WEEK 53: FIRST TWINSTAR FLIGHTS #40

Airline Prep

This was the week when I finally got to fly the DA42 (Twinstar)!

My first lesson was a general handling lesson, just to get used to the feel of the aircraft. I took Luke and DJ with me which was fun. We went out over to the west coast to practise steep and medium turns, stalling, simulated go-around's, climbing and descending. I seemed to cope with all that pretty well so we returned to Hamilton to do a few circuits. I did two landings and take-off's and if I'm honest they weren't as smooth as I would have liked. I found the twin quite difficult to land because unlike the single engine planes I've flown so far, you don't need much back pressure on the round out, you just have to keep it coming down on the same profile and attitude then gradually reduce the power and just apply a small check at the last minute to guide it onto the tarmac nicely. My landings were pretty heavy because I applied the same amount of back pressure that's required in a Cessna and as a result got too much sink. I was annoyed by this because the rest of the flight had gone well and I always like to walk away from the flight after a nice touch down.

I was surprised how much rudder was needed throughout the flight. You really need to coordinate your hands and feet well to keep it in balance the whole time. Obviously things happen quicker than in the Katana and Cessna so you need to be thinking ahead of the aircraft the whole time and knowing the speeds and related power settings and memory checks such as after take-off checks - 'Gear, Flaps, Landing light, Altimeters, Radio's'. If all those are done without much thought it makes life much easier!

My second lesson was just one hour of circuits. I was determined to get the knack of landing the thing in this lesson. Luke back seated me for this flight, I couldn't take DJ as well sadly due to the maximum allowable landing weight. My first landing was similar to the ones the previous day, I flared too much again and too high which made it sink too much but after that my next few were pretty good. I knew all my checks which allowed me to focus more on maintaining the right speed and profile which were decent throughout the lesson. By the end I was feeling much more confident with the touch down and obviously the more I fly it, the easier it will get.

Whilst re-fuelling I had a bit of an argument with the fuel pump and got soaked in Jet A-1. Let me tell you, it is the most pungent perfume you will ever smell and you do not want it on your clothes or skin. Even after a shower I could still smell it on myself and luckily I was wearing sun glasses, otherwise I would've received an eye full of it too. So I will try to avoid doing that again.

Tauranga (NZTG) from when I back seated DJ earlier in the week