The Training Most Pilots Avoid

At first glance, this Citabria looks like a classic, low-and-slow taildragger, exactly the kind of airplane you’d expect to see on a Sunday hamburger run. But there’s much more to it than a pretty profile. In this video, I sit down with Don Bradley of Foothill Flight Center, my former CFI, to explore how this beautifully restored Citabria 7ECA is being used as a powerful training tool for upset prevention, spin training, and envelope-expansion flying. We talk about why most general aviation pilots rarely train beyond basic 1G flight and how structured training at the edges of the envelope can dramatically improve confidence and decision-making in the cockpit. You’ll see in-flight footage of stalls, spins, and aerobatic maneuvers that help put those concepts into context. This isn’t about chasing thrills. It’s about understanding the airplane, respecting the edges of the envelope, and knowing how to respond when flying gets uncomfortable. If you enjoy thoughtful aviation stories, pilot interviews, and real-world flying experiences, please consider subscribing to SilvaAdventures for more. Key links mentioned in this video: Foothill Flight Center - Northern California Flight Training - Tailwheel, Upset Prevention and Recovery https://foothillflightcenter.com/ Foothill Flight Center now offers Upset Prevention and Recovery Training (UPRT), working with the Upset Prevention and Recovery Training Network. Pete "Vapor" Reddan, Vapor Global Aviation - Flight Training, Upset Prevention and Recovery https://vaporglobalaviation.com/about Mike "Cuckoo" Kloch, Specialized Aeroworks - Flight Training, Upset Prevention and Recovery https://www.specializedaeroworks.com/... Chapters: 0:00 Intro 0:44 Don Bradley Introduction 1:39 Going Beyond 1G flying 2:15 Why an Airplane Wing Stalls 3:11 Expanding the Envelope for Pilots 3:38 Training CFIs 4:22 Using a Citabria 7ECA for Upset Prevention & Recovery Training 5:40 Buying this Citabria 6:31 Specifications and Upgrades for this Citabria 7:37 Students Response to the training? 8:55 The Serious Side of this Pretty Face Music by TrackTribe    / @tracktribe   Images from Wikimedia: Stall Diagram image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Stall Wind capture image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Shot with the following cameras: Canon R10 Insta360 X5 GoPro Hero 8 #Citabria #Tailwheel #GeneralAviation #UPRT #SpinTraining #PilotTraining #AviationSafety #SilvaAdventures #UpsetRecoveryandPreventionTraining #UpsetRecovery