Re: Changing planes

On climb out with the constant speed prop it is better to
set the mixture by fuel flow. Save the EGT for setting up
cruise power and fuel flow when you are have time to monitor
and set the EGT, which takes some time and understanding.

The EGT is not an absolute gauge, the temperature indication
you're looking for is relative to "peak EGT" which is where
100% of the fuel and oxygen in the air react. A rich
mixture leaves a little excess fuel, runs cooler and can
produce a little more power. A lean mixture at high power
can burn the pistons and valves.

The Cessna manual gives power settings and fuel flows which
are quick and accurate. You should get a POH or at least
copy the sections and checklists. If you are an AOPA member
[you should be] I think you can get info on the airplane and
other assistance. A lot is available without being a
member. www.aopa.org

The Cardinal wing sits further back, your eye is at or in
front of the wing leading edge, it looks different. It
requires trim more than a C150 because it has a wider speed
range and has 4 seats which means the CG envelope is bigger.

When you get in the pilot's seat, look along the control
yoke shaft, right up to the windshield. If you have a
grease pencil, make a vertical line. You can make a
horizontal line on the visual horizon on the ground and
another line in cruise flight and even a line for the flare
so the nose wheel tire is off the ground just a little.


--
James H. Macklin
ATP,CFI,A&P

<javaguy11111@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1194738943.955681.89830@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
|I am having to fly a different plane while the Cessna 152 I
normally
| have been flying has the engine overhauled. I thought I
would post my
| blog entry about my first experience in a Cessna Cardinal.
|
| No cross country flight today.
|
| As mentioned in the last post the flight was canceled. As
it turns out
| the Cessna 152 had some engine problems after my lesson.
Bob said that
| a pushrod had broken on the engine. After the mechanic
tore into the
| engine, it was decided that an overhaul was needed. So the
Cessna 152
| will be down for at least a month.
|
| Bob does have a Cessna Cardinal which is normally used for
IFR
| training. It costs 50 dollars an hour more to fly. I did
not want to
| go a whole month with no flying lessons so I decided to do
some
| training with this aircraft.
|
| About all that the 152 and the Cardinal have in common is
that they
| both have wings and an engine.
|
| First the Cardinal is about 400 pounds heavier than the
152 when
| empty. It also has 800 pounds more maximum weight compared
to the 152.
| The advantage of that was quite apparent today. Even
though it was
| quite windy today, you would have hardly known it in the
Cardinal.
|
| The feel of the controls is much different than on the
152. The
| Cardinal has much heavier controls and you really have to
muscle them
| around. Use of the trim tabs is a must. On the 152, the
only time I
| touched the trim was to setup for level flight on the
downwind leg.
| When I first took off in the Cardinal I found myself
suddenly having
| to apply a lot of forward pressure to keep the nose down.
Bob was
| ready for it and told me to use the trim. The problem is
every time
| you change something you have to adjust the trim. Very
different from
| the 152. The control pressures are so light on the 152,
unless you are
| just way out of trim, you hardly notice having to push or
pull on the
| yoke.
|
| The engine in the 152 is 110hp while the engine of the
Cardinal is
| 180hp. You do not feel the extra acceleration on takeoff,
because the
| Cardinal is a heavier aircraft. What is noticeable is the
amount of
| right rudder you have to apply to compensate for engine
torque. This
| also is noticeable in the air as well and the Cardinal
does have a
| rudder trim so that you do not have to keep pressure on
the rudder.
|
| Engine control is very different in the Cardinal. With the
152, you
| push the throttle forward and keep it there until you are
at altitude
| and then reduce to 2300 rpm. In the Cardinal, you have
three controls
| you have to fiddle with. One is the manifold pressure
which controls
| how much power you are putting out. The next is the prop
speed control
| which controls the rpm's of the prop and finally the
mixture.
|
| I can not remember what the initial settings are for the
controls, but
| I remember that once you are a few hundred feet in the air
you want to
| set manifold pressure to 24 and rpms to 2400. After that
you adjust
| the mixture until the exhaust gas temperature(EGT) is two
ticks below
| the center line of the EGT gauge.
|
| Cockpit layout is very different between the two aircraft.
The
| Cardinal is setup for IFR flight, so there were a lot more
instruments
| to figure out. There is a reason why you have to have a
full checkout
| before being allowed to fly different types of airplanes.
It makes me
| think of trying to learn how to use a new piece of
software. The basic
| application may be same, but there are a lot little
details that make
| it different.
|
| As always, the whole experience seems overwhelming the
first time I am
| exposed to it. Bob had to keep prompting me on what to do
next. I am
| glad I did not start out trying to fly this plane. I think
it would
| have been too much for me.
|
| Todays lesson was just an orientation flight to get
familiar with the
| aircraft. After take off, we went to the practice area and
did several
| climbs, descents and turns. Because of the different
handling
| characteristics, I had a very hard time trying to maintain
altitude. I
| can see further over the cowling on the Cardinal and this
threw off my
| site picture of what level flight looks like. So I kept
bringing the
| nose up and starting to climb.
|
| My landings in the Cardinal were not very good. I kept
pressing on the
| left rudder pedal for some reason and Bob had to keep
correcting me.
| Bob has mentioned this before even on the 152. While
thinking about
| this on the drive home, I think what I am doing wrong is I
am not
| taking account the perspective from the left seat. If I am
looking at
| the nose and I try to point the nose at the runway then I
will be
| slipping the plane to the left. I should be thinking about
lining up a
| extended center line through the airplane and lining that
up with the
| runway. I will run that by Bob on the next lesson and see
what he
| thinks.
|
| It was a rather stressful flight today with so many new
things to
| absorb. Hopefully after a few more lessons I will get more
comfortable
| with all the new features of the airplane and help me be a
better
| pilot. Who knows, I might even be able to solo in it
before the 152 is
| ready.
|
| The plan at the moment is to go into a maintenance mode
and just fly
| the Cardinal for an hour a week to maintain my proficiency
until the
| 152 is fixed. It should only be for a month. If for some
reason it
| takes longer, then I will have to decide if I want to
continue normal
| training with the Cardinal or look into a different flight
school or
| instructor.
|


.

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