One of the most enjoyable things we get to do here at GlassPilot.com is actually use these wonderful airplanes we are always talking about and providing for sale. We search out special fly-in destinations and adventures to alert our readers so they can take full advantage of the lifestyle changing potential of their aircraft.  Today we are here to tell you that if you have not flown to Maine then you need to add that to your list of things to do!

Over Labor Day this year I needed to pick up a Diamond DA40 XLS I had bought that was based in New Hampshire. This seemed like a perfect opportunity to combine a little business with pleasure so my wife and I packed up and headed North. The aircraft was ready to go and in outstanding shape (Aircraft for sale: see photos & details). We took off from the old Pease Airforce Base KPSM in Portsmouth NH which used to be a Strategic Air Command base so the runway is only 11,321ft!

Upon departure we stayed at 1000ft all the way up the coast to KBHB – Bar Harbor Maine. This is simple a “must do flight”. The coast is so scenic and dramatic with its lighthouses, rocky shore, mountains, quaint villages, boats and lots of lobster pots. My wife was simply pointing and saying wow the whole way. You’ll pass Kennebunkport, Portland, Rockland and numerous villages which all look so quaint and classic Maine from the air with their boat packed harbors and lobster pot buoys dotting every inch of water. The extreme visibility the Diamond DA40 XLS offers makes a trip like this a truly magical experience.

When you arrive at KBHB it is a must to circle Acadia National Park and see the splendor of the pink granite peaks of Cadillac Mountain on Mount Desert Island. If we still used film this would be the preverbal ”Film Gobbler!” Take time to study the island from the air as you’ll be exploring it by foot, bike, car or bus during your visit. Passing to the north you’ll fly in over Frenchman’s Bay with Bar Harbor on your left and the airport just a bit further to the west. Be on the alert for traffic including biplane sight seeing craft, gliders and of course other private and some commuter aircraft coming in to KBHB.

As fly-in destinations go you’ll find few better than Bar Harbor. The amazing  scenery is complimented by a great airport and easy access to transportation. There are two car rental agencies in the little terminal and the FREE buses run on a regular schedule to take you on to the island. The free busses are there to encourage you to skip the car and enjoy the island by  bus and bikes. The propane powered buses all have bike racks to make the process work wonderfully. Several shops in Bar Harbor offer “comfort mountain bikes” that are truly comfortable with soft seats and suspensions. Not having a car was a blessing for us and made moving around easy. If you are in a hurry grab a cab as the airport bus does up to 45 minutes due to the stops along the way. The cab is less than $40 and is over in about 15 minutes.

There are beautiful carriage trails throughout the park that are fantastic for touring the park. You can take the bus out to a starting point and ride till you’ve had enough and catch the bus back. They are all graded so none of the hills are extreme and there are lots of easy and flat loops. What could be better?

You’ll have your choice of Bed & Breakfast Inn’s and various motel & hotel options to suit many different styles. The village of Bar Harbor has lots of fun shops, great food and plenty of exploring to do by foot or bike. After two days all we could say was, “we have got to plan to come back!”. Next time we’ll take advantage of whale watching tours, kayaking and some more hiking.

If you are looking for an active adventure for the whole family or a romantic get away for you and your partner you could do no better than a flight to Bar Harbor Maine. I’ve included some photos here and a link to our entire suite of photos. Feel free to leave comments or questions.

Loren French of Eagle Colorado purchased his DA20 through John Armstrong our GlassPilot publisher and filmed this great video of his pick up and flight from Maryland to his home base in Colorado over 1300 nautical miles.

You’ll see from the video the DA20 is quite the performer. Congratulations Loren! Enjoy your new plane!

One benefit of being in the general aviation aircraft sales business is it seems I have the job every one wants. Last fall I had the chance to bring my readers the experience of flying the KC135 tanker because I met the pilot and he wanted to learn more about what I do so he invited me along! It was an awesome experience that resulted in amazing pictures from the cockpit and refueling station.

Well folks, today we have another thrilling experience for you…a flight in a Marine Corp Harrier! It all started at Sun n Fun when a young Marine pilot offered a tour… I pulled out my calendar and booked it right then!

On Good Friday I took my two sons, Thomas age 12 and Ben age 16, and we made our way to the Cherry Point main gate at 0930 to meet our favorite new pilot friend. I am fairly confident that I was the most excited of our little troop. With our friends clearance we proceeded through the main Harrier flight line where, due to a retirement ceremony, they had halted training for an hour so we got to see dozens of Harriers lined up very businesslike on the ramp.

