If one were to take a look at my logbook, or even the posts here, one would not find very many manufacturers listed. With one exception - a Piper Cherokee - you won't find anything other than Cessna. For the longest time I stuck with what I was used to, but recent plans and a nudge from Phil made me reconsider.
I was told that I should look into a Diamond, and more specifically, the DA40. Since some of my flying has been more destination-based for time building, a faster aircraft would be desirable to make the trips cheaper. While the DA40 rents for just about $20 more per hour than the C172R I normally fly, it also flies at least 20 knots faster. For longer flights, that actually saves me a little money. Since I have a few major cross country flights coming up, the math worked out such that getting checked out in the DA40 made sense, so I went for it.
I had intended to book the flight for today, but somehow ended up booking it for Sunday. When I showed up at the airport, I was met with "hey - what are you doing here today?" As it turned out, I made a mistake when booking the flight, and booked it for tomorrow. Luckily, the plane was available and Tim was able to fit in one more flight before calling it quits for the day.
Since I'd done the written exam portion of the checkout beforehand, I was able to save that time and jump right onto the preflight. Even though I'd read the checklists several times over, even some of the simpler tasks seemed more difficult as I hadn't worked with the plane directly. I could run through all of the things that were different, but I'll just say that even finding the pitot tube was somewhat of a challenge at first. Differences aside, I was able to finish the preflight just as Tim was walking out.
Starting the plane is very similar to C172R models in terms of priming the engine, but taxiing was rather different, as steering is accomplished via differential braking. The runup was only slightly different as that's where flap operation and the constant speed prop are tested. Taking off, however, was very different. Without nosewheel steering, keeping the nose on the centerline was a challenge. The rudder pedals that power the giant rudder have a much longer throw than the Cessnas I'm used to, and I wasn't adding as much rudder as I could have.
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| Image from DiamondAircraft.com |
Since we were getting closer to the time we needed to have the aircraft back, I brought the plane back to Leesburg (JYO) for a final landing. That landing was similarly smooth, ending the flight on a nice high note.
After shutting down and walking inside, Tim and I recounted the flight just to make sure I had the numbers right. Apparently the way in which I recounted my landings - "first was missed, second sucked, third was nice, and fourth was nice" - drew a laugh out of a lady who was working at a nearby table in the terminal. The people using the plane next walked up right as we were about to leave, which helped us avoid walking back out to the box to drop it in there.
While I didn't unleash my array of electronics on this flight, I'll have them next time.
That plane is awesome.
Hours:
Pilot in Command Cross Country (PIC XC): 0.0 - 76.2 (of 50)
Actual/Simulated Instrument (Act/Sim): 0.0 - 10.5 (of 40)
