Trim Tab Altitude is everything!

The Diamond Katana DA20 A1 is a light trainer and comparable to the Cessna 150, but the similarities stop there. The Katana has a low-wing, tandem-seat, carbon-fiber/plastic composite airframe, and has numerous advantages including a constant speed prop, control sticks (think fighters), and a greater usable payload.

A couple weeks ago I filled out a bunch of forms and got a Transport Canada "Authorized Person" to sign the back of my license. That signature officially gave me my Private Pilot's License.

A person wanting to begin flight training in Ottawa is prepared to spend in the neighbourhood of ten thousand dollars, and it only makes sense to get the best deal and the best experience. Choosing a flight school is something I did almost two years ago, and I believe I made the best choice at the time. That being said, has the situation changed now?

All right! I passed my flight test, so I will get my new license after doing a bit of paperwork Here are the details.

As anyone even casually checking will have noticed, prices for GPS units have dropped steadily over the last few years. One month ago, I came up with enough excuses to convince me that a GPS was in my future. I'll save the details and comparisons for another post (maybe), but the point is that I bought a used Garmin nuvi 760. Now the question was how could I use it for flying?

Getting a private pilot's license (PPL) can be described as

• showing you know the textbook
• showing you know how to fly.

The requirements for getting a PPL say that the two final exams a student must pass are, guess what:

All of us know what a subdivision looks like - we've all driven through them and visited friends who live in one. All the houses (ignore their similarity for a second) look perfectly finished, with siding or faux stonework and sod covering the yard and lining the driveway. Well I am in the dark about most of the building process, but I can speak about the efforts of the landscaping crews who prepare the ground and lay sod and are often the last people to work on a property.

I have the amazing fortune to live across the street from a couple, both pilots, who own a plane (PA-28 - see pictures) and invite me for flights occasionally. We have flown to Morrisburg and Pembroke, and this weekend Mike asked me if I was interested in going to the Canadian Aviation Expo being held in Hamilton. You're reading this, so obviously I eagerly accepted.

I am two solo flights ahead of where I was when I wrote my last article, one of which went well and the other...not so well