtitled: surviving the world's most dangerous sport.............Suddenly the sky is torn away. Sergei slams the stick forward and we are screaming earthward on a pure vertical line. The power is full forward. We are losing more than 5,000 feet per minute. Now 7,000. The meter runs out of room. I can make out branches on the trees below. I can see leaves. At 300 feet, Boriak slams the stick back with a tug that puts six times the force of gravity on our bodies and throws us into our seats with a thud. I relax for a moment. Mistake. Wham, Boriak is back on the stick hard, cranking us straight back up into the sky at about seven g’s.

Boriak sets the nose on a vertical upline. I float in the cockpit as he slams the stick to the right and we begin twisting up through the sky. As the plane teeters on the edge of a stall, Boriak taps us over into a dive and we are screaming earthward again. Twenty-one thousand feet per minute. Straight down.

 

I don’t feel sick. And I find that as the ground races up at us, as Boriak whips the Sukhoi around with forces that would pull an ordinary airplane apart, that I feel no fear. I look for the fear in myself like you might look for keys or a misplaced wallet. But it is nowhere to be found. Wham! He cranks us back into the sky. In this furious rummage of my soul, I have found a hint of real pleasure. Bam! We are level again, 300 feet, 250 miles an hour. “Okay, ” Sergei says. “Plane trimmed. All yours. How you feel?” It is 11:00. I am ready to learn to fly.”

Sounds just a little like my last ride with Andrew in the 52TW, DJP! With vertical rolls going up and down.

 

Don't forget the 50th on 17 March at YCEM... should be a great day to catch up with a lot of old faces and new old aircraft http://ycem.com.au/

 

kaz

 

 

[Guest pookemon]

Hmmm available on Kindle - but not to people in Australia... Grrrr....

 

 

[eightyknots]

Boriak sets the nose on a vertical upline. I float in the cockpit as he slams the stick to the right and we begin twisting up through the sky. As the plane teeters on the edge of a stall, Boriak taps us over into a dive and we are screaming earthward again. Twenty-one thousand feet per minute. Straight down.

After reading this, I have decided that the world's most dangerous sport just isn't for me.

 

 

[Guest pookemon]

After reading this, I have decided that the world's most dangerous sport just isn't for me.

Quite a few years ago I did a joy flight in a Pitts over Queenstown, NZ. Unbelievable experience - fantastic fun (except the -ve G's - didn't like that at all). The best fun in the Pitts was a stall turn - I could do them all day.

 

And yet I find wing drop stalls in the Gazelle to be horrifying (maybe because I'm in the Gazelle...).

 

 

[Planechaser]

Boriak sets the nose on a vertical upline. I float in the cockpit as he slams the stick to the right and we begin twisting up through the sky. As the plane teeters on the edge of a stall, Boriak taps us over into a dive and we are screaming earthward again. Twenty-one thousand feet per minute. Straight down.

 

After reading this, I have decided that the world's most dangerous sport just isn't for me.

After reading this, I decided the exact opposite!

 

Perhaps I am missing a vital piece upstairs...........

 

 

[Planechaser]

Another very good read is Halfway to Heaven by Fred Hoinville. My copy is well worn!

 

 

[facthunter]

Poor Fred died at Goulbourne not clearing a fence on take off in a powered glider. He was a great sky writer, and very competant pilot.

 

Extreme aerobatics is uncomfortable and imposes a. lot of forces on you. Particularly negative forces can burst blood vessels in your eyes. This is specialised flying for those who choose to go there . It should be undertaken by those who have weighed up the pros and cons...Nev

 

 

[Guest Andys@coffs]

Poor Fred died at Goulbourne not clearing a fence on take off in a powered glider. He was a great sky writer, and very competant pilot.Extreme aerobatics is uncomfortable and imposes a. lot of forces on you. Particularly negative forces can burst blood vessels in your eyes. This is specialised flying for those who choose to go there . It should be undertaken by those who have weighed up the pros and cons...Nev

When I left 6Sqn at Amberley for Edinburgh in SA I was taken for a ride in the F111. With a helmet on the gforces during some more agressive moves had my head being tossed around as though I had no control over it at all......as I looked across at the pilot during these things his head and helmet was rock steady....... As a young bloke at the time I thought I had pretty reasonable body strength.......Just goes to show practise is required....... Net result, I enjoyed the tossing around thing, but if I dont get to do that myself in my aircraft ever...then Im not going to feel I somehow missed out, at the same time more power to those that enjoy it.

 

Andy