Columbia 400 Factory Training Report

 

On September 11, 2005 Ravi Bansal and I (Bob Miller) traveled to the Columbia Aircraft Company (formerly Lancair) factory in Bend, Oregon for four days of flight training on the Columbia 400. 

 

Below is a day-by-day recounting of our remarkable week in Bend . . .

 

For those of you who are not familiar with this remarkable airplane . . . the Columbia 400 is fast. Call it what you want Mach .42, 235 knots, 270 mph or just plain 'screamin' - only Uncle Sam has wings that can match the Columbia 400 combination of service ceiling, raw speed and cross country range - but he won't let you take your clubs!
 

Day 1 Report:

 

We departed Buffalo on Sunday morning, September 11, on a 6:30am commercial flight through Newark to Portland, Oregon.  Arriving around noon local time, we picked up a rental car and drove 3.5 hours southeast through the beautiful Cascade Mountains to Bend, a little city of 46,000 people nestled in the mountains of central Oregon. The surrounding snow-capped mountains reminded us that winter is just around the corner.

We checked into a beautiful hotel located in the heart of the local tourist district then went out and enjoyed a delightful seafood dinner of fresh pacific salmon and far too many sips of liquid refreshment.

The next morning (Monday), I awoke and made maximum use of the hotel fitness facility and then joined Ravi for breakfast.  From there, we drove over to the the Columbia factory located along side the Bend, OR municipal airport.  The factory itself is a sprawling series of recently constructed very handsome one and two story buildings.
 

[Photo left:  Columbia 400 factory.]

Walking into the lobby right at 8am, the first thing we saw was a large sign welcoming us by name.  We were introduced to a number of Columbia officials including their chief pilot and chief flight instructor as well as their VP of marketing, and several engineers.  We gathered in the factory showroom where Ravi's airplane and several other customer airplanes had been placed on display.

[Photo right: Ravi meets his new Columbia 400 in the showroom.]

The Columbia 400 is unique in that it is currently the fastest single engine piston airplane on the market today.  It is constructed of glass composite materials far stronger and more durable than aluminum used in most other general aviation aircraft.  Two large multi-function displays replace the conventional "steam" gauges used in conventional aircraft.  There is no yoke or control wheel.  A side stick neatly tucked away on the side of the cockpit is used to control the airplanes pitch and roll.

From the showroom, we were joined by four other pilot/owners in a nicely appointed classroom where we would be spending much of this day and portions of the remainder of the week receiving ground instruction on the Columbia 400.

After a 20 minute classroom briefing, we were taken on an extensive tour of their aircraft production facilities.  We were briefed on each stage of the construction process from engineering, to glass composite materials development, to molds and jigs, assembly, avionics, and final finishing.  

 

[Photo left:  While appearing like an assembly line, it is not.  Each airplane is handcrafted!]

Along the way we were told of the extensive certification process that Columbia went through with the FAA.  We were particularly impressed with the enormous strength of the materials used in this airplane.  It is really an entirely new technology that far surpasses the conventional rivets and aluminum in older aircraft.

We returned to the classroom for for a one hour class on the 400's weight and balance issues, performance factors, e.g., landing and takeoff distances, etc.

We broke for lunch in town, then returned for several more hours of ground instruction.  Much of this session was devoted to engine management issues, engine instruments, and operating procedures.  

 

I was particularly pleased to note that Columbia is a very strong advocate of lean of peak (LOP) operations.  In fact, much of what they have learned in this regard is purportedly changing what Continental is telling their own engine customers on how to operate these engines.

After a short break, we returned to the classroom for a special unexpected surprise.  Famed aircraft designer and pilot Dick Rutan was also touring the factory.  He came in to give us a briefing and to show a video of the Spaceship One mission that he and his brother, Burt, successfully launched earlier this year.  They were the winners of the X-Prize for the first civilians to design and successfully launch an aircraft into space.  You may recall that it was Dick Rutan and Jenna Yeager who were the first to fly nonstop around the world without refueling.
 

