Diamond DA-20 Spins

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jesse

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Jesse
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHEQOXgA9WU

I had some fun in the Diamond on my last flight. The purpose of the flight was to make sure I still knew how to fly after saving up for gastons. Don't want to look like an idiot in front of Tristan :)

I climbed to 6,500 AGL and did several spins all according to the POH. The POH states to do them power off in the clean configuration and recover if the airspeed climbs above 65 knots.

It will enter the spin *a lot* easier than a Cessna 172P. I was unable to get anything more than 2 rotations without it wanting to accelerate past 65 knots. It's a very clean airplane so I didn't want to push my luck staring at the ground. Perhaps it would do better with some power.

After the spins I headed towards a 1900 ft grass strip to make sure I still would know how to land at Gastons. I had to do a big slow pattern waiting for them to drag a glider off the middle of the runway. After that is was a nice hop back to the home field.

Did I mention I love flying?
 
Very nice Jesse, come to NY and you can fly my C-1 anytime. I have spun the 20, but won't do them in mine. I have an auto pilot and don't want to screw up (tumble) the instruments, not good (read could be expensive) with the A/P. Thanks for sharing.
 
Cool video Jess!

I've seen you fly the diamond in real life and you've never scared me. I'm sure the diamond will do just fine at Gastons. Glad you had fun!
 
Tristar said:
I've seen you fly the diamond in real life and you've never scared me.
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That's because you were on the ground and he was in the air ...... ;)

Now flying is a bit like skiing IMO - if you don't push yourself a tad sometimes and scare yourself a bit, you aren't learning as much as you could. Safely and responsibly of course.

Jesse, you.. are.. the.. man.
 
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Chas said:
Now flying is a bit like skiing IMO - if you don't push yourself a tad sometimes and scare yourself a bit, you aren't learning as much as you could. Safely and responsibly of course.
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Unfortunately, some people don't understand that flying without pushing your limits is often more dangerous than flying in a scary situation.

You'll never learn a damn thing flying the same cross countries, the same patterns, the same approaches and the same speeds as you always have.
 
Very cool Jess! A CFI I know said the Diamond is a great spin airplane. BTW How freaking wide was that grass runway it look like 250' it was huge.
 
Ugh. With distributor Andy James in the right seat, stick all the way back, I had to finally say, "Andy, I can't get to spin. I'm going to have to kick it over....".

Kick.

And, over went. And with simply reducing throttle/relaxing pitch, it was out. Didn't require the full Mueller-Beggs regimen.
 
AdamZ said:
Very cool Jess! A CFI I know said the Diamond is a great spin airplane. BTW How freaking wide was that grass runway it look like 250' it was huge.
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1900' x 180'
 
bbchien said:
Ugh. With distributor Andy James in the right seat, stick all the way back, I had to finally say, "Andy, I can't get to spin. I'm going to have to kick it over....".

Kick.

And, over went. And with simply reducing throttle/relaxing pitch, it was out. Didn't require the full Mueller-Beggs regimen.
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Andy was telling me today that they're considering certifying the DA-40XL for spins, since they need to do some additional testing to get the winglets certified anyway.

He's bringing the D-Jet to Clow Sunday. Come on by! Jeff Leeman is here helping out at the booth too!
 
gprellwitz said:
Andy was telling me today that they're considering certifying the DA-40XL for spins, since they need to do some additional testing to get the winglets certified anyway.
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That would be cool although I suspect that there would be no way to get out of the airplane in flight even if you had parachutes on. The canopy opens the opposite direction into the wind.
 
well if you can convince yourself that you can open barn door 172 doors into the wind then you oughtta be able to convince yourself that you can open barn door DA40 canopy into wind.
 
I think so Tim, AFAIK Stanton is the only grass strip airport with glider ops in MN.
 
jesse said:
Yes it is. Nice airport, good people.
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Hmmm, I'll make that my next "nearby" destination. I stumbled on the website a while ago, and wondered if they were friendly (with all the glider traffic) to folks just stopping in.

Tim
 
Tim - ive never met an unfriendly glider guy. unfortunately due to our operation we spend more time on the runway than most of us (and other power pilots) would like, but I certainly wouldnt believe that any of us would intentionally cut anyone off.

be careful stopping at Stanton though. the glider community up there is really good, and if you dont watch out, you'll soon be rated and soaring the summers away.
 
Troska said:
Hmmm, I'll make that my next "nearby" destination. I stumbled on the website a while ago, and wondered if they were friendly (with all the glider traffic) to folks just stopping in.
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If you show up on a good soaring weekend day around 11 AM you can probably catch a glider ride at a nominal cost, just let someone in charge know you're interested. Of course your chances are better if you don't cut a glider off in the pattern:D.
 
Troska said:
Hmmm, I'll make that my next "nearby" destination. I stumbled on the website a while ago, and wondered if they were friendly (with all the glider traffic) to folks just stopping in.

Tim
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Not bad at all. Just start to listen to the CTAF from a distance so you get a feeling for how busy they are. Use whatever runway they are using and keep your eyes open for gliders. The main runway is 2500x200. The crosswind runway is 1900 x 180. 1900 ft is plenty to put a 172 down into if you aren't extremely heavy on a hot day. Just be aware that there isn't much room for float and it would catch some pilots off guard. Really it's no big deal as you can tell in the video.

It's a fun stop though. All kinds of interesting airplanes and people. An old glass bottle style pop machine, candy bars, etc. All of it operates off the honor system with a bucket to throw the appropriate money in.
 
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