Aircraft Checkout

So it has been a while since I have flown last.  With the Cirrus sold back in May, I have flown only one time and that was during my biannual flight review/DA40 checkout at Boeing Field.  I was pretty excited about that flight since I had about 35 hours in a DA40 already and I really like the aircraft.  Unfortunately, the flight school at Boeing Field that has the Diamonds treats flying like a self-licking ice cream cone or herpes in that it’s like the gift that keeps on giving (in a negative sort of way).  First off their prices are pretty steep at $180/hr wet, but on top of that there is a $30 “fuel surcharge”, so you’re really looking at $210/hr.  I rented a like new DA40 in Kansas City that was $155/hr.  What irked me even more is that you have to do a checkride to rent the aircraft, a checkride to fly at night, and a checkride to fly IFR.  It doesn’t matter how current you are or how much you fly, they just want to milk more money out of you and I just don’t agree with that.  The planes are decent, but pretty well used and the whole organization made me feel kind of dirty the way they do business, so I continued to look elsewhere. 

As I looked around I came across a really awesome flight school with great aircraft, great prices, great atmosphere, and an ownership attitude that is committed to helping people to fly.  They have a great fleet of aircraft (3x C162s, 1x C172 with steam gauges, 1x C172 G1000, 1x PA28RT, 1x American Champ Taildragger/float plane, and a nice Red Bird Simulator).  Although I have been trying to get scheduled in the C172 G1000 now for over two months, its limited availability due to all the private pilots renting it (very popular) it’s almost impossible to get.  I have had it scheduled twice, but had to cancel due to IFR weather and you can’t do an aircraft checkout in IMC.  My IFR also lapse, so I have to get that current again before I can actually fly in the IFR system again.  I did notice though that the Arrow isn’t flown very much and since I have over 150hrs in an Arrow, I thought that might be the ticket for me.  Hourly price on the Arrow was only $145/hr wet which was also a pretty good deal for a complex aircraft.  Arrows are fairly fast and this one has semi-updated avionics (new GTN750), and a descent useful load that would allow me to fly the family around since this aircraft is available for overnight travel. 

So today I met up with my instructor Jack and we talked a bit, did preflight and went out and did some air work.  Jack is a pretty knowledgeable instructor and pretty laid back, so we got along well.  After flying around a bit and showing me all the landmarks we came in and did three touch and go’s and the checkride was complete.  It was probably the easiest checkride I have done to date, but then again I used to fly an Arrow a lot, so it came back fairly quickly.  One thing that will take some time though is working on my instrument scan.  Being that my last 614 hours have been behind glass cockpits, I find I’m a bit lost going back to steam gauges again.  This of course will come back with more time in the plane, so I’m not too worried about it.

Although the plane is ok, I must admit, my Arrow seemed like it was much newer than this one even though it was 13 years older.  Mine had 2500 fewer hours on it and was really like new inside and out.  The new GPS in this Arrow was pretty awesome and the paint looks great on the plane, but he interior definitely needs some work and all of the systems seem to be real stiff and tough to move.  Rudder, throttle, prop, mixture, yoke all felt real heavy and tough to move.  Maybe I have just gotten used to how easy the Cirrus flies and how responsive it is to inputs, but this thing felt like I was flying a truck.  This particular Arrow being built in 1980 is a PA28RT, a T-Tail and that might have something to do with it too.  I had always heard that they fly a bit different and I would seem to agree with that.  I really noticed it when trying to land in that I seemed like I kept running out of elevator when flaring and had a difficult time getting the nose up.  Jack said that my landings were better than most and had no issues, but to me they just felt crappy, so I will have to work on those a bit to get them perfect.  I guess flying the Arrow again will take some getting used to, but regardless it was really great to be flying again.  I miss the freedom and challenge of flying and I look forward to getting some more time in the Arrow to get familiar with its quirks and then it will be time to do a Instrument Proficiency Check (IPC) and get back my IFR privileges again.  Life is good!