Aircraft checkouts

[Aztec Driver]

I did two different aircraft checkouts today, considering I probably won't have Twinkie back in time for a trip this weekend.

The first was a DA-40 with a G1000. That aircraft was an absolute joy to fly. Powerful and reasonably fast, yet extremely docile and forgiving. Really comfortable, too. The biggest problem was gleaning all of the pertinent information from the G1000. I believe I could stand 4 hours of that ride.

Then it was on to an old Mooney. C Model. Certainly no comparison when it comes to comfort. Or control feel. The controls on the Mooney were much heavier and stiffer than the Diamond, especially with the "control centering" feature of the Mooney. Vacuum on the control yoke to keep it at the position you want it is interesting, but makes the control feel even heavier, almost like it is fighting you with every control input.

Had decent landings in both aircraft, and am comfortable in both, but the Diamond is, hands down, the nicer of the two aircraft.

 

[BillTIZ]

Interesting comparison.

Re: DA-40, fly it in turbulence, those glider type wings like to move around, some yaw dancing like a V-tailed Bo. It is a nice flying airplane with all the niceties of modern design and electronics.

Re: Mooney. I don't remember the exact model I flew. I do remember a bottom on the yoke to turn off that automatic wing leveler. We kept a very heavy duty rubber band wrapped over that button so as to not be fighting the controls n the traffic pattern.

 

[Aztec Driver]

Interesting comparison.

Re: DA-40, fly it in turbulence, those glider type wings like to move around, some yaw dancing like a V-tailed Bo. It is a nice flying airplane with all the niceties of modern design and electronics.

Actually was pretty windy and bouncy. Wings did bounce a lot more than my twin would, but nothing too drastic.

Re: Mooney. I don't remember the exact model I flew. I do remember a bottom on the yoke to turn off that automatic wing leveler. We kept a very heavy duty rubber band wrapped over that button so as to not be fighting the controls n the traffic pattern.

There is a thumb button for releasing the vacuum, and for most of the maneuvers, I had to keep it pressed in which made it seem like the controls were heavier/less responsive than they actually were. It sure worked well to keep the attitude you have it set for though. Sort of a poor man's wing leveler.

 

[LDJones]

There is a thumb button for releasing the vacuum, and for most of the maneuvers, I had to keep it pressed in which made it seem like the controls were heavier/less responsive than they actually were. It sure worked well to keep the attitude you have it set for though. Sort of a poor man's wing leveler.

That's exactly what it was, and it works well. If you're doing a lot of maneuvering and want to disable, just pull up on that button and it will setup leak that effectively disables it while you're doing those maneuvers.

I still miss my C!