iWantWings
Pre-takeoff checklist
Recently a friend has asked if I wanted to go fly with him in a Diamond DA 40 - an offer I wasn't gonna give up.
From the right seat I got to fly some of the climb, cruise and descent phases of the flight - was thrilled to do that as I've often read about the DA40 with interest and had never seen one in "real life" before.
The first thing I noticed during the walk-around was how "smooth" and "free of parasite drag" the surface of the plane was. I mean, I'm used to the rivets that decorate a C172, but this DA40 was smooth like an egg; and it had wings. The height of the T-Tail was quite impressive: I'm used to lightly moving the elevator of hte C172 during the preflight, but this thing thing towers way up there.
Once inside, the seats were firm, but comfortable - I like that much. Quite snug, actually. That, combined with a more feet-forward seating position, made it feel like a race car (only thing missing was a 5-point harness
) (an off-beat comparison: this makes me appreciate even more the interior space of the little cessna skycather - it, i think, had just as much, if not more, lateral space compared to the DA40).
Oh, and you climb in by stepping over the front of the leading edge, unlike some other low wings).
The between-legs stick made me grin like a fool - i tought i was going to be a fighter pilot.
The visibility was outstanding: totally unobstructed, 180* view with good forward over the panel view.
After engine sart I was impressed how relatively quiet it was at idle, at 1000 RPM, compared to the C172s I had flown mostly during training (I think the engine is an IO-360 with 180 HP, variable pitch prop).
The differenatial braking and free castoring nose wheel I was used to from the cessna skycatcher, it was pretty "normal", not difficult; for me it does require a bit of "foresight" and planning during taxi to avoid certain turns that would require added power and puping the brakes to get some tight turns).
Takeoff and climbs were very smooth -and it climbed nicely at a little over 1100 FPM with full fuel and about 290 lbs pilot and myself combined. At some point towards the 9,500 cruise altitude (the DA was a little higher), we climbed at 500 fpm and about 98 KIAS. (I wish i had remembered to look at the prop setting - don't know what my friend had set it to during climb).
Some of the many wonders of the G1000 was the traffic alert: gladly the other planes were in sight before teh aural and visual alert. Very nice to have though (but there was nearby traffic not reported - maybe their mode C transpoder was not picked up?).
There was very little pressure required to control the plane with the stick: two fingers is all it took (there was no electric trim, yeiy, but a mechanical wheel trim within easy reach on the center column between the seats).
I didn't do any of the two landings, probably a good thing, as my friend had the controls from pattern to touchdown. But I had a strange feeling that the plane was more "mushy" and "wobbly" at 72-74 KIAS than the C172 would feel. I could totally be wrong, but it felt to me that way; i also wasnt on the controls at that speed during the portion of the landing so maybe it was just my impression since i was sitting "idle".
So these were some of my first impresions. I really wish my school had a DA40 like this. Not sure exactly what DA40 model this was, but it had the (I?)O-360 engine, fuel injected with variable pitch prop, G1000 (about 200 hrs on the tach). The non-block rate was $158/hr; that would prolly not make it a frequent flyer for me, but occasionally it would be nice to have.
From the right seat I got to fly some of the climb, cruise and descent phases of the flight - was thrilled to do that as I've often read about the DA40 with interest and had never seen one in "real life" before.
The first thing I noticed during the walk-around was how "smooth" and "free of parasite drag" the surface of the plane was. I mean, I'm used to the rivets that decorate a C172, but this DA40 was smooth like an egg; and it had wings. The height of the T-Tail was quite impressive: I'm used to lightly moving the elevator of hte C172 during the preflight, but this thing thing towers way up there.
Once inside, the seats were firm, but comfortable - I like that much. Quite snug, actually. That, combined with a more feet-forward seating position, made it feel like a race car (only thing missing was a 5-point harness
) (an off-beat comparison: this makes me appreciate even more the interior space of the little cessna skycather - it, i think, had just as much, if not more, lateral space compared to the DA40).Oh, and you climb in by stepping over the front of the leading edge, unlike some other low wings).
The between-legs stick made me grin like a fool - i tought i was going to be a fighter pilot
.The visibility was outstanding: totally unobstructed, 180* view with good forward over the panel view.
After engine sart I was impressed how relatively quiet it was at idle, at 1000 RPM, compared to the C172s I had flown mostly during training (I think the engine is an IO-360 with 180 HP, variable pitch prop).
The differenatial braking and free castoring nose wheel I was used to from the cessna skycatcher, it was pretty "normal", not difficult; for me it does require a bit of "foresight" and planning during taxi to avoid certain turns that would require added power and puping the brakes to get some tight turns).
Takeoff and climbs were very smooth -and it climbed nicely at a little over 1100 FPM with full fuel and about 290 lbs pilot and myself combined. At some point towards the 9,500 cruise altitude (the DA was a little higher), we climbed at 500 fpm and about 98 KIAS. (I wish i had remembered to look at the prop setting - don't know what my friend had set it to during climb).
Some of the many wonders of the G1000 was the traffic alert: gladly the other planes were in sight before teh aural and visual alert. Very nice to have though (but there was nearby traffic not reported - maybe their mode C transpoder was not picked up?).
There was very little pressure required to control the plane with the stick: two fingers is all it took (there was no electric trim, yeiy, but a mechanical wheel trim within easy reach on the center column between the seats).
I didn't do any of the two landings, probably a good thing, as my friend had the controls from pattern to touchdown. But I had a strange feeling that the plane was more "mushy" and "wobbly" at 72-74 KIAS than the C172 would feel. I could totally be wrong, but it felt to me that way; i also wasnt on the controls at that speed during the portion of the landing so maybe it was just my impression since i was sitting "idle".
So these were some of my first impresions. I really wish my school had a DA40 like this. Not sure exactly what DA40 model this was, but it had the (I?)O-360 engine, fuel injected with variable pitch prop, G1000 (about 200 hrs on the tach). The non-block rate was $158/hr; that would prolly not make it a frequent flyer for me, but occasionally it would be nice to have.
