Episode 37- The Groundhandling Podcast

Ground handling is the cornerstone of being a good, safe pilot. But of all the most important foundational building blocks you can practice it is often the most neglected. For many pilots “groundhandling” is pulling the wing up and getting off the hill. This is only the first step. Many of our listeners have asked for a specific ground handling episode and now here it is! Nik Hawks, former Navy dude who passes his time climbing Mt Whitney in sandals and running mellow events like the Leadville 100 and sailing from California to the Caribbean on a J22 contacted me after seeing the Rockies Traverse a year ago inspired him to learn how to fly. He’s thrown himself into the game with both feet and taken on the practice of ground handling seriously. But as a new pilot, he quickly became confused with the mixed information regarding ground handling. In this episode we turn the tables around and Nik takes my seat as the interviewer and we dig into the art form. We also talk about SIV and other methods that greatly increase our risk to safety margin. Nik hosts his own adventure podcast called PaleoTreats and he and his wife make paleo based edibles that are TO DIE FOR. They are going to be a big part of my nutritional fuel and ammunition for the X-Alps. Nik had me on his show a few months ago, it’s a really fun listen and if you’ve ever wanted to know about some of the wacky shit I’ve participated in over the years and what led me down this cloudbase mayhem road, have a listen. Make sure to check out the show notes below for the links to some of the films and otherwise we mention in the show. And PLEASE check out Nik’s site, he’s an inspiring dude putting out awesome content and his company, Paleo Treats is something really special. Enjoy! A buck an episode, that’s all we ask. Subscribe to the Cloudbase Mayhem Podcast on Stitcher Radio, Google Play, Tune In, or ITunes!   Ground Handling Exercises with flyincanarias.com from Christian Fernandez on Vimeo.   Another really good one on flapping and groundhandling (you might recognize the voice over!):   Show Notes: What does “good” ground handling mean?  Is some “dragging” inevitable? Is there some kind of progression beyond “stable over head, then helico”?  What’s in the middle of that? Would you say that treating GH as almost a necessary evil to flying progression does disservice to all pilots?  If so, why do you think that it’s viewed as just a “stepping stone” rather than a fundamental?  I think this is a key point, as when I see expert pilots take off they don’t seem to want to ground handle a bunch first, its almost as if they’re too cool or that GH is for beginners. What is (or should be) your ratio of ground handling to flying when you first start, say for your first 50 hours?