California: Aerobatics in Livermore – Flying Pitts Special

It has now been more than 5 years since I had my last flight as an airline pilot, and I can honestly say that I haven’t missed it at all. Early winter mornings in Finland with sub-zero temperatures and an aircraft covered in snow, then 4 legs (flights) just to end up somewhere in the middle of Norway Nowhere.  Thanks, but no thanks. I’ve had my share, it was a great experience, but I’m done with flying.

Though, recently, I found some old pictures from when I was attending an aerobatics course at Attitude Aviation in California, and I must admit that for a short moment, I couldn’t help longing for the skies again.

When I was in flight school,  the aerobatics course was a part of my CPL (Commercial Pilot License). It was a little more than a week’s training, and the purpose was to learn how to handle the aircraft in unusual situations.

Of course, there was also room for playing around, so we got to try a lot of different maneuvers such as Hammerheads and Cuban eights along with a lot of spins, rolls and loops. An experienced aerobatics instructor, Edward, was in the back seat all the time to assist when needed.

I started out flying the Citabria, but the last couple of days I was in the Pitts Special, which is a supercharged aerobatics aircraft. I had so much fun and didn’t want the lessons to end even though my head was spinning and my eyes started to hurt after pulling negative Gs.

Hard not to get a little nostalgic, when looking at those pictures, remembering all the fun I had. When I grow old and rich (I wish!), I want to take up aerobatics flying  as a hobby..

Attitude Aviation, 299 W Jack London Blvd, Livermore, CA