Complex Aircraft 2nd Flight

My second flight in the Arrow was a lot like my first. The biggest difference between the flight characteristics of the Archer and Arrow is with the larger engine and landing gear on the nose, the additional weight causes the Arrow to pitch down with no power. In other words the nose is a little heavy.

When landing, I'm used to cutting the power over the threashold and flying in ground effect just before my flare. With this plane, if you cut the power, it tends to pitch down - abruptly. So I have to work on keeping a little power in on final approach.

I should have one more flight and then get my endorsement.

Flight time: 1.2

Total time: 87.2

Complex Aircraft Endorsement

A complex aircraft is defined as an aircraft having retractable landing gear and a controllable pitch propeller. I found a Piper Arrow that was renting for a decent rate and scheduled a flight with a CFI to begin the process of my complex endorsement.

Really you have two more levers - a landing gear lever and a propellor control lever. Since I have had some time in the Cirrus, I was familiar with manifold pressure and quickly adapted to the additional instrument.

The flight went really well. We spent about a half hour on the ground going through systems (landing gear is controlled by a hydraulic system) and the V speeds along with the manifold pressure and RPM settings that correspond to different stages of flight in the traffic pattern.

Flight time: 1.3

Total time: 84.4