Inside the maintenance hangar we got to inspect up close the whole plane including the Mechanisms that control the hover, Gatling gun and other weapons systems. For a machine designed in the 1960′s I have to say I was amazed and impressed with the mechanical control system and how it all works.

The cockpit is made up of two video screens with all comms in the middle and a heads up video display that provides all the needed flight instruments and weapon systems. The HeadsUp display was something I was really looking forward to trying.

After watching flight ops including slow approaches and amazing hovers we headed to the Harrier simulator. This was no desktop training aid. The building was the size of a gymnasium and under tight security. I would have given anything to have been able to carry in my video camera to show you folks how cool this experience was closeup but that was not allowed.

The sim is controlled by an operator that sits behind a twelve foot long console with double decker screen arrays filling the whole space. The “aircraft” is around the corner encased in a two story tall metal room that surrounds the cockpit with 360 degree projection. The cockpit is the real thing.

Ben took the controls first and with a short briefing he performed his first performance take off in the Harrier. Considering he had just soloed the J3 Cub earlier in the week I felt certain that would qualify as the fastest “transition” on record!

I fully expected that he would be all over the sky and would not be able to hover…wow, was I surprised. He conducted a perfect flight including several take offs, landings and hover procedures. I was quite impressed. I was even more impressed when my 12 year old did the same albeit not as smooth.

When Dad finally got his turn I was prepared having watched and listened intently. I truly thought the bird would be much more difficult to fly. The transition from hover to flight in take off was a blast and very smooth. The transition from flight to hover on approach was much trickier but something I could have had fun doing for hours. The realization of the 360 degree sim was amazing.

Of course I had to try and show off and earned the honor of the only one to crash the sim. Just remember you can’t spin real fast in a hover or a wing drops and it gets ugly fast!

I was fully impressed with the base, everyone we met there and they way they kept the facilities. My son who is considering joining up went away even more excited dreaming of being a Harrier pilot.

Many thanks to our new friends at Cherry Point Marine Air Station!

Next… I’m gunning to get a visit to an aircraft carrier!

The Great Western Adventure

Our first leg was 503 nm from Newport News VA (PHF) to Smyrna TN (MQY) then to Addison TX (ADS) for another 542 nm. The weather was getting unstable towards the last leg but with XM WX and ARTCC looking at the storm cells we rerouted around them and kept a healthy distance from the building cells.

The next day we set out to Roswell NM (ROW) for gas and lunch. There were no aliens to be found but the scenery over the desert was spectacular. At ROW we replanned our route because of nasty storms near Albequerque and went south towards El Paso to get around the restricted area enroute to Chandler AZ (CHD) outside of Phoenix. We had a great dinner at the “Top of the Rock” that overlooks the Phoenix skyline.

At that point, we were thinking about heading back to home base and maybe trying to catch a glimpse of the Grand Canyon when we happened to meet a fellow aviator at our hotel who was watching us scheme and plan. His advice was, “You can’t be Lewis and Clark if you almost get near the Pacific and then go home”. Well, that was enough of a friendly poke to rethink the next flight and Catalina Island (AVX) was only 2+30 away so westward ho we went to collect trinkets and souvenirs to keep the homefront pacified. The weather around southern California was beautiful and the airport at Catalina was interesting with the 1500’ drop off at either end. It felt like looking at a carrier deck again, but with no arresting wires! Socal approach was helpful in vectoring us clear of the LAX traffic too.

Out of Catalina, we headed towards Vegas and landed in Barstow-Dagget CA (DAG) in the high desert for gas. We had been reading about flying in the Grand Canyon, and that was our next destination. The G1000 was a big help in allowing us to input lat/long user waypoints to mark the beginning and end of two of the VFR corridors. We got the chart, read up on the procedures and set off for a photo recce of the canyon. We also figured out why we were the only crazy aviators to be flying in the afternoon….the winds were high, it was hot outside and the turbulence was rough. We stayed at the corridor altitudes (11,500 and 10,500) just to have more options if we had to make an emergency landing, but the pictures came out great anyway. We bumped our way over the canyon then decided to forget the second corridor and keep heading to Albuquerque NM.

