Marc Olson
GONE WEST
Seattle, WA
A couple of weeks ago I started the process of getting checked out to fly a Cessna 205 from one of the FBOs at my home airport. My goal was to have a faster/larger plane to haul cargo to our cabin, and to explore how often we end up using a bigger plane as a family. Before I started I explained to the director of operations that my goal was to be able to fly into our home airstrip, an 1800' one-way grass strip. They've flown charters into the strip so now the work is to get signed off to rent to take the plane their since their normal limit is 2500' paved.
The initial transition was pretty straightforward since I trained in a 172 and have some time in a 182. I took a refresher ground course on high performance aircraft (modeled specifically around this plane) and after about 3 hours of dual was signed off to fly the plane (but not to take it to our home strip).
A few things I've noticed that I'm adjusting to relative to my PA-12. First, the approach angle is steeper and airspeed on final is faster; my tendency is to want to flatten out on final too early since my PA-12 likes to float. It's amazing how quickly the 205 will stop flying once you're at full flaps and no power, so progressively adding flaps on short final while maintaining airspeed into the flare gets the speed over the threshold down close to stall speed in a hurry.
I've also found that I have to carry some power all the way to touchdown, and without active management of the throttle it's easy to get behind the power curve and develop quite a sink rate that takes significant throttle to recover from.
The other recommendation I've been given is to 'fly the numbers' more carefully in terms of descent on downwind/base leaving 500' AGL on final with enough time to get stabilized. I've found with my PA-12 that it's pretty easy to fly a 'curve to final' pattern and manage the descent to the threshold. I bet this will get easier in the 205 with practice and familiarity.
My instructor has been great to work with and I'm hopeful that with a couple more sessions I'll be ready for signoff.
The initial transition was pretty straightforward since I trained in a 172 and have some time in a 182. I took a refresher ground course on high performance aircraft (modeled specifically around this plane) and after about 3 hours of dual was signed off to fly the plane (but not to take it to our home strip).
A few things I've noticed that I'm adjusting to relative to my PA-12. First, the approach angle is steeper and airspeed on final is faster; my tendency is to want to flatten out on final too early since my PA-12 likes to float. It's amazing how quickly the 205 will stop flying once you're at full flaps and no power, so progressively adding flaps on short final while maintaining airspeed into the flare gets the speed over the threshold down close to stall speed in a hurry.
I've also found that I have to carry some power all the way to touchdown, and without active management of the throttle it's easy to get behind the power curve and develop quite a sink rate that takes significant throttle to recover from.
The other recommendation I've been given is to 'fly the numbers' more carefully in terms of descent on downwind/base leaving 500' AGL on final with enough time to get stabilized. I've found with my PA-12 that it's pretty easy to fly a 'curve to final' pattern and manage the descent to the threshold. I bet this will get easier in the 205 with practice and familiarity.
My instructor has been great to work with and I'm hopeful that with a couple more sessions I'll be ready for signoff.