DA-20 C1 questions

[david0tey]

Just got checked out in the Diamond DA-20 and love it but have a few questions for anyone with experience.

1. In order for me to turn on the ground, I feel like I am really cramming the brakes down and giving a lot of power. Is this normal? CFI told me you should only need light brake pressure to get it to turn but that doesn't seem to be the case.

2. On takeoff, should I be keeping my toes on the breaks until i pick up airspeed or will the rudder become effective immediately because of the slipstream? I have been using the breaks until i get full power in and pick up some airspeed, then shifting my feet downward to use the rudder.

3. When starting the engine after it has just recently been shut down, do you turn on the primer at all or just the fuel pump? The way I was taught on a cold start is fuel pump on, fuel primer on, full throttle for 2-4 seconds, start, fuel primer off. How should a hot start be done differently?

4. When leaning the mixture at higher altitudes, is there a certain EGT I should be looking for? Whenever I lean it, it never seems to peak and I am uncomfortable leaning it any more. (I would much rather have an excessively rich mixture than no engine)

Thanks.

 

[zaitcev]

(I would much rather have an excessively rich mixture than no engine)

Excessively rich mixture is a good way to end with no engine due to plug fouling. The unpleasant part is, it's going to happen when you do not expect it.

Set yourself high enough to glide to airport should you need it, and then lean gently, but persistently. You'll feel that engine started to stumble long before it quits. After a couple of tries you'll become comfortable with it.

 

[Henning]

Please never step on the breaks at any time, or poke a finger at them. You want to limit your tapping on the brake as well.

 

[david0tey]

Without a steerable nosewheel, there isn't really another option as far as i know.

 

[GeorgeC]

I finish my checkout tomorrow morning.

I found that the rudder woke up surprisingly quickly on the takeoff roll. I'm still getting used to taxiing with the free castering nosewheel.

Per the POH, cold start is 5-10s of priming, warm start is 1-3s, and they want you to lean to 25F ROP for cruise. If you miss the peak, eventually you will start losing RPM; with an inop EGT, you could always lean for max RPM and then enrichen it a little, or lean it until it's rough and enrichen until it's smooth.

 

[KSCessnaDriver]

Please never step on the breaks at any time, or poke a finger at them. You want to limit your tapping on the brake as well.

So how do you propose a minimum turning radius 180?

Quite simply, it takes a bunch of brakes to get the thing turning at slow speed. Taxi a little quicker and I feel that it turned a little better. Take it out on an icy ramp to really learn to taxi it.

 

[RyanShort1]

Just got checked out in the Diamond DA-20 and love it but have a few questions for anyone with experience.

1. In order for me to turn on the ground, I feel like I am really cramming the brakes down and giving a lot of power. Is this normal? CFI told me you should only need light brake pressure to get it to turn but that doesn't seem to be the case.

In the DA-20, you DO need to use the brakes (note correct spelling) in order to turn. The aircraft has a free-castering nosewheel that can travel up to 60 degrees and the ONLY way to turn is with judicious application of the brakes. that said, if you are having to cram down very hard, you may be low on fluid, or have pads that are getting thin. I'd make very sure to check those brake pads carefully as part of the pre-flight since it is the only way you will be steering on the ground.

2. On takeoff, should I be keeping my toes on the breaks until i pick up airspeed or will the rudder become effective immediately because of the slipstream? I have been using the breaks until i get full power in and pick up some airspeed, then shifting my feet downward to use the rudder.

Use the brakes to get the aircraft rolling straight, make sure you are using good crosswind technique, and only use brakes on the takeoff roll if absolutely necessary. It's weird, but without nosewheel steering and with a relatively small rudder, that's what you do.

3. When starting the engine after it has just recently been shut down, do you turn on the primer at all or just the fuel pump? The way I was taught on a cold start is fuel pump on, fuel primer on, full throttle for 2-4 seconds, start, fuel primer off. How should a hot start be done differently?