The last day was the longest flying day. We took off early in the morning as the balloons were rising north of Albuquerque, climbed east between the mountains and over the interstate, then settled in as the terrain below turned from desert to the plains of West Texas to trees again in Oklahoma and Missouri. This leg was 724 nm and took 5+45 to get to West Plains MO (UNO) with perfect VFR conditions. We needed to stand for a while and hoped to borrow the courtesy car but alas it had just had a flat tire. But we talked to a guy in the FBO (Jack Bowman) who happened to be the airport manager for the county (Pomona MO) and he offered to take us to a nearby restaurant that had great hamburgers and local fare. Jack turned out to also be the local auctioneer, guitar player in a country band and motorcycle rider with the local club.

Out of UNO, we filed direct to Bristol TN and actually got it. That seems to never happen in our local neck of the woods. Storms in the southeast were building rapidly and ARTCC and the XM WX helped keep us to the north of the storm systems. We had a few pop up cells but we could visually stay clear and center was getting flight plan deviation requests from everybody including us. The flight from Bristol (TRI) to Newport News was at night and we got to see a picturesque red moonrise. It was a long day with 1500 nm of flying but was worth it to see the landscapes of the states we had travelled across.

A few observations we made:
1. The G1000/GFC 700 autopilot was a great help. We alternated flying each leg and exercised the knobs and buttons to the fullest on the G1000. In 36 hours of flying you have a lot of time to fiddle with every function and button on the system. SVT is a great invention.
2. We planned for an emergency landing in the desert by packing tents, sleeping bags, survival tools and water.
3. We had a backup portable gps and portable radio with lots of batteries.
4. The controllers will generally work with you if you are prepared and considerate of them. Diverting left and right of course to get around cells was never a problem and several controllers offered different routing to bypass storm cells. The XM WX was generally agreeing to what the controllers were painting on their radar. We realized the satellite picture was dated but it did provide a strategic picture.
5. There are some real characters at the airports and places we visited. Talking with those folks really made the trip.
6. After flying a long leg (anything approaching 4+00) we made a pact to go get something to eat and be away from the plane for at least an hour.
7. The next time, we want to stay for a while in some of the places we landed and see more of the towns, attractions and friends. This was a good trail blazer. Now we have no excuses for that DAA fly-in in Utah!
8. The calculated fuel burn was a couple of gallons higher than the actual fuel burn. The fuel gages were dead on accurate.
9. I’d do it again! (But I need a few days to recover).

“I had the occasion to use the SVT to back up an approach to minimums and subsequent missed approach with a weather divert recently. I was going into Lake Placid. They have a GPS approach which takes you through some hills. Even though the approach minimums are around 1400 AGL, the approach course is interesting with the course taking you between hills/high terrain. I had the GFC700 coupled up for the approach and I was able to monitor the approach both with the MFD, the PFD course indicators for approach course compliance. But what made my approach “comfortable” was knowing I could “see” the terrain throughout the approach. The missed requires I climbing right turn out of the valley with terrain all around and the SVT provided a very high sense of confidence regarding terrain clearance. I ended up diverting into Glen Falls NY for the night. All of the avionics as well as the Nexrad were instrumental in the flight. And the 50 gallons gave me a very nice margin for divert decisions.”

Mark Brightman N970DS DA40 XLS

Mark R. Brightman
Owner of a 2008 Diamond DA40 XLS

Why Fly a Garmin 1000 with SVT?…I’ve now learned the answer to this question.
It’s like asking why write with a pen and paper when we have perfectly good stones and chisels!  All kidding aside, as a new glass cockpit operator, I can now begin to more accurately explain what the difference is all about and share my experience with other pilots interested in these “Glass Planes”.

I had the same questions in my mind when I began looking at the modern cockpit of a Diamond DA-40 XLS compared with my Cessna 172RG cockpit. I had just upgraded the Cessna with a G430 WAAS unit but that didn’t seem to keep my eyes from wandering to the new modern birds with their sleek lines and full glass cockpits. Once I learned about and understood the impact of the 2008 tax incentives  I purchased a new Diamond DA40 XLS with a partner and we have been in modern flying heaven every since.

At the point I was considering a new plane upgrade, all my training had been in round dial “steam gages” and I felt very comfortable flying with them and in fact had just completed my Instrument Rating.

But wow, what a difference the glass cockpit makes and the added benefit of Synthetic Vision Technology makes it remarkably easier. The only thing people think might be “wrong” with the glass panel is there is so much gee wiz information that you have a tendency to reduce the outside scan but then you realize the info provided on the screens is actually going to help you avoid other traffic and you begin relying on it instead of squinting through the haze.

