Aztec Driver
Line Up and Wait
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.
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.