Re: Violin Plate tuning using Modes

in article [EMAIL PROTECTED], TD at
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote on 12/2/03 5:52 PM:

> PeteSchug <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
> news:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>...
>> I guess one of the differences between someone like Martin Schleske and me
>> is that Martin and people like him manage to have one overwhelming interest
>> in life and I keep orbiting between several lifelong passions. This is not
>> to say that I could be as good as Martin, but it is to say that I will
>> probably never give myself the chance since I am more like Frog in Wind in
>> the Willows.
> 
> 
> Same here, Pete. I got totally involved in flying a few years ago and
> ended up getting my private pilot`s license and multiengine IFR but
> then, the interest shifted.  With the violin, however, I can just pick
> it up anytime and fiddle with it.  It is always ready on top of our
> piano and my bow on top of my TV!  I will go back to flying this
> spring to renew my IFR rating.
> 
> PS, OT: If you ever get a chance to fly, try a few hours with an
> instructor in aerobatics.  It is something that will keep a smile on
> your face for a long long time.  There is a place just south of Ottawa
> where you pay a class 1 aerobatics instructor and just sit back and
> enjoy while he does all the hard work.  Or, if you fly, he will keep
> you out of trouble.
> 
> Tien

Hi Tien,

I soloed a champ (Champion Aircraft version of the Aeronca Champ) on skiis
when I was 27 (38 yrs ago) I started flying sailplanes and building RC after
that. I let my medical lapse but occasionally took an evening flight in one
of the citabrias (150 horse, extra span wing with flaps) that were used for
towing at the time.

My friend Jim, who first lent me his good fiddle about the same time,
learned to fly and bought a Luscombe which we had some mild adventures in,
like flying to Newport RI with a 50 mph tailwind, spending the day at a boat
show and then flying home with a 50 mph headwind, under conditions of poor
visibility. We were over I 95 most of the time and even VW's were passing
us.

One evening I took the citabria up with a friend who also owned a Beach
Staggerwing and he introduced me to aerobatics. This was all a really long
time ago and after a ten or fifteen year layoff I went back and managed
(after a couple of weeks of short flights) to keep a sailplane up for an
hour and fifteen minutes. I gave it up because I realized that you either
fly all the time and stay sharp or you fly occasionally and devote your full
attention to everything you do. I didn't have the time to stay sharp and I
didn't enjoy flying with such focused attention.

Anyway, I will never lose interest, but I will never have the time to devote
to it, and as you point out, the fiddle is there and I can play it in an
idle moment. There is no seventy mile drive as a prelude.

BTW, if I didn't mention it, we got some encouraging video images from our
RC sailplane. Nothing great, but we are definitly on the right track.

Pete