[Photo Left:  Bob Miller with Dick Rutan.]

After class, several of us remained behind to talk with Dick candidly about their remarkable successes.  He is a firm believer in the quote, "If you can dream it, you can do it.  The only way to fail is to quit!"  Every flight student should post this quote above his or her bathroom mirror and read it every day before leaving the house!

Tomorrow we start the in-flight instruction phase.  They promise to take us through the full range of maneuvers to observe the limits of this remarkable airplane.  I'll be sure to share our experiences with you tomorrow.

There you have it.  I hope you enjoy my first day recounting of this wonderful experience.  Hopefully each subsequent day will bring more information of interest to you.  Certainly, the last day will be the most exciting.  That is when we will fly this new beauty over the Rockies and back to Buffalo . . . hopefully taking advantage of the jetstream high in the flight levels.
 

Day 2 Report:

It is Tuesday morning. I arose at 5:30am and hit the gym just as the sun was coming up. Fresh overnight snow on the surrounding peaks again offered evidence of winter only weeks away . . . at least for those of us in the northern latitudes.

I met Ravi at the hotel's buffet breakfast area.  We chatted a while, downed a couple of eggs then drove over to the airport for another day of training. This would be the first day in the airplane so we were both looking forward to a fun day.

Our training began with a meeting with our factory flight instructor, Steve Forte, who took us through a thorough preflight of Ravi's airplane. This was my first really up close and personal study of the COL4 and I must say that I was impressed.

Having been a long time Cessna and Piper driver where rivets and aluminum are what keeps you in the air, the Columbia 400 looks more like space age science.  The form, fit, and finish are the closest thing to airplane-perfect that I have ever seen. The detail and workmanship are nothing short of Bentley quality. The ONLY AD on this airplane is for a small fitting imperfection near the tail which has been corrected.

Even the interior speaks quality. From the seats to the headliner and from the panel to the luggage compartment, everything is first class. With this kind of demonstrated workmanship, it is difficult to understand why other companies continue to design and manufacture new airplanes with 1960's materials.

This observation was ditto'd by Dick Rutin who remained on site to talk further with us and Columbia engineers about he and brother Burt's work with carbon and glass composite materials and their designing of SpaceShip Two.  From a shear strength, non-corrosion, smooth airfoil, and handling perspective, these new materials run circles around conventional metal airplanes. There is just no comparison!

After our extensive pre-flight inspection, we rolled the airplane out for our first flight. It already had 21 hours on the Hobbs from factory flight testing.

Just before launching, Ravi and I returned to the classroom for something.  It was here that we were greeted with our second surprise of the week.  Famed airshow pilot Sean Tucker was also touring the factory in preparation for flight testing the COL4 for his possible use in his aerobatic shows. We had an opportunity to sit down and talk with Sean about his take on this airplane. Needless to say, he was also impressed!

 

[Photo left:  Famous airshow performer, Sean Tucker.]

It was now time for our first flight.  Since Ravi was the proud owner, I agreed to ride in the back seat while Steve took him for his first flight.  This was Ravi's first experience in a high performance airplane, with a free castering nose wheel, glass cockpit, and side stick controls. Shall I use the word "overwhelmed?" Yes!

 

Despite all these "first times," Ravi took off smoothly and shot right up to 10,500 in less than nine minutes. As he pitched over to level flight, this dual turbo beast smoothly accelerated to 190 KIAS!  The TAS readout on the PFD (Primary Flight Displayed) showed 210 knots true.

The only draw back (but if you can afford one, who cares), this TSIO550 Continental was burning nearly 40gph on the climb, then settled down to about 18gph when leaned to the far side of peak. With further leaning and a loss of about 10KIAS, we could probably get the fuel burn down to about 16gph. I'll confirm this tomorrow when I get to fly it.

When it was time to land, Ravi set the autopilot to a 1,000 fpm descent rate. The airplane quickly assumed rocket characteristics as the smooth, nearly dragless airframe quickly approached Vne. He applied the electrically operated speed brakes to slow us down as we made wide circling turns before reaching pattern altitude.

