Mark's Pilot Log

I had my first checkout flight in a club plane this evening. We flew the 172R. Now, those who know me know that I don't care for Cessnas too much, but this plane is absolutely the best plane I've ever flown. It's smooth, comfortable, and quiet (for a GA plane). I was absolutely amazed. I think it may just end up being my standard local flying aircraft. It has an autopilot that is coupled to the GPS or number one VOR. It can also just follow the bug on the DG or be a simple wing leveler (its default mode). It's simple to use and actually works (unlike the autopilots on the Archer and Cherokee Six the Meteor's had).

I didn't get a chance to play with GPS. It's an older Bendix/King model, but it shouldn't be too difficult to figure out. The dual Nav/Coms are Bendix/King KX155As, which I had never used before (we had KX155s in the Meteor's planes; I hadn't known that there was much of a difference), give you bearing to/from the tuned in VOR, as well as the standard flip-flop tuning that you get with the KX155. I haven't learned everything it does yet, but it's pretty cool.

The thing that amazed me most about it was how solid it felt compared to all the other Cessnas I've flown. I'm completely amazed at how much I like this plane.

I did my checkout flight in the club's Piper Saratoga today. Most of the time was spent messing with the GPS and autopilot. I've never used an autopilot with altitude hold before. It's actually a little disconcerting at first, but once you get used to it, it's pretty cool. It will definitely make a long trip less tiring.

And of course, the Garmin 430 is pretty awesome too. I just wish there was a way to store a flight plan in a handheld like the 295 and sync it to the panel mount.

I finished my checkout in the club's Saratoga today. Today's flight was all about flying the plane close to maximum gross. I've had plenty of experience flying PA32-300's near max gross, but the club rules don't account for that, so I had to do it all.

So, we filled up the tanks, found a couple of "sandbags" to sit in the back seats, and took off. Other than the obvious take offs and landings, we also did some medium bank turns and slow flight. We finished off with a no-flap landing, which I hadn't done in any plane in many years (I know, shame on me). By the end I was pretty tired, so the no-flap landing was pretty ugly, but safe.

So know I'm all set for vacation in June. Unfortunately, the plane is scheduled to get a new engine right before we're supposed to leave...