I got 93% for my Nav exam. W00T! But dammit 9-OQ is still down cos the stupid CAAS won't allow any work to be done on it till they're 'done' with their investigation. Some investigation; they didn't even call me or Joshua.
Today, something new. The TB9C Tampico. Callsign: 9V-BOZ. Belongs to the Republic of Singapore Flying Club. Lucky Darshan is a part-time instructor there too. So I get to fly it too. This would be my first flight on the Tampico.
The cockpit looks pretty sophisticated. Warning lights and the cool looking control column and throttle. The cockpit doors are also lift-open types. Pretty troublesome to pre-flight though. Lot's of buttons to press and check and including the circuit breakers.
Taxiing the plane was tough. The rudder pedals requires a lot of strength to press down. That in itself already makes handling the aircraft difficult. The radio transmit button ain't user-friendly either. At this point. I was not too impressed with this aircraft.
Its only after the takeoff I started feeling better. But DAMN this bloody aircraft flies cruise straight and level in a nose-high attitude. Engine underpowered. Flies at 2400 rpm cruise. No wonder Darshan said "French f***ers" when I asked who which country manufactured this. Up to area Alpha. Climbed to 3000ft and did Steep turns. After 2-3weeks of not flying I could not help but give a "YEEEOOOWWW!!! Damn FUN man!" What I forgot was that I was not maintaining altitude but climbing as I was pulling the plane up to feel more Gs. Darshan's reply: "Fly the plane ACCURATELY! That's real fun!" STalling was not so fun. The plane could not stall again! I was almost beside myself. This was a low wing aircraft! It should stall easily. But when I did stall. the airplane was like at 20kts and we plummetted 300-400ft. 'Nice feeling.' Finally I got it right after a demonstration. Then return to Seletar for PFL.
This plane drops real fast without power. So must 2400rpm on downwind till base then cut to 1500rpm plus put takeoff flaps setting then finally to fully retract setting. After this...Landing is a cinch. Easier than a Cessna. That's why we Cessna pilots are super Shit Hot when it comes to landings. We're that damn good cause the Cessna ain't that easy to land.
Its easy to make friends with aviation people. After parking. A Singapore Flying College C152 came rolling past. I waved to it and the pilots inside gave some sorta salute back. Cool!
TB9 Tampico
Pros:
-Sophisticated and sporty look
- Better flight deck visibility due to low-wing.
-Easy to Land. (Low wing = Little float)
Cons:
-Flies at nose-high attitude (Lousy forward visibility)
-Fuel Pump means must keep switching tanks
-Rudder pedals hard to operate
-More troublesome to pre-flight
-Some instruments are on the right side of cockpit so must look all over the place.
-Flaps hard to operate
-Sinks fast without power
Cessna 172
Pros:
-Good forward visibility
-Instruments all infront of you
-Flaps easy to operate
-Better gliding characteristics
-Fuel can be used from both tanks at the same time.
Cons:
-Harder to Land (High Wing = More float) [But this makes us better pilots ;P]
-Hard to stall
-High wing causes lower flight deck visibility.
Both aircraft are Fun to fly.
