Today's Flying (12/14/07)

Finally some flyable weather: Winds 280 @ 9, ceiling 2400 (or so), visibility 10.

Given the weather we've experienced so far this month, today looked pretty good!

I headed to the airport early to get the A36 warmed up. When I got there I found the V tail still outside, where I parked it three days ago -- not good.

I called Pete and he agreed to follow me to FWQ in the A36 while I flew the V tail back and secured it inside the hangar.

We set up the preheat and left it on a good 20 minutes. Temps were hovering around 34 and Bonanzas just don't start cold.

I hopped in and tried it -- after two very anemic turns it caught. Apparently the battery needs charging. But she started and I idled about 10 minutes with the cowl flaps closed and the mixture leaned to get up to normal operating temperature range. EGT stayed very low while CHT climbed a bit to a lower mid-range level.

After taxing and a thorough run-up, everything checked out. I took the active and in the cold air and steady 9 knot headwind she just leaped into the air.

I leveled out at 2500 and was still under the base of the clouds, so I climbed to 2700. Still not in cloud but the layer wasn't well defined like a cumulus cloud -- more a gradual reduction in visibility. I descended back to 2600 and had to keep throttling back to keep airspeed under 140 MPH (this ASI is calibrated in MPH). After a while I was at 19" MP and 1900 RPM and still maintaining 130. Not bad. At this rate I'd burn about 6 gallons an hour. Amazing.

I flew westerly until I saw 51 and then followed that until I saw the airport about 8 miles away. I descended to 2400 and started slowing up to reach 100 before entering the pattern. Upon pattern entry the drill is to throttle back and steadily pull the nose up to reduce airspeed until 100 MPH (white arc). Drop the gear, give 15 degrees flaps (about 15 seconds), and hold the nose up to bleed off airspeed. Begin the turn to base then final and keep it at 80. Cross the fence at 70 and give a touch of throttle to arrest the descent.

But the landing gear down light did not illuminate. I checked and then double-checked the mechanical indicator under the panel. It showed gear down. I assumed the gear light was faulty.

I floated a bit making sure I heard and felt wheels. Holding it off rewarded me with a light chirp despite a steady 30 degree x-wind at 10-12 knots. I quickly stored the airplane back in its hangar and waited for Pete to arrive in the A36.

We did a hot swap and I took the left seat. Today we worked on high performance take off and landings, soft and short field. The A36 POH doesn't specify a short or soft technique so we used the PTS standards.

Pete had me fly tighter and tighter patterns at FWQ so I would be within gliding range in event of engine failure. I addition, we wanted to be able to do a short field landing with a 50 foot obstacle close to the approach end of the runway.

In the A36 to land short slow to 70 KIAS, trim for 70, and then use throttle to control altitude and yoke to control airspeed. After a couple of circuits I was dropping it in like a 185 into a grass strip in Alaska. The Bonanza is an amazing airplane -- and despite the Bonanza driver stereotype, doesn't have to be flown like an F-15.

We headed over to VVS and practiced on 32 there. 32 is 2400 feet long, which we used less than half of each time taking off and landing. I had a couple of less-than-stellar crosswind landings (still getting the hang of the bungie interconnect and its effects on controls). I have to go out and practice solo.

I was a bit high on one approach and set up for a slip. We dropped as expected without adding airspeed -- I learned that the A36 slips very well. A quick reset of the attitude and we were back on centerline and at a better altitude for touching down where we planned to.

Overall a good learning experience pushing the envelope in this amazingly competent airplane.