Not much time tonight (Cub Scouts, etc.), but I wanted to test out the new plane. First impression - this is a much more complicated plane than the others I've flown, even the Skylane. It's not just a Skylane with retractable gear in other words. The start-up and pre-flight procedures are much more involved and will take a while to learn.
In fact, I had shut down the engine (it's always on with FSX starts) and then could not get it restarted! I had to reload the flight and just skip that part for now so I could fly.
That all being said, the plane handled easily on the ground and the engine just sounds fantastic, like a muscle car or something (low throaty rumble and all that). It's a 540+ cubic inch fuel injected engine, so I guess it should sound good!
Take-off was also a breeze and the plane handled easily once airborne. Plus it just looks amazing:
I took off from Cape Girardeau and headed South, climbing to 2000 feet before leveling off and doing some turns. In this next image, you can see the airport in the background:
After a few minutes, I turned back and requested clearance to land. I had to join the pattern behind another plane, but otherwise had no problems. Trimming the plane down to landing speed was easy and it handled very well all the way to the ground:
My distance is good and I'm just a little left of center as I touch down. Not bad for my first landing in a new plane. Total test flight time - 23 minutes.I'll be doing more test flights in this area before I head back to Dalton. I really need to plan out a series of test to practice taking off and landing, learn how to use the radios, GPS, autopilot, etc.
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