FIrst Flight in a Fixed-Wing: Remos GX

Well, it's not a helicopter, I'll say that.

This afternoon I took my first flight as a student in an airplane. I had a little heads up on what to expect based on information gleaned from a fellow helicopter pilot who also had his first fixed-wing experience. However, it was still quite surprising how little there is to do once you're in the air.

But before I talk too much about the boring part :) let's talk pre-flight. . .

Pre-Flight

The pre-flight on a plane is nowhere near as involved and complex as the pre-flight for a helicopter.

On a helicopter you're looking at everything. Check the warning lights, check the engine surfaces, check for fretting, is that hose loose?  On a plane?? It's oil, flight surfaces and fuel (maybe a bit more than that, but not a whole lot more really).

Note: This is a theme you will see repeated: Helicopter complex, plane simple.

I'll skip the boring startup stuff (although, the Dynon(sp?) instruments are very snazzy) and go straight to the taxi.

Taxi

Taxing was a bit odd. I'm used to hovering out to the taxiway and there's really no significant transition to flight since you're flying right from the pickup. In the plane, you push in the throttle a bit  and you're rolling. You don't use the joystick/yoke to steer. It's all pedals. It feels a bit uncontrolled because, though you have brakes, they don't feel like they could stop you on a dime. The idea is to really look ahead and start reducing throttle before you need to.

So. . . we taxi out to the stop/hold short line and do the run up (brake set - increase RPMs). You do some more checks and then make the call and take the runway.

On the go!!

Once you take the runway, it's a very quick transition to flight. Essentially, you push in the throttle all the way (very quick acceleration) and a little right rudder to hold the center. Once you reach 55kts you pull back just a tad on the stick and you're climbing. Very simple (remember the theme?).

Flying

As a helicopter pilot, you've got a lot going on all the time. If you're not flying, you're crashing. In a plane, you climb to your altitude (very little input needed) and then reduce power (actually start reducing about 100' before your altitude) to level out at your desired speed. After that, you can set the trim and take your hands off the stick (Note to all helicopter pilots - Yes, I said hands off!!).

The biggest challenge initially is not to overfly. You can really relax a bit and let the plane fly.

Landing

So, you want to land. . . I won't say that this is the exact procedure but I think I have the major points. Line up with the runway, reduce power (how quickly depends on how fast you want to descend), keep about 75kts. The throttle controls altitude/descent and the stick controls speed. As you get close to the ground, bring the nose up a bit and level off, then flare just a little and the extra drag will be enough to drop the plane out of flight and onto the ground (it's less drastic than it sounds).

That's it. Taxi back, shut down, get out. No waiting for the clutch to disengage, no waiting for the blades to slow/stop. You turn the key off, it's off. Period.

Say it with me: Helicopter complex, plane simple.

Hopefully, I'll be flying something of the rotorwing variety tomorrow afternoon. However, I can't wait to get back up in a plane again too. It was a ton of fun.

Safe flying,
Kelly

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