Jimmy Dulin, our very own "Contactflying" and author of Safe Maneuvering Flight Techniques https://www.dropbox.com/s/svovw7ziq53e5w1/SAFE%20MANEUVERING%20FLIGHT%20TECHNIQUES%20PDF.pdf?dl=1, will be joining us in the Reno/Truckee area September 17th-20th.

Saturday and Sunday- Mr. Dulin will be our guest at the Reno Air Races. He will be with the BCP crew at the hangar, and will be looking forward to meeting you all. All are invited to stop by and meet Jim, ask questions, discuss techniques, and tell stories.

Monday and Tuesday- We will be helping Jim put together a video demonstrating some of the techniques he has developed over a lifetime of combat flying, pipeline patrols, crop dusting, and high DA flying in low powered airplanes. We will be staging out of yet to be determined strips around the Truckee area with Kevin (aktahoe1) and his crew.

If anyone would like to be involved, or get a chance to fly with Jim, shoot me a pm. I will post more updates and info here.

So awesome you guys are doing this! If I had a plane I'd be there for sure.

I second Whee's comment. I AM going to make it to Jim's area for some flights one of these days.

Wish I was going to be around, Ill be up North.. I want to fly with contact and get some training soon

Ben

That is excellent news.

I was at the air races last year as a guest on the Sovereign my wife flies and hope to be there again this year in a REAL airplane.

albravo,

I look forward to seeing you there are hopefully fly with you.

Jim

For those who stay to fly with me after the races, this promise : No one will be asked to do anything beyond their comfort level. The owner will be the pilot in command in every way.

We have time in the schedule if any more of you would like to fly with Contact. Shoot me a PM with your email and let me know when you are available and I can get you on the roster and keep you up to date on the schedule.

Looking forward to seeing you all soon. Dont be shy if you want to do some flying with Jim. He is taking the time to come all the way out here and there is no charge to get up in the air and do some contact flying with him.

Monday and Tuesday Menu: Low ground effect takeoff, Dutch rolls, energy management turns, on course thermalling, ridge riding, apparent brisk walk rate of closure approach, rudder turn, and angle across on crosswind landing. Shannon, Kevin, Doug, and whoever will be doing the flying and I will basically just be talking. Kevin's guys will be doing the filming and audio.

I'm going to have to wait for the video.

Getting very close to a plane purchase and hope to be en-route for a pre buy and flight home.

Can't wait to see the results of this filming. If it is as good as the book it will be time well spent.

Safe travels all.

Big thank you to Mister 701 for providing entry/pit pass for Contact!

Sorry you cant join us albravo, let us know how it goes.

Go slow... Go low...Turn Left

Am also looking forward to the film; thanks in advance. Have read all the material and am practicing.

The only part that I just don't get (yet) is the "apparent brisk walk rate of closure approach". Neither does my glider instructor who also read the Contact Flying book -- and he was a former optician. So could you please address this in the movie and we will be eternally grateful...

Blue skies,

Tom

We’d like to give Contactflying Jimmy Dulin a huge “high five” for coming all the way out here from the other side of the country. It was several amazing days of meeting great people and pilots, flying, filming, and hearing enough incredible stories to write at least a few good books.

Jim is the real deal and it was a great honor to work with such an experienced and professional pilot. He was a gold mine of advice and knowledge and fun on the ground, but get him in a cockpit and you can tell right away that he is in his element. When I took this on my goal was just to help Jim give people a better understanding of his techniques…but I learned an awful lot along the way and tip my hat to him for making the effort to pass his knowledge along.

We started out at the Reno Air Races enjoying the airplanes, and sights and sounds. But the best part was spending some time in the soft chairs and shade in NVflyer and Mister701’s hangars meeting good BCP people and sharing experiences.

When it came time to fly, Jim didn’t mess around. He had us up at 0430 and a hearty breakfast prepared. After a pilot briefing and review of what we wanted to accomplish, it was into the air for some early morning contact flying in the High Sierra. The 170A proved to be the perfect platform for Jim’s techniques, and Doug was a pleasure to fly with.

The next morning it was off to AKtahoe’s film studio / airplane hangar /man cave where two beautiful Back Country Super Cubs landed to greet us. It turned out to be a productive session filming Jim lecturing, drawing diagrams, and sharing experiences related to his techniques. The recorded video will eventually be boiled down and paired with in-flight footage to illustrate the various techniques.

We decided to treat Jim to some sightseeing after all his hard work, so after a short drive up the Truckee River, we enjoyed a fantastic lunch on the shore of Lake Tahoe (good call Kevin) and ended our day at the I-Max watching Sully land in the Hudson.

Our last day was spent on the west side of the Sierra playing in the wind, low and slow over the rice fields and rivers. We flew low over the crops and high over the wires. We did simulated pipe line patrols, and turns to target, and low level rudder work. I was looking forward to playing with the wind in the Sutter Buttes, but the unfortunate incident with the U2 generated a TFR over the area and we had to adjust our plans.

It is always an unknown when you climb into an airplane with someone you don’t know but I have to say I would not hesitate to get back in an airplane with anyone involved in this project. Great pilots, and top notch people all.

The goal, now that there are a few of us who understand what the heck Contact has been trying to say all this time, is to share our experience with others and put together a video representation to help Contact portray the practical use and benefits of the technique’s he has championed. I guess I summed it up at the Air Races when a crop-duster pilot came up to me and asked what Jim’s book was about. I replied, ”To you it’s probably just about flying, but for other pilots I think Jim is trying to help them stay alive when they are underpowered, slow, or short on options and close to the ground”.

Not only does he fly, he cooks a good breakfast too!
0430 breakfast and briefing

Early morning pre-flight with BlackWater in Truckee

Doug and Jim getting it right in the 170

Hard at work in the Aktahoe film studio

Canyon flying briefing...I couldn't help but wonder if that diagram was influenced by Throttle Girl


Lunch at Tahoe

Jim in his natural environment

Very well put CFOT, I came away with the same impressions of my time with Jim. He is a pure joy to be around as a person and he is an amazing instructor and pilot.
I enjoyed studying his instructional material but it really came together with him coaching me through his maneuvers. It was definitely an honor to spend time with him on the ground and especially in the air.
It is clear that his maneuvers and instruction truly comes from an enormous amount of flying experience and a sincere desire to help others fly as safely as possible (especially in low altitude and/or under-powered situations).
I also very much enjoyed getting to know and fly with Shannon he did an enormous amount to make Jim's visit possible.
Thanks Doug

Jim, you're not as old, green, and pointy-eared as i pictured you.

Zzz wrote:Jim, you're not as old, green, and pointy-eared as i pictured you.

We had to doctor the photos and use a Jedi mind trick