D’oh!
I blame the wine.
In the following, when I talk about a C172, you can substitute any generic Cessna or Piper single engine private aircraft.
I’ll try not to make it too boring.
The Pitts is a great aeroplane and a terrible aeroplane all at the same time.
It is very responsive (though not as responsive as some more modern aerobatic aircraft.) This is both a blessing and a curse. It is much like a computer, it will do exactly what you tell it to do, even though you may not be aware that you are telling it to do something!
With a Cessna 172 or similar, you can be flying in straight and level flight and move the controls around a bit, and not much happens. The wings may waft around a little, the tail may give a slight wag, but overall, you stay flying pretty much straight and level. On the other hand, the Pitts will respond to every movement you make with the joystick.
This is fantastic when you want to fly the aeroplane. When you want to bank right, it almost feels like you only have to think it, and it happens. However, if you just want to cruise somewhere, and need to have a look at a chart, you take your hand off the stick, and the little Pitts just starts wondering around the sky.
I half disagree with what Dorjan says. Although it is true that the Pitts is not inherently unstable, it is also not stable in the way that a C172 is. By “stable” we mean that the aircraft will tend to stay however you left it, there’s more to it than that, but it gives you the basic idea. In a C172 (or any other similar style aircraft), your instructor can have you let go of the controls and say “look, it flies itself!”, and indeed, it will probably fly itself a lot better than you were flying it a short time ago. The Pitts doesn’t demonstrate that as convincingly. If it is an exceptionally smooth day it may stay where you put it for a little while, but more likely, it will begin a gradual dive/climb/roll or combination as soon as you let go of the controls.
As I said before, this is a blessing, it means that when you ask it to do something, it does it without hesitation. The C172, by comparison, is always having to “overcome” its stability when you ask it to manoeuvre.
So the Pitts will manoeuvre nicely but requires constant attention, and the C172 will stay where you put it if you need to concentrate on something else, but won’t manoeuvre so well.
Enough of that stuff, I’ll try and describe what you might experience with the Pitts.
We never wore a parachute in our Pitts, but I understand that it is mandatory in some countries when flying aerobatics, so you may be given one to wear if there is any chance that you will give it a go. You’ll be fully briefed on when and how to use it.
The cockpit canopy slides back a couple of inches and then lifts up to the right, hinged sideways. You get in to the front cockpit by standing on the black sandpaper walkway on the bottom wing and then, holding on to the hand-grip in the centre of the top wing, stand on the seat (yes, stand on the seat, it’s the best way to get in) and then place your feet on the trays that are on either side of the cockpit. Shuffle your feet forward along the trays and lower your bum down on to the seat. Don’t put any weight on the canopy, it’s not designed to take it.
Settle down in to the cockpit, get comfortable. If there is anything wrong with your seating position, say so now. you need to be sitting high enough to see, but not so high that your head is cramped by the canopy. This is an aeroplane that you wear like an old pair of jeans, now you wouldn’t put on an old pair of jeans unless they were comfortable right?
If you are a broad shouldered chap, you may find your shoulders touching the sides of the cockpit. You will have the joystick between your legs and rudder pedals at the end of the foot trays.
You will see nothing but engine cowling in front of you, and wings beside and above you. To the front left and right quarter you will be able to see the ground. On the right of the cockpit will be a throttle and propeller control. Because the Pitts has a “constant speed” propeller, your pilot won’t touch the engine controls much, if at all, between take-off and landing, even when doing aerobatics.
The inside of the cockpit is just a metal frame with wood “stringers” covered by fabric. Keep your feet on the trays, even if you are not using the rudder pedals (just move them back a bit.) Our Pitts was an S2A, the bottom of the cockpit, beneath the trays, was wood and fabric. I think the S2B may have a small clear panel to let you look through the floor.
The instrument panel will be very basic, no doubt your pilot will explain what is there. Our Pitts had an altimeter, a G meter (large and in the centre of the panel), an airspeed indicator, and a few engine instruments. It had a compass but it had long ago been rendered useless by repeated application of g forces.
The smell will probably be quite strong. Oil, aviation fuel, and, if you are unlucky, maybe the faint scent of vomit (I’m sorry, but it may be there, hopefully not.
When you taxy, as others have said, you will snake from side to side in gentle “s” turns so that your pilot can see. The view from the rear cockpit is actually a lot better than the view from the front, so don’t worry if you don’t seem to be able to see anything on the ground.
The take-off will be a lot quicker than on a commercial flight. The Pitts only needs a few hundred metres of runway to take-off and you will be up in the air very quickly.
