I got checked out in another aircraft this week...
I hadn't expected to actually get checked out, I just thought I'd go up for an orientation with an instructor, but apparently, the practice I'd been doing in the 182 yielded additional benefit. Speaks to one of those sayings from the old DataFlow days: "the definition of luck is when preparedness meets opportunity."
When we were told a number of months ago that our CAP squadron was going to become part of a group of units that would be included in a rotation of multiple aircraft including a C172, a C182 round dial, a C182 glass, and a Cessna 206, I made the time to complete the CAP aircraft questionnaire for the 206 in addition to the C182 round dial. I also printed out a CAP Form 5 to have whenever I was ready for my abbreviated Form 5 for the 206. I didn't end up flying the 206 when it was here a couple of months ago, but I did put the forms in my binder. Here's are some links ( photo1 photo2 ) to photographs of the plane I flew.
I hadn't planned to fly the 206 when it was here last week, but one of the CAP instructor / check pilots encouraged me to do so. So, I scheduled some time with one of the other instructor pilots, unaware that he had recently been promoted to check pilot.
Well, long story short, preparedness met opportunity, and I am now qualified to fly four CAP aircraft: C172P, C172S, C182 and U206.
In case you're wondering why it is a U206 instead of a C206, the designation is used to differentiate that this particular aircraft has the cargo door configuration rather than the more typical passenger configuration. The aircraft is still set up for carrying passengers (co-pilot plus three in the back) it just has a big pair of cargo doors on the passenger side so that the aircraft could be easily reconfigured to haul cargo.
In terms of differences between the 206 and the 182, the 206 has a 500 pound greater gross weight (3600 pounds), two extra seats, and a higher horsepower engine (300HP). I found that I had to be more aware of the rudder than in the 172 or 182 - not only on takeoff, but any time I changed power settings or pitch. The pitch attitude needed to maintain best glide airspeed with full flaps and power off is steeper than the 182. After takeoff, not only must the power be reduced to bring the manifold pressure into the green, but the prop must be brought back to bring the RPM into the green. Because of the high RPM of the propeller at low pitch, the blade tips actually go supersonic, so the airplane is quite noisy at takeoff. But, what was most surprising to me was that after about half an hour of flying the 206, I forgot that I was flying a 206 - it just became flying another airplane - and that was a WAY cool feeling.
The highlight of my day was learning and performing a 360° overhead approach (also referred to as a "low break"). In this maneuver, you start by passing over the runway threshold, on runway heading, level at pattern altitude. This maneuver is often used by military aircraft, and varies a bit depending on the aircraft you are flying. In the case of the 206, as soon as you cross the numbers, you then cut power and begin a moderately steep left hand descending turn. If you execute the maneuver correctly, you end up rolling out back onto runway heading with just enough altitude left to drop flaps and then flare. I didn't quite get it on my first attempt, but I got it on the second try and it was WAY COOL! Here's a link to a YouTube video showing the maneuver performed in a Cirrus.
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Posted by David at May 03, 2009 07:59 AM | Categorized under: A day in the life, Flying