Leveling off with a slight power reduction, speed brakes still up, and 12 degrees of flaps, the airplane transitioned from jet-like characteristics to C-172 behavior. Dropping full flaps retarded the speed to 80KIAs and power now to idle, we landed like a butterfly with sore feet. Such a gentle airplane!

We learned that you do not apply a normal flare just before touching down. Instead, the airplane is flown right to the runway with the mains touching down first, then the nose following immediately.
 

[Photo right:  Ravi with factory flight instructor, Steve Forte - a former Airbus captain with a major airline]

So that was the first flight in the worlds fastest production single engine piston airplane. With no doubt, this airplane makes every airplane made of metal obsolete performance and durability-wise. As a confirmed C-210 owner, I fear that my airplane's value may have dropped precipitously because of this technology. Leastwise, I am safe until they manufacture a glass composite six-seater!!!!!

There was no time for lunch on this busy day. We landed, then rushed back to the classroom where we met our classmates for a four hour session on the COL4's avionics package. This airplane uses two large displays. The left one is the Primary Flight Display (PFD) that replaces the conventional six pack steam gauges, e.g., altimeter, attitude indicator, airspeed indicator, turn coordinator, heading indicator, and vertical speed indicator.

The right display is called the multi-function display (MFD) that provides just about every other piece of information a pilot could ever want including, I think, the menu in every airport restaurant along your route of flight!

We ended the afternoon discussing various "what if" failures.  In this airplane, it is difficult to imagine a catastrophic event. The only non-redundant system is the engine. Everything else seems to have multiple backups.

Our training day ended just like the first. We were both exhausted and invigorated. Ravi and I again began talking about a possible circumnavigation of the globe. Once we figure out how to negotiate the vast Pacific Ocean, we will begin planning seriously.

I am now back at the hotel writing this. When finished, Ravi and I will go searching again for the best seafood in town. We have homework to do tonight so there will be no partying.

Again, I hope you enjoyed these meandering thoughts. I will share more with you tomorrow. In the meantime, don't forget Dick Rutan's admonishment from yesterday: "If you can dream it, you can do it. You only fail if you quit!"
 

Day 3 Report:

 

This is the third in a series of five daily email messages describing my participation in the Columbia - Columbia 400 Factory Pilot Training program being conducted this week in Bend, OR.  I apologize if you find these daily summaries uninteresting or otherwise a needless filling of your e-mail inbox. I had one reader send me a rather indignant message earlier today saying just that. Fortunately, far more readers have expressed very positive feedback so I am continuing.

Today, Wednesday, was my most anticipated day simply because it was my turn in the left seat of this remarkable airplane. This day began as usual with a workout and a light breakfast, followed by a quick drive over to the airport.

Yesterday's training ended with a detailed briefing on high altitude flight.  Since I often fly in the O2 levels I wasn't expecting to learn much from this session.  I was surprised, however, that Columbia recommends the wearing of the O2 mask or canula right from takeoff if you plan to cruise above 12,500 feet. I thought this a bit over over-preparedness until I saw first hand just how quickly this airplane climbs!  It just takes a couple minutes to get up there!

Our morning began routinely and quickly became a day which I will long remember . . . not because of my first COL4 piloting experience, but by what happened on my first takeoff. More about this later!

I did have an opportunity to find an answer to a question many of you raised over the past couple of days. That is, does glass composite materials deteriorate over time? We know they are strong now, but what happens in 30 or 40 years? Rather than exploring the answer to this question with the factory folks, I went directly to probably the best source in the world. That source was none other than Dick Rutan.

I had an opportunity to spend about 30 minutes, one-on-one with him on this question. Keep in mind that Dick and his brother Burt designed and built the carbon composite Voyager, the first airplane to fly around the world unrefueled, nonstop. It was their study of glass and carbon composite materials that made this remarkable flight possible.
 

[Photo right - Note sidestick placement in the COL400.]

