Originally, I was scheduled to go fly this afternoon at 1, with the promise of a bit more basic maneuvering, and the real fun… landing practice. Unfortunately, a bit of a kink developed. I was awakened this morning my my buzzing phone. You know how sometimes, when you wake up, you’re in that really stupid state? That was me. I had understanding that the phone was ringing, and that Scott’s name was on it, but somehow I couldn’t make the necessary mental connection to actually answer the thing. But once I came to my senses, I gave Scott a call back.
Enter the bad news. 546DC was stuck in Dahlonega, GA, with a flat tire. Since that’s the only plane Advanced has at PDK, that meant the previous plans were kaput. But Scott made me an offer that was hard to refuse- some flight time in his Vans RV-7A. After hesitating a bit, I took him up on the offer. A quick shower and a short drive later, and I was out at PDK. Scott wanted to fly up to Dahlonega to check out 546DC. Fine with me!
As you might expect, the RV is quite different from the DA20; lighter, more powerful engine, short stubby wings… definitely lots more performance. My first learning experience of the day was Scott demonstrating the necessity of right rudder just after takeoff. As we were climbing through a few hundred feet, it went something like this: “Now, as I mentioned, you need that right rudder to keep the plane straight or else this “-[airplane suddenly yaws about 20 degrees left]-” will happen.” That was a pretty convincing demonstration.
Then Scott gave the plane to me, and I immediately started overcontrolling like crazy. The RV takes a lot less control pressure than the Diamond, and I was all over the sky for a few minutes before I got the hang of it. Scott took a few minutes to demonstrate the RV’s maneuverability, which was a drastic change from my gradual banks and pulls. The RV rolls fast and feels great. We also did a couple of steep turns- my first was pretty ugly, but on the second, I maintained altitude pretty well.
Dahlonega is stuck right in the foot of the north GA mountains, and a short-field landing is necessary; there’s a ridge on approach that’s a bit unnerving. In fact, as we were on final, there were ridges above us on the right and left. We took a quick look at 546DC, topped off the RV (gas is about $2 more at PDK), and then I got a short-field takeoff demo, which demonstrated that the RV climbs… well, fast doesn’t quite seem to cover it. On the way back, I got a bit of experience using the PDK VOR for navigation; I’d flown off VORs before in FSX, and found the real thing to be easier, if anything.
Back at PDK, there was a glimmer of hope for the day: the DA20 at Advanced’s LZU location was reserved up to 5, which would allow us to get in an hour or so of pattern work if I so desired. Only downside is that I’d have to make the 30-minute drive to LZU. I decided it was worth it. Something about the idea of practicing landings makes me feel like real pilot, and I’m eager to give it a whirl. So I’ll relax a bit at home, and then go fly some more. Hopefully I can get in some time this week or next weekend as well.
