Pilot Life: First Flight in the DA-40!

This was another flight I was looking forward to since I've started flying: logging time in a Diamond DA-40 Diamond Star, the big brother to the DA-20 Katana! I've been trying to get a flight in on one with my instructor for the past few days, but weather hasn't been all that friendly the past couple days. My instructor and I did a little ground training with the DA40's Garmin G1000 cockpit system last Friday and weather just hasn't been all that great the past couple of days. Thankfully, today offered an opportunity to get up for a quick flight. We did however spend a bit of time on the ground going through the pre-flight of the airplane and getting to know the G1000. So today's flight consisted of staying in the pattern as more of an intro flight to the DA-40 and the G1000 avionics package. My first flight in a Diamond Star, my first logged flight in a four-seater, and my first time flying a plane with the Garmin G1000 on board! And considering today is Valentine's Day (more appropriately, Singles Awareness Day!), it was good to go do something I love on a holiday I dislike a lot!

Diamond DA-40 Diamond Star (N321PF), the plane my instructor and I took up for a short hop around the pattern today.

After a somewhat lengthy and thorough pre-flight of the airplane, my instructor grabbed the tow-bar the plane is equipped with and towed it over to the fuel pumps. Like the Piper Cherokee, the Diamond Star is equipped with fuel tanks in each wing so we had to fuel the plane on each separate tank. After refueling was complete, we hopped in and my instructor walked me through the start-up process and we got the engine started. We taxied a short ways and my instructor then walked me through the run-up procedures. Again, we took our time going through everything since this was a new plane and avionics system for me.

After run-ups were complete, we taxied over to the runway and held short for some landing traffic. Once the runway was clear, I taxied onto the runway, did my cross-checks, advanced the throttles and began takeoff roll. We got airborne and we had time for two laps in the patter; one touch-and-go landing and a full-stop landing. My instructor walked me through a lot on this short flight. While similar to the Katana, the Diamond Star is certainly different. Aside from the G1000 package, the plane flies a lot faster than what I'm used to! And because the Diamond Star is a faster airplane, I had to fly a wider pattern. But with most of my experience coming from the Katana, I feel pretty confident that I'll be able to smoothly transition to the Diamond Star.

Because we spent so much time on the ground getting to know the plane, the flight was short. After making the second landing, I taxied us off the runway at the next available taxiway and returned to the ramp, where I shut the engine down and made a new entry into my logbook.

A guy can get used to the Diamond Star! I'm looking forward to my next flight in one!