Let’s talk about the benefits of a glass cockpit from the perspective of a low time pilot transitioning from analog gauges. The first thing I noticed was the clarity and size of the Primary Flight Display (PFD) and how easy it is to keep your scan going. The attitude indicator is always in the background when you are scanning the altitude, airspeed, course or VSI and there are a combination of electronic “tapes” and readouts to help out when looking at and interpreting a particular instrument readout.

The VORs are displayed in an HSI format and the whole thing blends very well with the autopilot (more on that later). I mentioned VORs, but in truth most of our navigation has been with the GPS system with the VORs being used as a backup.

When you add the SVT, all of a sudden the airports show up visually in three dimensions, as does traffic, terrain features and obstructions which really gives a level of comfort when you are in the goo (aviation technical term) or just in unfamiliar territory.

To date I have used the system in limited IMC and the additional situational awareness is truly awesome. The additional Pathways or “Highway in the Sky” feature comes on when you have a direct to or flight plan loaded in the system.

The highway in the sky feature shows up at the altitude you select and all you have to do to maintain the course is to make sure the flight path marker is in the magenta boxes. If you do that, you are within practical test standards for IFR flight. Additionally, when you are shooting an LPV or ILS approach, the vertical path guidance is also shown as the highway in the sky boxes and you put the flight path marker in the boxes for a perfect approach.

In addition, the airport runway shows up with the appropriate number (07 etc) so that you know you are lined up with the correct runway and the flight path marker shows you where you will intersect the terrain. Essentially the SVT will allow you to nail your touchdown point every time.

I have not flown the SVT system in other than coastal areas to date, but plan to make some trips to the mountains where the terrain features will show up in a 3D sense on the screen. Once you explain the highway in the sky concept, novice pilots and non-pilots can easily hold a course or shoot an ILS approach as the displays are readily understandable to anyone who has ever flown computer based flight games.

The multifunction display (MFD) makes a Garmin 530 look small and the amount of information that is available is amazing. In addition to looking at a larger view of your flight plan, you can display XM weather radar for see and avoid planning (don’t use it to penetrate a storm), traffic information via TIS (or optionally TAS), and a plan view of terrain features. Also you can call up chart information, Safetaxi airport information, approach plates, METARs and TAFs and XM radio to keep you entertained while you play with all the other features.

In all, the G1000 with SVT is remarkable in the increased situational awareness that it provides when compared to the traditional analog instrumentation. The ease of use, graphical depiction and intuitive display makes for a better informed pilot and in my opinion a safer pilot.

The GFC700 autopilot is well integrated into the G1000 suite and basic operation is intuitive. It works so accurately and well it quickly gives you a sense of confidence and it’s nice to be able to read a chart or fiddle with a weather page on the MFD without having to divert attention to maintaining altitude and heading. The digital autopilot will virtually fly the airplane to the ground but so far, because of the Synthetic Vision Technology, I’m having more fun hand flying it on my approaches!

Joey Ritchie
N633DC
2008 DA-40 XLS with G1000, GFC700 autopilot and SVT

Today I had the pleasure of giving an impromtu flight to Captain JJ Quin.  We just struck up a conversation at his home airport and I offered to give him a flight. At first he said, “No…I’ve got some paper work to do.” I looked at him and cock my head and said, “Are you really going to turn down a ride in a brand new SVT G1000 airplane?” All of a sudden he came to his senses and said, “Let’s go!”. I arrived home later to receive this email. I had no idea I was flying with a legend!

Hi John,

It was pleasure meeting you in Warrenton today. I really had a great time flying your Diamond aircraft. I wanted to share my impressions with you based on by past experience.

I have been flying for 51 years and have ATP’s in DC-6/7 727,737,747,757 767, Learjet and Citation. I have amassed 28,000 hours and today I had the pleasure to fly the Diamond with the Garmin 1000 and the amazing Synthetic Vision Technology. [Captain Quinn wrote to correct his previous email...after checking he realized he has been flying 58 years! ed]

I have to admit it is the best ” glass “airplane I have ever flown. It makes all the other large jet panels I have flown obsolete. I was truly impressed with the Synthetic Vision approach system (SVT) and the total awareness it gives to the pilot.

I would be happy to recommend this aircraft and its system to all pilots.

J J  Quinn
Captain, retired
United Airlines

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