2 hours of learning.
Flew for 2 hours. The strobe control box came in (finally) at 10:30, they had the plane ready at 1.
Pulled it out, fired it up and taxied to 27 for a left turnout departure. Flew around south of the field and got a feel for the AC. Then I climbed from 2500 to 10,500 MSL and flew west for about 20 minutes. No wind to speak of and had a ground speed (according to both the 430 and ForeFlight) of 137 knots.
Turned and descended to 5K, and had a GS of 128.
Banked and turned and played with pitch, power and airspeeds leaned and played with cowl flap settings. (I did stay out of the approach path to Midway airport, which was about 10 miles from my "play" area....those SouthWest 737's are often overflying at 5500 feet).
Turned towards home and did a downwind midfield entry to the pattern for 27. First approach was too fast, but it worked. Winds were calm to 5 220-300 variable. extended my downwind for inbound straight- in traffic.
Second one was better and the landing was a greaser. So was the third.
I can't seem to find the point wherein people claim that the 182 series is nose heavy on landing though. Flare was easy and touching on the mains first seems to be normal. I don't understand how folks bang the nose/damage the firewall. My worst landing might have been a little flat, but it wasn't hard.
Taxied back and topped up the tanks (44 gallons) with 100LL avgas and put it away. The POH says I can use as low as 80/87 or 100LL. I might try the UL94 available at nearby airports just to see how well it works (it ain't much cheaper, but no lead to contaminate the oil....)
Tomorrow, weather permitting, it's gonna be touch and goes at a few close-by airports and me and the STec-55X are gonna get acquainted. If not, then the day after that. Gonna do a short cross country on Sunday if the weather folks don't change the forecast again, so I gotta gain some confidence in the aircraft first.
This plane flies like a Cadillac after the Warriors, Arrows and 172's. Not a screamer or a truck, but a good, solid, comfortable sedan. Smooth flier, fairly light on the controls. Easy to fly well.
130 knots will take me where I need to go at a decent rate, even if not as fast as I would wish....all at 12.3 gallons per hour.
Flew for 2 hours. The strobe control box came in (finally) at 10:30, they had the plane ready at 1.
Pulled it out, fired it up and taxied to 27 for a left turnout departure. Flew around south of the field and got a feel for the AC. Then I climbed from 2500 to 10,500 MSL and flew west for about 20 minutes. No wind to speak of and had a ground speed (according to both the 430 and ForeFlight) of 137 knots.
Turned and descended to 5K, and had a GS of 128.
Banked and turned and played with pitch, power and airspeeds leaned and played with cowl flap settings. (I did stay out of the approach path to Midway airport, which was about 10 miles from my "play" area....those SouthWest 737's are often overflying at 5500 feet).
Turned towards home and did a downwind midfield entry to the pattern for 27. First approach was too fast, but it worked. Winds were calm to 5 220-300 variable. extended my downwind for inbound straight- in traffic.
Second one was better and the landing was a greaser. So was the third.
I can't seem to find the point wherein people claim that the 182 series is nose heavy on landing though. Flare was easy and touching on the mains first seems to be normal. I don't understand how folks bang the nose/damage the firewall. My worst landing might have been a little flat, but it wasn't hard.
Taxied back and topped up the tanks (44 gallons) with 100LL avgas and put it away. The POH says I can use as low as 80/87 or 100LL. I might try the UL94 available at nearby airports just to see how well it works (it ain't much cheaper, but no lead to contaminate the oil....)
Tomorrow, weather permitting, it's gonna be touch and goes at a few close-by airports and me and the STec-55X are gonna get acquainted. If not, then the day after that. Gonna do a short cross country on Sunday if the weather folks don't change the forecast again, so I gotta gain some confidence in the aircraft first.
This plane flies like a Cadillac after the Warriors, Arrows and 172's. Not a screamer or a truck, but a good, solid, comfortable sedan. Smooth flier, fairly light on the controls. Easy to fly well.
130 knots will take me where I need to go at a decent rate, even if not as fast as I would wish....all at 12.3 gallons per hour.
1 comment:
Nice recap! Glad it's working out!
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