Transition to PA-32R

Well, I've now got a grand total of 6 hours in my newly-acquired 1980
Saratoga, and since a couple of people asked, I thought I'd post my
experiences. The first big difference that hit me before I got off the
ground -- it's a heck of lot harder to taxi than the PA-28. Ok, so it
helped a lot when I remembered to turn the yaw damper off (!) but even
then, the longer arm on the steering combined with the higher pedal
forces made for a rather drunken course to begin with.

On take-off, the power was quite a revelation. While my PA-28-151 would
happy trundle down the runway, this thing moves, and you really feel
the acceleration. Rotation comes at more-or-less the same place on the
runway, but at 80kts rather than 65kt. It took me a while to figure out
the right trim setting (forget what the book says) so the first couple
of times, I had to really hawl it off the ground. Probably not the best
technique!

Next big problem -- developing a gentle touch on the levers. The
throttle, prop and mixture all seem more sensitive, and my ham-hands
were making far-too-large adjustments until things start to settle
down. In the air, it flies like a somewhat heavier Warrior. Seems to
need more rudder in the turns, and it's easier to get off altitude, but
after a couple of hours, all that settled down, and I'm reasonably
comfortable with the air work. The stall is non-exsitent, and slow
flight down to 60kts is easier managable.

Touch and goes were fun -- the pattern went around a lot faster than
before, and the workload seemed ridiculously high to start with. As
usual, things started to slow down, although there's still a lot to do
on downwind if you're to get trimmed, GUMPed and ready to cut power by
the end of the runway. Landing was, of course, the hardest bit. I never
came close to fogetting the gear, as I had my instructor shouting
GUMPS! GUMPS! every ten seconds, but I did realize when we did a
straight-in approach to a controlled airport how things like that can
shorten the accident chain...

In the pattern, we aimed for 100kt on downwind, 90kt on base, and then
80kt on final, with the last notch of flaps as we came over the fence.
For some reason I just couldn't stop myself getting fast on the
base-to-final turn, and then I realized that I was losing sight of the
runway behind that long snout, and instinctivly dropping the nose to
sneak a peak at my aiming point. As soon as I figured that, and
persuaded myself that if the runway was there on downwind, it would
probably be there on final, everything got a lot better. Nice early
roundout, work the trim in the flare, and while not every one was a
greaser, I had no problem keeping the nose way off, and producing at
least an acceptable result.

We also did some short-field stuff, which surprised me. The plane had
no problem getting either in or out of a 2400ft strip with way more
than 50% of the runway to spare. In fact, it seemed easier to put in
than my Warrior, which confirms my theory that I always landed that too
fast!!!

Still a lot to do -- instrument stuff, night flight, fully-loaded
flight, and adventured with the as-yet not-turned-on autopilot and
other toys. Still, I need another 9 hours to keep Avemco happy, so
there shouldn't be a problem finding the time. Performance wise, I've
been getting about ~162kt in cruise at 4500ft - 5500ft, so it looks
like LoPresti earned at least some of that money he took from the
last-but-one owner.