Checked Out In A New Aircraft
It has been awhile since my last entry. Since I lasted blogged I've flown a few times.
I took another night flight across to the west side of the area, landing at Fort Worth Meacham Airport (KFTW). Then On the return leg, I requested transition of Class B airspace, which was granted, and got to fly among the big boys. I was routed to the north end of Dallas-Ft. Worth International (KDFW) and overflew the approaches to 17 runways from east to west. After that I was routed to the southeast to get close to Dallas Love Field (KDAL) and overflew the approach end of runway 13 at KDAL. The entire time, American MD-80's and Southwest 737's and learjets and the like were passing underneath me. It also felt kinda cool to be in contact with Approach Control for that long of a time and get calls to change headings regularly. It made me feel like a real pilot.
A week or two later I went down to Mesquite Metro (KHQZ) to meet with Chris, my best friend from high school (who just so happens to live in Dallas), and introduce him to flight in a single-engine piston aircraft. We took off from KHQZ after a quick meet and greet with his wife and kids, and overflew his east Dallas home. Then up north to the frisco/prosper area for the standard tour. Then a quick touch-and-go at McKinney (KTKI) then back to KHQZ to drop Chris back. We got a chance to talk a bit and catch up and fly.
Last week I made a quick solo flight at night where I tried and aborted two attempted touch-and-goes at Caddo Mills (7F3) before giving up and returning back to KTKI. Then I took another friend, Tim, up for his first time in a Cessna in anticipation of a cross-country with Tim and the lovely Mrs. Dirk L'Orange to Austin to attend a University of Texas football game. Tim handled it well, had a lot of fun and we're all looking forward to the trip on 8 Nov.
On Tuesday, this past week, Robert and I flew to Arlington Municipal Airport (KGKY) via Mesquite (KHQZ) and Lancaster (KLNC) and took a crew car up to the Arlington Sheraton to see Phil Boyer (president of the AOPA) speak at a Pilot Town Hall. It was fun and interesting and gave us material for a new website that Robert came up with to rate crew cars from various GA airports. The website is http://crewcars.blogspot.com, if you're interested.
Finally today, I drove up to Denton Municipal Aiport (KDTO) to fly in get checked out in a Diamond Star DA40. For those of you who are not familiar, it's really cool looking airplane and it flies really smoothly. Even in turbulence, the plane wants to fly pretty true. The wings don't pop up on you nearly as much as they might in a Cessna 172. It flies faster and is a low wing aircraft, but the approach speeds are almost the same as the 172. This is also the first time I flew in an airplane with a constant speed propeller. There are a few rules to keep in mind and some additional checks on the engine run up before flying but in general it's not that difficult to fly. This plane had a stick instead of a control yoke, it was pretty easy and fun to fly with. Also, the visibility in the plane was outstanding. All in all, I'm going to enjoy flying in it again. It's a lot o fun.
Next scheduled flight, probably a refresher with my instructor before I go on the long cross-country and then to Austin-Bergstram International Airport (KAUS).
