Demo Flight Suggestions

(Darrell Clay) writes:

The plane (a 1964 Cessna 172-E) we are considering buying arrives
tomorrow for our hands-on inspection and professional pre-purchase
review. Obviously, we intend to fly it ourselves before making the
final decision. Anyone have any suggestions as to what we should do
during the flight?

1. Have fun.

2. As you mentioned, test *all* of the avionics, thoroughly,
especially if you're hoping to fly the plane IFR. If you have a
glidescope, try flying a practice ILS approach VFR. Make sure that
you can hear the ident for navaids as well (that was a problem in
my Warrior, though not an expensive one).

3. If the air is smooth, trim for level flight, take your hands off
the yoke and feet off the pedals and see how straight the plane
flies and how well the ball stays centred. It will eventually go
off, of course, but you don't want to be in a 20-degree bank in 10
seconds.

4. Do all your PPL stalls, steep turns, slow flight, etc. If there is
a rigging problem, it might turn up that way (i.e. a surprisingly
violent stall or a big wingdrop).

5. Do a simple, four-direction GPS test. Set 75% power for your
density altitude, then fly north (compass heading) for a minute,
write down your groundspeed, then fly east, south, and west, and do
the same. Do not correct for the wind. Average the four speeds
right there, in your head, and you have something close to your
true airspeed. Some caveats:

a. If the TAS is too high or too low, it could simply be because of
a tachometer error.

b. Remember that your highest TAS won't occur until around 7500
feet density altitude.

6. Have fun.


All the best,


David

--
David Megginson, , http://www.megginson.com/