From the time you get in, you won’t see anything out the front until you level out at your cruising altitude. Even then, the forward view is poor. The guy flying from the back can only see the back of your head. He’s relying on what he can see around you. That’s ok though, he’s used to it. You don’t need to hunker down or move your head to the side or anything, just sit comfortably and enjoy the view. Have a look behind you, that’s pretty neat. You’ll see your pilot grinning at you (or looking cool, it depends on his personality and what he’s doing at the time.) A few feet behind him you’ll see the tail plane and fin. Take some time to appreciate how small this plane is.
When/if you end up having a fly of it. Remember, it will do what you tell it to. You don’t need to move the controls, just apply pressure in the desired direction and it will move in the commanded direction. It is, in my opinion, very nice to fly.
This isn’t really something that you will get a feeling for straight up, but, as I said before, you wear this aeroplane. Although your hands and feet are on the stick and rudders, it feels as though they extend out to the wingtips and down to the wheels. When you come in to land, you get itchy feet in anticipation of them touching the ground, it is quite amazing, and I hope you sense some of the simple beauty of it.
As to your question about whether it is a good overcome-your-fear-of-flying aircraft, I really don’t know. The pilot is more important than the aircraft. It is very important that he understands the serious nature of your problem and that he doesn’t do something stupid. From the sounds of it you have the right pilot. I wouldn’t bother searching out another pilot with a Cessna or something. The bonus of having someone who flies a Pitts is that they will be very comfortable with flying. You may be surprised that there are instructors around who are essentially scared of flying, you don’t want one of those. By choosing to fly in a Pitts, you are automatically narrowing down your pilots to those who have a high level of (good) confidence.
If you’re comfortable, please have a go at some aerobatics, a good pilot can do very smooth gentle aerobatics in a Pitts that makes a roller coaster seem like you’ve been stuffed in with an unbalanced load of washing on the spin cycle. Nice aerobatics is a very positive, enjoyable experience, with no sense of risk, danger, or uncontrollability. If you don’t feel completely comfortable then definitely give it a miss.
There’s a lot more I can tell you, but you’ll need to ask questions I guess.
Good luck, I hope you enjoy it, and I hope that it helps with your fear.
I disagree. A stick is more natural because it rolls, not turns the plane. This is especially true on the ground where turning the wheel can get you in trouble, but not get you to turn.
rwj
I find a stick to be more natural as well. Most people seem to adapt to both systems easily enough.
Wow…1920s Style “Death Ray”…I somehow knew that your response would be worth waiting for! Thank you for all of that incredible detail.
I don’t have any questions right away, at least, but I do have a couple of comments.
Regarding the parachute – the pilot told me that he was required by FAA (I believe) law to wear a parachute (and same for any passenger) if the flight was going to encompass more than 30 degrees of <aviation term I’ve forgotten, possibly “pitch”> or 60 degrees of <other aviation term I’ve forgotten>. We don’t have specific plans to do such maneuvers, but he said that there’s no reason not to have an extra layer of safety, especially for someone who was experiencing flying fears like mine. Besides, he said, they also make for good back rests.
And honestly, I would love the opportunity to perform some aerobatic maneuvers if I’m comfortable enough to handle it. When I was younger, wiser, and not afraid of flying, I remember reading somewhere about the opportunity for a ride-along with the Blue Angels, and I thought that was the coolest thing in the world. Not that this is going to be anything like flying in a military jet, but I wouldn’t pass up the chance to experience those type of aerial stunts unless I really, really didn’t think I could handle it.
And I don’t think my pilot has anything approaching a fear of flying. When I explained to him what my issues were, he responded by telling me that part of the reason he uses the Pitts is because he trains some commercial pilots on overcoming fear and on (I believe) performing certain emergency maneuvers. I really think I’ve landed – pun intended – with the right guy here.
In fact, I think I’ll give him a ring right now and see if my odds have improved for getting to go before my trip. 
I would expect a stick to be more natural to a pilot but not a novice. I let my nephew fly a yoke and it required no instruction. I’ve only flown a stick once and didn’t like it because it didn’t have enough feedback. It was a demo flight in an air-cam and there wasn’t enough elevator tension to give me a feeling of neutral trim. Left and right were OK but rolling to level flight from a steep turn was harder. Aerobatic aircraft are not designed to give feedback to the pilot.
I don’t think this is a deal breaker since it’s the fear of turbulence that is important. If it was a fear of being in control then a trainer aircraft would be better suited for the task. Trainers are designed to provide more feedback. My recommendation would be to stick with the Pitts because it will provide a flying experience that is leagues above a Cessna 172. Once a comfort level is established then the pilot can ease into something like a barrel roll, which won’t throw you around.
