Today's flight was a solo workout in the traffic pattern. I didn't want to get too cocky after my checkout so I decided to spend some time in the traffic pattern getting to know the airplane a little better. As it turns out it was double good for me because the winds were not aligned with the runway. There was about a 5 knot crosswind which doesn't sound like much but in a smaller aircraft that I was not as familiar with, it was just enough to make things interesting and fun. With a few exceptions everything went smoothly. The crosswind landings were a real confidence builder. It is either easier to land the Sierra in a crosswind or my skills have developed. In the past I was wary about landing on only one main wheel (this is the technique for landing in a crosswind.) It was very easy, intuitive and fun with the Sierra, not at all cause for alarm. The airplane handles like a sports car and is really fun to fly. At about 1320lbs lighter than the Cessna Skyhawk, it's very easy to move around on the ground. I only had one moment in it when I did something very stupid. In some ways I'm glad I made the mistake, especially when I did. I know now that I'll never make it again. The Sierra has fuel tanks in each wing just like the Cessna. In the Cessna you have a fuel shutoff switch and a fuel selector switch that can be set to Left tank, Both tanks, or Right tank. The Sierra on the other hand simply has a fuel shutoff switch for each tank. While I was on the ground after my second landing I noticed that on tank's fuel gauge was a fair bit higher than the others. In a effort to balance this out I shut off the tank with the lower fuel quantity. After my forth time in the pattern it was time to taxi to a parking spot. I reached down to switch both tanks on without visually checking what I had done. Well you can probably guess what happened next. The engine quit on the taxiway because I actually switched both tanks OFF. Any other time and the results could have been deadly. The fuel switches are not in a good place and I will ALWAYS remember to check them visually from now on.
Now I'm ready to take a passenger and fly somewhere. The only problem is the schedule for the plane is always full. The company needs to buy another airplane to keep up with the demand. They have six aircraft and most of them are run from sunup to sundown every day. I'll have to find out what their plans are.
Today's flight was a solo workout in the traffic pattern. I didn't want to get too cocky after my checkout so I decided to spend some time in the traffic pattern getting to know the airplane a little better. As it turns out it was double good for me because the winds were not aligned with the runway. There was about a 5 knot crosswind which doesn't sound like much but in a smaller aircraft that I was not as familiar with, it was just enough to make things interesting and fun. With a few exceptions everything went smoothly. The crosswind landings were a real confidence builder. It is either easier to land the Sierra in a crosswind or my skills have developed. In the past I was wary about landing on only one main wheel (this is the technique for landing in a crosswind.) It was very easy, intuitive and fun with the Sierra, not at all cause for alarm. The airplane handles like a sports car and is really fun to fly. At about 1320lbs lighter than the Cessna Skyhawk, it's very easy to move around on the ground. I only had one moment in it when I did something very stupid. In some ways I'm glad I made the mistake, especially when I did. I know now that I'll never make it again. The Sierra has fuel tanks in each wing just like the Cessna. In the Cessna you have a fuel shutoff switch and a fuel selector switch that can be set to Left tank, Both tanks, or Right tank. The Sierra on the other hand simply has a fuel shutoff switch for each tank. While I was on the ground after my second landing I noticed that on tank's fuel gauge was a fair bit higher than the others. In a effort to balance this out I shut off the tank with the lower fuel quantity. After my forth time in the pattern it was time to taxi to a parking spot. I reached down to switch both tanks on without visually checking what I had done. Well you can probably guess what happened next. The engine quit on the taxiway because I actually switched both tanks OFF. Any other time and the results could have been deadly. The fuel switches are not in a good place and I will ALWAYS remember to check them visually from now on.
Now I'm ready to take a passenger and fly somewhere. The only problem is the schedule for the plane is always full. The company needs to buy another airplane to keep up with the demand. They have six aircraft and most of them are run from sunup to sundown every day. I'll have to find out what their plans are.
No comments:
Post a Comment