DC34ME
Pre-takeoff checklist
2 years ago I bought a beautiful Debonair, a big step up from my previous Cessna 150. I wanted something that felt like the large twins I had become accustomed to in my prior occupation of "right" seating in B350s and both seats of a Navajo. I longed for that professional feel. I wanted something that would haul at least four, with baggage, and at a reasonable pace. The Debby has been a champ even at the borderline of CG tolerance. Two dudes up front, two women in the back, and 20 pounds each baggage shoved as far forward as possible. 1,100 pounds has been the max flown thus far, well under max and within the C.G. chart.
Things change, we evolve, succeed, and find ourselves in a very different circumstance.
I now live at a private grass runway that has been measured 2,500 feet long. I have been flying out of this strip since I first started taking official lessons 14 years ago. Soloed at 16 blah blah, eventually made my way up to turboprops and got hired with the FAA as a ZTL (Atlanta Center) controller and don't actually work for a living according to some people.
With that being said, I have flown a Piper Aztec out of this grass field with more confidence. It is an up hill north departure only because of high trees at the south end. You could land here in a C-130 without much worry with our 150 foot wide pasture and steep gradient. Every time I depart in the Debonair it is a battle of making the aborting point. I swear it just barely breaks ground every time. Summer temperatures and DA are only a problem here for maybe 3 months out of a year. I find myself in search of a better short field performer that can do a 2 hour flight to the southeastern coast to my parents or good food. With baggage. It is probably too much to ask but I think a C180/182 would do it, even with 2 american sized (185lbs.) men and 2 petite (sub 120lbs.) american womerns in the rear, plus booze/baggage and a small dog.
I I have a nice hangar at KOPN, but I want to live with my plane. I think I need to sell and find a Cessna 182 or if the price is right a C180. Talk me into/out of my debonair and i will hear any input you have. The family strip is perfect for a C180/182, and not so great for a Debonair unless you have 20 gallons a side and no passengers....
Things change, we evolve, succeed, and find ourselves in a very different circumstance.
I now live at a private grass runway that has been measured 2,500 feet long. I have been flying out of this strip since I first started taking official lessons 14 years ago. Soloed at 16 blah blah, eventually made my way up to turboprops and got hired with the FAA as a ZTL (Atlanta Center) controller and don't actually work for a living according to some people.
With that being said, I have flown a Piper Aztec out of this grass field with more confidence. It is an up hill north departure only because of high trees at the south end. You could land here in a C-130 without much worry with our 150 foot wide pasture and steep gradient. Every time I depart in the Debonair it is a battle of making the aborting point. I swear it just barely breaks ground every time. Summer temperatures and DA are only a problem here for maybe 3 months out of a year. I find myself in search of a better short field performer that can do a 2 hour flight to the southeastern coast to my parents or good food. With baggage. It is probably too much to ask but I think a C180/182 would do it, even with 2 american sized (185lbs.) men and 2 petite (sub 120lbs.) american womerns in the rear, plus booze/baggage and a small dog.
I I have a nice hangar at KOPN, but I want to live with my plane. I think I need to sell and find a Cessna 182 or if the price is right a C180. Talk me into/out of my debonair and i will hear any input you have. The family strip is perfect for a C180/182, and not so great for a Debonair unless you have 20 gallons a side and no passengers....
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