Learning to Fly Upside Down With Patty Wagstaff

I must ashamedly admit I forgot to include a post about my training with Patty Wagstaff last fall. I mean, how to do you FORGET to boast about training with THE PATTY WAGSTAFF?

How could I forget something that is a bucket list item for me? I am who I am...forgetful (really, I'm distracted easily because I cannot mentally process several things at once.). Nonetheless, in 2025 I had starting thinking about taking a basic aerobatics course so that I could be prepared to fly my aerobatics capable RV-8 once it is built. Yes, the -8 is early in the build process, but I wanted to start building a foundation for flying my -8. I have been flying a Cessna 170B to earn my tailwheel endorsement ( I still need to finish that) and I went to St. Augustine, FL in the fall/late 2025 to learn basic aerobatics from the famous Patty Wagstaff.

Last year at OSH 2025, Christopher and I attended the Van's Aircraft Banquet and the key note speaker was the famous Patty Wagstaff. Keep in mind, I had already considered taking a basic aerobatics course from Patty Wagstaff and her school in Florida. The Van's Aircraft Dinner just solidified my decision to pursue instruction from Patty's school. So I reviewed the vacation calendar that Craig and I manage at work and chose a week in October so that I could attend the 5 hour basic course that Patty offers at her school.

Once that vacation was approved , I emailed Patty's school about scheduling the 5 hour basic aerobatics course and Patty personally replied to me. I mean THE PATTY WAGSTAFF replied to my email. Fanboy alert. I scheduled the class, scheduled the hotel, and scheduled the cat sitters immediately after Patty confirmed the course dates. Let me reiterate here (if it is not obvious already), I was scheduled to fly aerobatics at Patty's school--you have no idea how much this pleased me. I was bragging whenever I could do so. Just saying.

I show up in St. Augustine, FL in October to go fly 4 hours in a American Champion Super Decathlon and then 1 hour in a Extra 300L. Unfortunately weather kept me from flying the last 2 hours of the 5 hour course. So I came back home and then scheduled the remaining 2 hours in December 2025.

In October 2025, I learned how to recover from any attitude (Look, recover, roll [to the horizon]), aileron rolls, 2 point aileron rolls, spin recovery, and half Cuban 8s in the Super Decathlon. I did fly the Super Decathlon 95% of the time from taxing, take off, cruise to the practice area over the St. John's River, all the maneuvers, back to St. Augustine to land and taxi back to the apron. I loved flying the Super Decathlon. Weather unfortunately prevented me from finishing the 5 hour course.

I returned to St. Augustine in early December 2025 to fly the remaining 2 hours of the 5 hour course. I learned how to do full loops in the Super Decathlon as well as a refresher on the maneuvers I learned in October. I then flew the Extra 300L for a full hour. WOW! I mean, the Extra is a well known, fully aerobatic airplane. Not that the Super Decathlon is anything less than an aerobatic airplane, it is legendary in it's own right. But the Extra is just several notches better in aerobatics. In the Extra, I learned what a fast roll rates were like, I learned how to do Hammerheads and I was able to fly upside down for a little while. Hanging in your 5 point harness is...I dunno how to explain it... just absolute fun. The RV-8 won't fly upside down for very long, like the Extra 300L. But it will fly upside down.

Ryan, my instructor, Alan, Patty's chief pilot and of course Patty herself were such joy to learn from and to just talk to... I mean, I felt like I was in Hall of Fame company.

I just want to say that I had numerous conversations with Patty during my visits to her school. In October 2025, the hours waiting for the weather to clear, provided me with invaluable time with Patty and her staff. Well worth the money I spent on my trip to St. Augustine...you cannot put a price on it. The knowledge I gained from her and her staff... is invaluable. Let me give you an example of what kind of famous company I was in while at Patty's school. I was sitting outside of her office, on one of her leather chairs just taking in the moment while waiting on what the weather was going to do and if I could fly. I pick up the "coffee table" picture book on the table to my left. The book is titled something to the effect of, the most significant/noteworthy women pilots in history. On page 94, is Patty Wagstaff. Several pages were dedicated to her life's history. I am literally sitting feet from Patty Wagstaff while she is in her office at the time. The conversations I had with Patty during my time at her school were invaluable. I couldn't believe how lucky I was to be apart of her school and under her tutelage.

I cannot recommend enough to any pilot to seek upset recovery training.