Finally free from the grasps of assignments (but not quite exams!), I can finally write about the flying that I’ve done during October. It’s been a fairly good month as far as the weather is concerned; windy, but not too much, and relatively dry.

The last few lessons have been mostly revision flying. Most of the time was spent drilling the circuit pattern and working on softening up my landings.  Needless to say,  my landings still suck! I really need to be not so scared of the ground and flare a lot later – I think I’m flaring too early causing my plane to stall some distance to the ground. However, my instructor says that my circuits and approach have been generally quite nice other than the fact that I need to watch my airspeed on final. I also had a lesson where I revised stalling and incipient spin recovery.

I was also introduced to glide approaches, where the engine power is pulled at some point late downwind. Obviously, this is to simulate an engine failure in the circuit (or anywhere else for that matter). The drill is to (simultaneously) get the plane into a best glide attitude (i.e., 65kt), trim and run through the engine failure checklist which is CFM (carby heat, fuel/oil, master/magnetos/mixture). At the same time, depending on current altitude, the circuit would either be abbreviated or completed as normal.

Needless to say, my glide approaches still suck. I think I’ve only made the runway threshold once. At least I’m making the field, though…something to work on anyway. I need to learn how to judge how much I need to abbreviate the circuit by in order to come in with a good approach and not fall just short of the threshold (there’s still runway as its a displaced threshold).

I was also taught a technique that I can use in case I need to have a flapless approach (due to flap failure or similar) called sideslipping. This is where the controls are crossed intentionally to create additional drag in lieu of flaps (they shouldn’t be used together). To do one, I’d roll using aileron and counter the yaw by using opposite rudder. I’ve found that quite a bit of rudder (almost full deflection) seems to be the right amount for not a huge amount of aileron. Also, I still haven’t quite worked out which direction I should be deflecting the rudder/ailerons in relation to the prevailing wind, but my guess would be aileron pointing to the direction of wind and rudder the opposite.

Diamond Star DA40 - VH-END
Diamond Star DA40 – VH-END

I also had the opportunity to sit in the Diamond DA40 that Tristar operate with Bradley, one of my brother’s friends who is currently pursuing his CPL, at the controls. This was a brand new plane complete with glass cockpit and composite airframe. Sadly, I don’t have any photos of the really shmick interior, but it is very nice. Also, being a low-wing, I had my first experience of getting into one…climbing onto the wing felt a little strange especially with the kind of weight I’m carrying around. I was slightly worried that it would fall off! The flight control was a joystick between the legs (it sticks out of the seats) which made climbing into it whilst avoiding a collision in that general region interesting. However, once buckled in and on the move, I was absolutely gobsmacked at the technology in the aircraft; millions of different things happening on those two glass displays. After taking off on runway 17R, we headed to the training area. The canopy of the Diamond gave excellent visibility and, as a passenger and not having to worry about flying the aircraft, I had an opportunity to really admire the views around Moorabbin. I’m still kicking myself for not bringing a camera!

Brad showed me some of the features of the aircraft, including how well it climbed when pitched up hard (and not stalling in the process!), its turning performance and the auto-pilot. I must say, after paxing on the DA40, that I’m thoroughly hooked on this aircraft and will work towards an endorsement on it after I get my PPL!