My first of two flights to be checked out on the Diamond DA40NG.
Instructor is Ruben Stenevik, F/O on B737s for Norwegian Airlines.
I never flew with him before this, so he doesn´t know if I am careful sensible week-end pilot or a loose cannon on deck. I don´t know if this is the reason you see he is ready to intervene, but his hands are clearly not in his pockets when we are close to the ground.
For me this was too windy and I would cancel this flight were I not flying with a professional. I attempt to hide the uneasiness the wind is causing me, but I suspect he noticed it a little bit. That said, the wind was nearly straight down RWY35 at Flesland (ENBR), so I guess it was not technically a great challenge.
Our plan to fly to Sørstokken (ENSO) 25 minutes south of Flesland was aborted after our simulated forced landing over Fitjar (Stord). The reason was that the wind was even stronger down there. You may notice, as we abort the forced landing simulation, I hint that a real forced landing there would not necessarily be a good thing. But I was confident I could make the aircraft contact ground. For sure... Hehe....
The turbulence on long final at Flesland really got my pulse up, but as we came in fast over the threshold the bumpiness all but went away.
This was the first time in my 29 years as a pilot I got a spontaneous "Long landing is approved" from ATC. That message made me even more sure that this landing would be hairy. Why the #$&"# else did he say that?
As we didn´t get to do more then the single landing I had to do another flight with Ruben to be checked off on the Diamond. That happened a week or two later in more favourable winds. Luckily I managed to land the thing enough times without crashing that Ruben said I was good to go on my own. :-)
The DA42NG is really a step up from the old Piper warriors and the Skyhawk SP G1000 we presently operate in Bergen Aero Club. If you get the chance I recommend flying it. Jet A1, ECUs, Simple G1000 instrumentation, comfortable seats, excellent view and respectable cruising speed makes for a great plane for going places.
Hope you enjoyed my little film.
14 окт 2024
