An Arrow. Nice plane, 200 HP. Pretty basic. One working 430, the other Nav/Com was not.
It was/is a fun airplane to fly. Retract gear makes for some speed, so there is that. Had to do a Checkride before I can rent and fly it by myself.
Did 2 touch and goes. First landing was…firm. Apologized to the instructor. He thought the landing was acceptable and asked what I considered a “Good” landing. On the second landing I showed him. Wind was a 30 degree crosswind, so a bit of a challenge. But I greased it in, on centerline, on the called mark, upwind wing up ,…No “Thump” , barely a chirp as the tires hit the pavement….an excellent crosswind landing if I do say so myself. “That is an acceptable landing” I said. He agreed.
We then did 3 approaches to minimum so I could maintain my currency. I did well on all three. Was gonna do a VOR approach at a nearby airport, but they have deleted that and it is no longer available. I guess the FAA doesn’t think anyone is ever gonna need those now that everyone has GPS.
1.5. 3 approaches. 3 landings. A good day.
You had to fly with an instructor?
Just for the Checkride (Company policy for anyone wanting to fly their aircraft for the first time before rental) and since I was up with him, and had to do 1 hour anyway, I chose to do the time doing instrument approaches for currency. Used him as the Safety pilot while I was wearing foggles.
Got it !!
Piper Arrow’s cost $500,000 new. Probably a good idea to do a check ride before handing someone the keys.
Off topic, tangential to aviation. Did you read about the Cambodian guy who wants into the flying fraternity? I think he is missing the point a little. For what he spent on his house, he could have bought a plane. I guess there are not many aviation options in Cambodia. Still, I respect his effort.