Changes in altitude, changes in attitude
As I have spent more time flying Pipers, one of the things that I have noticed, maybe only in the ones that I fly, is that they are very nose heavy (Post Facto Editors note: PA-28-161's, the 181's are great) . When flying solo, I have a hard time getting the nose up into a proper flare at landing and usually end up running the trim wheel ANU in order to see a good picture. Two of them at our local club are so nose heavy that the owner put 40 lbs of water in the luggage area to shift the CG aft.
I had the opportunity to take a friend of mine, W, up for a flight yesterday, in one of the Pipers (a 161). This is one of the planes with the water in the tail. Neither one of us are small guys, so when I did the weight and balance, we were out of limits forward. Ruh-roh. He said that he would still like to go, even in the backseat, so he got in the back and off we went. Unfortunately, this particular airplane doesn't have headset jacks in the back, so he could only have the headset on if he was leaning forward (ie, not during takeoff, landing, or every few minutes to rest his back). With him in the backseat, CG was right in the middle of the envelope and the plane flew well. Actually, I made two of the best landings that I have in a long time.
W has always been interested in learning how to fly (he still has to put two kids through college), so it was a good mix. He followed me through brief and preflight and asked a lot of good questions both then and during the flight.
We left out of MYF and flew up to my favorite just-far-enough-to-be-a-legal-XC airport, KHMT. On the way, I was able to point out a lot of the sights (Barona Casino, Palomar Observatory, the French Valley wine country), etc. We landed at HMT which was a little tricky because of the wind. It was only about 4 kts but was shifting back and forth 30 degrees across centerline. We made the landing a full stop because of the relatively short runway and the high density altitude, then took off again. On the way home, I demonstrated steep turns and ground reference maneuvers, then we flew out by Coronado so he could see the coastline. We finally returned to MYF after 2.3 hours of flying where I made a pretty decent landing. Afterwards, he shook my hand and said "That was awesome."
I was thoroughly impressed with the difference the CG made in the airplane's handling characteristics. I may have to start bribing people to sit in the back seat.
I learned three important lessons yesterday. First, I need to buy a headset extension cord. I guess I need to make a quick trip to Marv Goldens, darn the bad luck. Second, always always always calculate the weight and balance. I was taught that and have done so, but I have seen people who assume that they are good if they are well under max gross. Although I knew we were good on weight, if I had assumed the balance was good I would have been in deep crap. This was the first time I had ever calculated one out of balance, so I'm glad I have never gotten complacent. Finally, having a passenger that is truly interested in aviation and is excited about flying can really make the trip worthwhile.
Until later my friends...
I had the opportunity to take a friend of mine, W, up for a flight yesterday, in one of the Pipers (a 161). This is one of the planes with the water in the tail. Neither one of us are small guys, so when I did the weight and balance, we were out of limits forward. Ruh-roh. He said that he would still like to go, even in the backseat, so he got in the back and off we went. Unfortunately, this particular airplane doesn't have headset jacks in the back, so he could only have the headset on if he was leaning forward (ie, not during takeoff, landing, or every few minutes to rest his back). With him in the backseat, CG was right in the middle of the envelope and the plane flew well. Actually, I made two of the best landings that I have in a long time.
W has always been interested in learning how to fly (he still has to put two kids through college), so it was a good mix. He followed me through brief and preflight and asked a lot of good questions both then and during the flight.
We left out of MYF and flew up to my favorite just-far-enough-to-be-a-legal-XC airport, KHMT. On the way, I was able to point out a lot of the sights (Barona Casino, Palomar Observatory, the French Valley wine country), etc. We landed at HMT which was a little tricky because of the wind. It was only about 4 kts but was shifting back and forth 30 degrees across centerline. We made the landing a full stop because of the relatively short runway and the high density altitude, then took off again. On the way home, I demonstrated steep turns and ground reference maneuvers, then we flew out by Coronado so he could see the coastline. We finally returned to MYF after 2.3 hours of flying where I made a pretty decent landing. Afterwards, he shook my hand and said "That was awesome."
I was thoroughly impressed with the difference the CG made in the airplane's handling characteristics. I may have to start bribing people to sit in the back seat.
I learned three important lessons yesterday. First, I need to buy a headset extension cord. I guess I need to make a quick trip to Marv Goldens, darn the bad luck. Second, always always always calculate the weight and balance. I was taught that and have done so, but I have seen people who assume that they are good if they are well under max gross. Although I knew we were good on weight, if I had assumed the balance was good I would have been in deep crap. This was the first time I had ever calculated one out of balance, so I'm glad I have never gotten complacent. Finally, having a passenger that is truly interested in aviation and is excited about flying can really make the trip worthwhile.
Until later my friends...
posted by Big Country at 12:37 PM
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