Have you read the AFM for the aircraft? There are published procedures for starting hot vs. cold. Check section 4 in the AFM...
On another note, if you are being checked out in the aircraft, but not being pointed to the AFM, then you might want to double check EVERYTHING with the AFM in case your instructor isn't doing his due diligence.

4. When leaning the mixture at higher altitudes, is there a certain EGT I should be looking for? Whenever I lean it, it never seems to peak and I am uncomfortable leaning it any more. (I would much rather have an excessively rich mixture than no engine)

Thanks.

I've flown a DA-20 to 11,000' over mountains (and landed at 7,000' in a valley) and the engine will DIE there if you don't lean it properly. Again, look to the AFM and an instructor who understands the topic.

This is an opinion, not official advise...

Ryan

 

[jstro]

Just got checked out in the Diamond DA-20 and love it but have a few questions for anyone with experience.

2. On takeoff, should I be keeping my toes on the breaks until i pick up airspeed or will the rudder become effective immediately because of the slipstream? I have been using the breaks until i get full power in and pick up some airspeed, then shifting my feet downward to use the rudder.

My experience with the DA20 is that I never needed to use toe brake steering on take off. I did, however, often need to use full right rudder upon starting the take off roll, and it didn't take long for the rudder effectiveness to pick up.

 

[KSCessnaDriver]

I've flown a DA-20 to 11,000' over mountains (and landed at 7,000' in a valley) and the engine will DIE there if you don't lean it properly. Again, look to the AFM and an instructor who understands the topic.

One of the DA-20's I flew I regularly had the mixture darn near idle cutoff to lean the engine properly. Might have been rigged wrong, or could be like that in all of them. Was concerning at first, but I got used to it.

 

[gibda989]

Old post but the hot start that works every time is...

FP and Primer switches on (don't prime at all with the throttle)
throttle idle
mix rich
start
reduce mix to full lean immediately and then slowly advance it again until engine starts to turn over.
mags back to both and advance to full mixture
throttle for 1000rpm (basically remains at idle position)

 

[bobmrg]

Just got checked out in the Diamond DA-20 and love it but have a few questions for anyone with experience.

1. In order for me to turn on the ground, I feel like I am really cramming the brakes down and giving a lot of power. Is this normal? CFI told me you should only need light brake pressure to get it to turn but that doesn't seem to be the case.

2. On takeoff, should I be keeping my toes on the breaks until i pick up airspeed or will the rudder become effective immediately because of the slipstream? I have been using the breaks until i get full power in and pick up some airspeed, then shifting my feet downward to use the rudder.

3. When starting the engine after it has just recently been shut down, do you turn on the primer at all or just the fuel pump? The way I was taught on a cold start is fuel pump on, fuel primer on, full throttle for 2-4 seconds, start, fuel primer off. How should a hot start be done differently?

4. When leaning the mixture at higher altitudes, is there a certain EGT I should be looking for? Whenever I lean it, it never seems to peak and I am uncomfortable leaning it any more. (I would much rather have an excessively rich mixture than no engine)

Thanks.

Sob. I hate it when pilots are afraid of the mixture control simply because it is used to shut the engine down at the completion of flight. My solution was to take my students up to a decent altitude and slowly retard the mixture until the engine quit...then all I had to do was push the red knob in to get it started again. As the mix approaches idle cutoff you will get plenty of sound and vibration warnings.

The performance charts in your AFM are based on proper leaning...if you are happy with an excessively rich mixture you will never be able to trust your fuel burn calculations (plus the plug fouling problem).

Bob Gardner

 

[PPC1052]

I learned to fly in this plane. Great plane.

Just got checked out in the Diamond DA-20 and love it but have a few questions for anyone with experience.

1. In order for me to turn on the ground, I feel like I am really cramming the brakes down and giving a lot of power. Is this normal?

Yes. Particularly if you are stopped and the nose wheel is pointing the opposite of the way you want to turn.

2. On takeoff, should I be keeping my toes on the breaks until i pick up airspeed or will the rudder become effective immediately because of the slipstream?

Take your toes off the brakes entirely once you give full power to take off. You don't need the breaks for steering dut to the slip stream.