All Over the Glass

It is spring, isn't it? You wouldn't know it around here. Snow last week, and more tomorrow. But in between, it's been fairly nice. The winds pick up every day, so I keep an eye on those, and today seemed to be a good day to try out a new set of wings.

After a few weeks of reading up on the G1000 (the Garmin "Glass Cockpit"), I scheduled some time in the school's DA-40. This is the four-seat, bigger cousin of the DA-20 that I have flown up until now. Not only that, but it has a constant-speed propeller (yet another level of complexity). It is also an extra $50 an hour, but who's counting?

The idea behind the glass cockpit is taking out all of the dials and needles that you may be familiar with (basically any general aviation panel before Y2K) and replacing them with two large, flat-panel displays more like an airliner or fighter jet. All of the same information is there, albeit in vastly different forms. And there are plenty of new features, with literally several new "bells and whistles". Every time you disconnect the autopilot or deviate from a set altitude, the plane will ding, bong, and beep to let you know.

The biggest hurdle, especially after having an instrument scan burned into your brain during primary training, is looking at different parts of the panel and reading scrolling numbers rather than spinning dials. For me, this was a bit difficult, and I kept finding my eyes drawn to the points in space that I would expect to see an altimeter or airspeed indicator. Even some of the switches (especially the flaps) are in a different place, and it's a reach - with eyes inside the cockpit - to find the right spot.

The constant-speed prop is also a new idea for me. It means another lever to fiddle with during changes in the flight profile (climbing, leveling off, and descending). The trick is to know what power and prop settings will get you what you want, putting them there, and letting the plane settle into equilibrium - which takes a few extra seconds compared to the smaller craft.

The lesson today was the first to be checked out to solo this particular plane. We did some steep turns (which came out quite well, thank you), slow flight, and stalls. In all, this is a very smooth plane, and it responds very well to control inputs, both on the ground and in the air. I really enjoyed the flight, but it will take much more practice to be as comfortable with it as the DA-20.

As an added bonus, the light winds that had been the rule for the day decided to give way to a 20-knot surface crosswind that made takeoff interesting and landing impossible. I had an unfamiliar plane with unfamiliar handling, sight pictures, sounds, and feel - and I had left rudder to the floor during the roundout. It wasn't coming together, and I had to go around for a landing on the crosswind runway.

Not bad for the frequency of my flying lately.