A New Airplane to Fly

I was sitting around wondering what I could do today with my daughter and then I got the call. My friend Darren called and wanted to know if I wanted to go flying with him in Denton. He got checked out in a Diamond DA-40 a couple of weeks ago and has had nothing but fantastic things to say about it.

It has the same horsepower that the flying club's N733NB has (180 HP). The big difference is that this airplane has a higher takeoff weight but it sure felt a lot lighter. Maybe it's because of all of the carbon fiber construction. I do know that this airplane is a lot more slippery as it moves through the air. The yellow arc on the airspeed indicator covers a lot wider range than on the Cessnas that the club owns. According to the specs, this airplane cruises at 150 ktas (this airplane doesn't have wheel fairings and is 75% power) and burns 10 gph. It also says that it has a 860 lb useful load. Subtract 240 lbs for fuel and it can carry 620 lbs. Even with Darren and myself, that is a nice useful load. You can see a lot more at Diamond's web site. Below is a picture of a DA-40.

Part of the other reason I jumped so quickly on this chance to go flying (like I need an excuse) was the fact that I got a new toy this week and wanted to check it out before I have to use it for real on Monday night. I figured that after a year and a half of using my old David Clark headset, I was ready for something a little more modern. So I went out and bought me a Lightspeed Zulu. This is one cool headset. Part of my reasoning for buying it was that Darren has one and and my CFI has one too. I have heard nothing but great things about them so I bought one. They aren't cheap by any means so that is one of the reasons that I have waited so long to get one. The cheapest you will find on the internet is $850. After using it for the first time, I am sold. They have amazing noise cancellation and I even tried the feature that allows you to connect to an iPod and listen but mutes as soon as something from the panel comes through. It can also connect to a cell phone through Bluetooth. How cool is that? I opted for the included iPhone (yes, I have an iPhone) cable that would allow for me to use my iPhone to play music but if I should receive a call, the iPhone mutes the music and the phone takes over. Then if something comes through the panel, all of that gets muted and the real reason you have a headset on, takes over. It may not look like much but it is quite a step up for me.


Sorry but no logable hours and I'll save the next video for after my night flying tomorrow night. I'll be going from TKI to ADS to DUA to TKI (about 125 nm) for the last of my night flying.