30 degrees of pitch and 60 degrees of bank. Yes, that is correct.
Also, it’s nice to have the option.
Your comfort level with the pilot, and the pilot’s attitude toward helping you overcome your fear, is really the most important thing here, in my opinion. We can quibble about which plane is “best” all day, but the most important thing here is that you have a positive experience, and to be honest, almost any plane can give you that as long as the pilot knows his stuff.
To better illustrate the visibility issues, I will provide a couple of links to photos. The airplane in question is not a Pitts, it’s a Stearman, so keep in mind it’s not an exact representation of what you will see but it will give you an idea of what we’re talking about regarding the visibility in a tailwheel biplane.
Here’s the view looking foward, while in flight. I’m hoping the Pitts actually gives you better visibility than this, but it gives you an idea.
I will not tell you what to do or how to do it because you already have made a good decision, no matter if it is the way I would do it or not. Like has been said, good instructor, unbreakable plane, you know what part of flying scares you, you are eager to go up with this guy in this airplane, etc.
For what you want and need, you don’t need a lot more info.
I good long talk with the instructor about what turbulence is and how it affects different sized aircraft, the design limits of different aircraft, in other words, knowledge about that which is bothering you takes the fear out of it.
Not trusting others to be in control of the aircraft you are in is much harder to overcome. That is not your problem. Yoke, stick, shoulder straps for wing warping, none of that stuff means anything for you at this point, just listen to the instructions at the time and it will be natural and easy for you to follow through with what he tells you.
All pilots have their pet ideas on how it should be done and what is the best way. You are now starting on developing your own ideas. The facts of how you are going about it and the instructor you chose and the aircraft, all will be included in your opinion 10 years form now when you tell another person your ideas about this very thing.
Lots of good advice here for you, hope it helps, but, IMO, you would be foolish to change anything now. I think you have it in the covered.
Go enjoy.
Yeah the Pitts is better forwards than that, the engine cowl sits just below the horizon in level flight.
FYI, my flight is this Thursday – I am extremely jazzed about all of this. It’s very odd for me say that I’m excited to be flying, but there you have it. Jakeline is planning to take some pictures of me on the ground that I will make sure you all get to see as a very small show of appreciation for all the great contributions in this thread.
By the way, how practical is it for me to take a camera in the air with me to try to get some pictures while in flight?
I’m a pretty big fraidy cat when it comes to flying too - a few years ago I flew one of these:
which was totally awesome - BUT, it’s really nothing like being in a big jet.
So while I would happily fly in a moony plane anytime, I still really dislike flying in a regular plane. However, it may have gotten a bit better.
Have fun on your flight. 
I feel very awkward posting to yur thread, Asimovian, but I can no longer resist. I know when it comes to piloting I am out of my depth here. But…
If this is an issue of being in control, then yes, hell yes, go for the Pitt. No acrobatics, just the sheer pleasure of having the controls of a plane that wants to do good things. I think this will be better than a boring flight in a more common airplane. (But, what do I know? Sorry)
A few years ago I taught my daughter to drive a stick shift. In a Porsche! Why was this good? Because the car has the easiest-to-control clutch of any car I’ve ever owned, combined with a non-temperamental engine. It made everything as easy as it could possibly be. I’ve owned mega-horsepower cars before, and they were all cantankerous beasts, took some real talent to get them moving smoothly; not a beginer’s car. The Pitt sounds like the Porsche.
Go for it! Enjoy the experience, and I hope it helps. You be sure to come back and tell us how it went, OK?
(Side note: I’m sure you know your namesake had a fear of flying, but just for those others who didn’t, Isaac Asimov, who wrote of galaxy-spanning empires and adventures, and was probably one of the smartest individuals who ever lived, was also skittish of aeroplanes.)
Well your post certainly didn’t come off as awkward, LiveOnAPlane – thanks for the comments. You know, I was well aware of Asimov’s great fear of flying, but I’d never made the connection with myself (probably because I’ve been going by Asimovian since long before I developed my phobia). If I recall correctly, he outright refused to go anywhere that could not be reasonably reached by a method other than flying. While my fear isn’t as extreme as his, my level of intelligence doesn’t even begin to approach his, either. I am doomed to be a poor imitation, I’m afraid.
Thank you for the well-wishes, and don’t worry – I intend to report back.
alice_in_wonderland, I’d be curious to know what the occasion was that you flew on that particular plane. And were you as nervous about that as you are about flying commercially?
