[gkey]

So, I had my first 337 flight yesterday. I was quite apprehensive, since all my experience comes from flying my beloved 172. And this 337 looked just a tad daunting. But, armed with my CFI and a short prayer, I accomplished the task.

No matter how prepared I was, everything still happend way too fast for me on the departure. I was 500 AGL in no time at all, and so focused on climbout speed and prop/throttle settings, that I could not handle the communications as well. My airfield is in a Controll Zone D, so we need permission to fly out ouf the region airspace, before we do so. This means that if one has not done so yet, you have to keep flying the circuit until you have permission from tower to continue.

Needless to say, with my 172 I usually contact tower when I am at 500 AGL, because I still have ample time. Not so with this new bird!! From now on, I will call them at rotation!

We loaded the tanks (888 lbs) for our trip, and the controls we significantly heavier than the 172. I guess that's why I have the option of electric trims (played with that on the return flight). The rudders are real weather vanes, and quite potent. But so very effective in my 12 knot x-wind take-off last night.

We had a tailwind at 7,500 AGL and reached a groundspeed of 178 kts - cool! This is officially the highest speed I personally flew anything. Decending was a bit of a problem, trying to avoid shock cooling, but I decided to start my decend further out and do a slower rate of decent. I can see that with this plane one has to plan ahead about 20 minutes, and get your airspeed right before you reach the point where it is applicable. Knowing this, my very first landing went quite well (with a x-wind of 7 kts to boot). I did a small balloon, but hey, I kew I was sitting higher from the ground compared to the 172, and still have to "tune in" my senses for the sweet spot above ground to flare. I flew by the POH numbers, forgetting about the Horton STOL numbers, and that's why I ballooned.

And George, the S-Tec 55, is a trooper.
Not a bad day at all.