Returning to the Air

 

I'm finally back in the air after selling our Commander 112A. It's been two months since I have had the controls in my hands and I have missed the air time. Charles G was kind enough to let me fly his Cherokee 140 to knock out my IFR currency. At least I'm still current for take off and landings until the end of September. 

The plan was to keep it simple, stay local, shoot most approaches by hand and then one each with the autopilot. I have a lot to learn on the Garmin 650XI GPS and the Garmin G3X AP. 

I started out with the RNAV GPS 14 with the initial fix of WITRU which is the south west portion of the T. I found that my tracking was acceptable but my altitude wasn't steady enough. I really have to add more scan to the Garmin 275 for the ALT. The sacan is different from my Aspen. There is all the same info just a different view.

The next go was to PFAIR with a hold by hand. I found my self S turning to keep on track but I eventually settled in. The trim took some getting used to with the overhead crank but once I got used to it my chasing altitude was a non event. The last approach for Runway 14 was with the autopilot and the turns were crisp and tracked excellent. I couldn't figure out the step downs as to VNAV or selecting AP for the approach. So much to learn. 

Next up was multiple approaches for the RNAV GPS 2. As with the first approach I started out with the initial approach fix LOWPO and did a better job holding altitude and my tracking was still on the money. 

The second attempt was direct CIRAN with a procedure turn then inbound. The final approach was back out to CIRAN with the autopilot.

I had fun, the temps were in the mid sixties at altitude and flying with all the modern avionics was a learning experience. I'm looking forward to learning more on the Garmin 650xi sim and most likely will make a video series like I did for the Garmin 480.

Thanks again Charles for the fun flight time and letting me fly your plane.