No problem - how do you think I got those pictures of a biplane I posted? At least in the Pitts you don’t have to worry about losing your camera over the side!
You should have a means to secure the camera in the cockpit for when you’re not using it. That could be zipping it up inside your jacket, or wedging it somewhere. Ask the pilot about that, since he’s more familar with the airplane. Even if you’re not intending aerobatics, you would want a patch of rough air to jounce it loose and have it skittering around the floor.
I usually have a shoulder strap on my camera when I’m flying, frequently with the loop through part of my safety harness. This severely limits how far it can go if I drop it (and yes, it’s been dropped more than once) but allows me to move it around for a shot.
Although, like others, I wouldn’t necessarily have recommended the Pitts, since you’ve decided, I’ll just say that if you have the chance to go aerobatic on this flight, do it!
I had a chance to fly with the Canadian aerobatic team, the Northern Lights, back in 2000. Here’s a picture I took. I made a point of asking to fly in the slot plane so I’d get better pictures. (Sorry this one’s in B&W, but I shot film back then, and this is the only one I happened to have scanned and available for immediate upload. I have lots more, but they aren’t in digital format at the moment.) Note that this picture is actually upside down. This is a formation roll behind the leader. All four of us were inverted at this point.
It was a great experience: in addition to a number of formation maneuvers with all four planes (they’re Extras), my pilot took us out for some solo moves too: snap rolls, hammerhead turns, rolls, loops, inverted flight, and so on.
You may not want to do all that on your first flight, but a roll, a wingover, or even a loop would be a lot of fun, if you’re ready for it.
I took Dramamine and am glad I did. If you’re thinking that you might go aerobatic, it wouldn’t hurt to take some yourself, even if you think you’re not prone to sickness.
Have fun and report back!
Camera should be fine if you have the room inside the canopy (could be a little tight for a large camera). Make sure you can take pictures without the flash going off. You might ask the instructor to explain the different types of maneuvers such as a barrel roll and a wingover so you know what to expect. A barrel roll is better than a torque roll because it will keep you in your seat. If you can get a noise-canceling headset that would make things more comfortable for you. And of course, everyone wants to hear how it went.
You might be thinking of a “slow roll” which involves using top rudder and forward stick through the roll to keep the nose up (and isn’t necessarily slow.) This results in a transition to -1 G as you go inverted and is not as comfortable as a barrel roll or an aileron roll.
An aileron roll is performed using aileron only (and enough rudder to maintain heading.) If the pilot allows the nose to drop slightly throughout the roll, no negative G is experienced.
A barrel roll involves tracing a big circle in the sky as you roll through 360 degrees. It is a bit like a cross between a loop and a roll. If you imagine a plane at the bottom of big hollow barrel, pointing 45 degrees off the longitudinal axis of the barrel, then drive the plane in a big corkscrew around the inside of the barrel, that’s a barrel roll. A well executed barrel roll will have similar Gs to a loop, from 3 at the bottom, to about 0.5 to 0.7 going inverted, back to 3 at the bottom again. They can be performed with less Gs than that though (or more.)
A torque roll, on the other hand, is where the aircraft rolls around its longitudinal axis due to the torque from the engine. Normally it is performed by flying up vertically and rolling. As the airspeed drops to zero, the ailerons become ineffective but the engine torque will keep the aircraft rolling. If you are nicely vertical to begin with, it will keep rolling as it slides vertically backwards. A torque roll doesn’t involve any negative Gs either until the recovery which can be quite violent.
Also, we didn’t allow cameras in our Pitts. The Pitts has exposed control lines inside the fuselage. A friend of mine got in to what was initially an unrecoverable spin because a film canaster had jammed the elevator controls. If you’re not doing aerobatics it’s not really a problem though, ultimately it depends on your pilot and what he’s happy with. A digital camera with no loose lens cap, and the wrist strap secured around your wrist should be ok.
I’m just a frustrated aviator (a single lesson of the type you describe, in a Cessna, as a birthday present eight years ago, plus some free rides in my neighbour’s shared plane while he’s been keeping his licence up, hardly counts) but can I just say that I personally find the idea of being in the front seat with the instructor behind really rather cool? 'Cos if it gets to the point where you’re starting to feel confident, you can almost fantasise that you’re flying solo…
Today’s Thursday, right?
Oooo! Today’s the day! I’m not going but I’m still excited (is that weird or what?) Hope they have really good weather and everything else.
Please let us know how it went, Asimovian!