Citabria first ride

A friend at work invited me to go up with him in a Citabria. This is an amusing plane. At a mere sub-1200 pounds, this plane is a lightweight, and that's mostly cause they threw most of the stuff I take for granted overboard. Attitude indicator? Look out your window! Flaps? Learn to slip instead!

The Citabria is a two-seater, one sitting behind the other. Visibility is awesome for both pilot and passenger alike. Maneuvering is a bit different - stick instead of yoke, and no flaps. If you want to slow down, you need to throw yourself at the wind sidewise and increase your drag.

This is also the first time I've seen a canvas covered plane (what I normally fly in is covered with sheet metal). Flying (at all) is amazing - but having canvas keep you up in the air is even more amazing.

As to the scenery.. we left Reid-Hillview (in San Jose); took a look over the mountains to the west towards Santa Cruz, and found that side to be totally fogged in. Instead, we cruised up and down the hills on both sides of the valley south of San Jose. Holy smokes, there are some huge mansions up in those hills.