Okay, N415CB flew yesterday and it was a hoot! My instructor had us climb to about 2500 feet and stay within gliding distance of the airport just in case. It left the runway at about 66 mph and I was surprised at how different it was getting it rotated and flying compared to the 172s I had flown and the Sky Ranger I owned. But once in the air she was a well behaved lady. In fact, I was amazed at the turning ability and being right on the ball. Couple of squawks: 1. Overpowering odor of 100LL in the cabin. We were flying with the left tank pretty much empty and the right tank with about 4.5 gallons of fuel and full header tank. The fuel transfer shut-off valve was open as I was told by the previous owner to not close it. On previous days when I did only taxi exercises and then the high speed taxiing to aborted take off, I didn't smell the fuel odor. 2. The altimeter is a little "loosey-goosey." Not sure if it's the original, but it does appear "old" to me. Better to replace or rebuild if needed? Didn't fly enough out of the pattern to do the speedometer check, but I will. We concentrated on landings and takeoffs. I did all my landings full stop. Never got behind the power curve and didn't miss the rudder pedals at all although my instructor did! LOL He was tapping the floor more than once. My landings got better, but it was my first experience in a low wing aircraft and I was trying to flair too high. Once, I got fixated on my airspeed indicator and wasn't paying enough attention to the plane's landing configuration, my instructor had to get my attention back outside the plane with a tug on the yoke to get the nose up. All in all, though, it was a blast to fly! We'll continue working together until both he and I are comfortable with my being ready to solo three full stop landings (just like the first go around!). Thanks again to the myriad postings and emails I got from the first post and all the encouragement. It meant a lot and I tried to put together as much of the input into my trial flight and it really helped put me at ease. Oh, another thing, a couple of times during run up, the engine stalled on me while I was on the ground. I had been warned that I had to be smooth on the throttle lest it do that. Never happened in the air, but of course I wasn't going from idle to full bore either. Comments?
"Couper" Carl LaVon (Not sure about the handle, it was suggested...)