Anyway, this is what Dick had to say about my question. He said, "Glass composite materials strengthen as they cure over time. The steepest strengthening occurs during the first 3 to 5 days. After that, they continue to measurably strengthen over the next 15 to 30 years. The ONLY threat to these materials is ultra-violet light which weakens some of the bonding materials between the glass composite materials."

He added that UV light is not a risk so long as the airplane has paint on it. UV light cannot penetrate paint! Per FAA certification, this is why the entire airplane, including the inside of control surface edges and fairings, etc. MUST be painted.

Dick drew diagrams of test results comparing the strength and durability of aluminum with glass composites. Where aluminum weakens slightly when stretched, glass composites return to their original strength point. This is why multiple cycles (landings and takeoffs) of aluminum ultimately weakens conventional airplanes to the point of failure.

Anyway, I thought you might be interested in that explanation . . . not from the factory but from a disinterested 3rd party expert. Now back to my first piloting experience in the COL4. . .

My first flight was memorable because the impossible nearly happened. Keep in mind that this is a NEW airplane with less than 25 hours on it. The factory has gone to great pains to insure that nothing can go wrong. But recognizing that "stuff" does happen, they included annunciator lights for every possible system. If any annunciator light goes off, it's a no-go until the matter can be resolved.

Okay, on my flight, I couldn't get the "door ajar" light to go off. The instructor told me that the maintenance people had been working on the right door the night before and that there was an intermittent "door ajar" sensor switch problem on the right door. He told me to ignore this light and to proceed with the takeoff.

Now for those of you who believe that a "door ajar" is not a serious threat to safe flight, keep in mind that the COL4 has "gull wing" doors like a Farrari. If one of these doors opens in flight, it will become a third wing or airfoil. It will be ripped from the hinges, possibly pulling apart a portion of the top of the fuselage. So a "door ajar" sensor is really a big thing. And a sudden door opening in flight is an even bigger thing. But since we knew the sensor was defective, we decided to continue with the launch.

I rolled onto the active runway and applied takeoff power. The 310hp, dual turbocharged engine came alive to what felt to me like a catapulted F-16. Almost instantly reaching the 78 knot Vr, I gave a gentle tug on the side stick and BANG. It suddenly appeared to me that the entire left side of the fuselage had suddenly departed the airplane! All I could see were runway lights streaming by at over 78 knots and a cabin full of rushing wind!

What occurred, much to my surprise, my left gull wing door flew open!

My factory instructor and I both were now on the controls. He said, "I have it" just as I said, "I have it!" We were both flying the airplane. I should have had enough sense to give it to him, but many hundreds of hours of my own CFI experience instinctively prevented me from yielding the controls to the guy in the other seat.

Either I was more forceful than he was or for whatever other reason, he said, you have it. By this time the end of the runway was quickly approaching. Did I have enough stopping distance remaining? How about obstacles at the other end?

The rushing sound of the wind and the roar of the engine turning full power was deafening. I quickly figured that we were close to the ground and realizing if this airplane went airborne we'd have another whole set of problems to deal with . . . I chopped the power.

The control yoke was on the side, no nosewheel steering, and the actual flight characteristics of this partially disabled airplane were all new to me. Suddenly everything I had ever learned or experienced about airplanes came to the fore. An airplane is an airplane - fly it!

We rolled to a stop with adequate runway remaining. Had this door let loose 5 seconds later, we would have been airborne and too far down the runway to set it down. That would have been very serious.

So what went wrong? I screwed up . . . for two reasons. I shouldn't have launched with the "door ajar" light showing, regardless of what the factory instructor said.

Second . . . and here's where I really screwed up. The door closing and locking mechanism on the COL4 is a tricky affair. It is located behind the pilot's seatback. To properly secure it, the pilot has to reach around his left shoulder, then give the handle a tug, then insure that the tip of the handle sits squarely in a detent in the door. It was this last part that I apparently missed.

 

[Photo left: Showing position of door handle behind the pilot's left shoulder!]

