A couple of weeks ago I did the last flight on the DA40, the final IFR check before the IR/ME check we'll have in Belgium. Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end, so Mission 104 brought us up to the final phase in the training ... flying the twin engined Diamond Twinstar (DA42). 2 engines instead of 1 sounds better and safer, which is actually also true: Although the degradation in performance can be as high as 80% if there is a powerloss on one engine (and thus 50%), you're still able to fly with only one engine for a period of time. Unfortunatly those engines on the DA42 aren't the same as the ones on the DA40. Still reliable, but more sensitive to the excess of temperatures they have to withstand during summer/winter. And that's one of the reasons why only 1 or 2 of the 5 are available on a somehow regular base ... for too many students, ending up in delays. By the end of march everyone of prom 6B should be finished with the training, here and in Belgium because our MCC (training in a simulator) starts april the 6th. Hmmm ... .
Some pictures of the navigation to Tucson today can be found here:
 |
| AZ - x-country to KTUS (DA42 N4130M) |