 

I had the handle closed, the locking pins appeared to be in place, but the door handle was not in the detent. The "door ajar" annunciator light glowed for this reason . . . and not because of the intermittent right door sensor switch!

Again, had this happened 5 seconds later, Ravi and I would have returned to Buffalo on an airliner rather than in his new plane . . . that is, of course, if nothing worse happened.

Lesson. . . . believe your annuciator lights regardless of what anybody tells you!  If something doesn't look right at takeoff, don't launch!!!!

We got the door problem properly secured, the annunciator lights all properly off, then launched again. This time everything worked normally. We climbed quickly up to 10,500 feet. From there, we began a series of maneuvers including steep turns in both directions, power on, power off, and cross-controlled stalls, and recoveries from unusual attitudes using rudder only. I was impressed with this airplanes handling qualifies. It was tight, much like an Extra 300. Yet it was docile in the stalls. It recovered easily with little or no yawing.

After about an hour we flew over to Redmond, OR for a series of touch and goes. This was my next surprise, though nothing like the door opening event earlier in the morning. Unlike my Cessna 210, landing is really all about power and airspeed only. Like a fighter jet, the stubby little wings only provide lift when their is a lot of air flowing over them. Fall below a critical airspeed, even though not stalled, the airplane suddenly turns into a concrete block and falls accordingly. Thus, we kept the COL4 at or above 85 knots right down to the runway threshold. This was a full 20 knots faster than the 210.

The next surprise came when I attempted a flare right at touchdown. Whoa. When I did this, the airplane ballooned and back up into the air we went. I applied full power and elected to go around and try it again. This time, with the instructor's help, I flew the airplane right down to the runway then cut the power. No flare. Instead just a lightening of the nose to keep us on the mains before the nose wheel touched down.

After returning back to the Bend Airport, again there was no time for lunch, we joined the classroom instruction already in progress. We spent the remainder of the day studying aircraft systems, one by one, until we had a clear understanding of each. Keep in mind that this is an entirely electric airplane. No vacuum pumps to run the gyros. It has two totally independent electrical systems running on two separate busses. If either system fails, the Primary Flight Display and the Multifunction Display continue to operate. How this all worked took a bit of time to comprehend.

Well, that is it. Another day and lots of new skills and knowledge. All of this works together to keep these old brain cells exercised. Like muscles, you use 'em or lose 'em.

Tomorrow is the final day of training. Most of it will be in the airplane (with doors tightly shut). Hopefully by day's end tomorrow, Ravi and I will be sufficiently proficient to handle any contingency during our long flight east across the continent. The next message from me will likely be from my home base in Buffalo sometime late Friday or early Saturday.


Day 4 Report:

 

It's Day 4 (Thursday) and we had fully expected to be on our way home via an overnight stop in Seattle. Unfortunately, Murphy raised his ugly head and we find ourselves with another overnight here in Bend. I'll explain why below.

This day began just like all of the others this week, except I skipped my workout to respond to each of the numerous very kind responses I received from yesterday's message. I should not be surprised, but you aviation people are really very, very kind folks!

This being the last scheduled day of training necessitated that we complete a lot of stuff in very short time. This was caused by some unexpected maintenance issues on Ravi's airplane that took it out of service a bit longer than expected. These issues included a troublesome electric prop heat that kept kicking off due to a high voltage problem. The engine also required some minor tweaking to get the takeoff turbine inlet temperature (TIT) down within acceptable limits. We also had to have Jeppesen overnight the MFD approach plate software that still has to be loaded.

I also had to complete another three hours of flight training to complete my factory CFI certification. With all of this happening, a decision was made to have me finish off Ravi's certification after returning home.

So far, so good . . . right? Wrong! The unexpected was about to happen.

I hooked up with my instructor for my final flight training session, this time with a forward CG. This meant that Ravi would have to remain on the ground. So Steve (my instructor . . . a recently retired USAir Airbus driver) took off, this time with me in the right seat. I elected the right seat because that was where I would be doing most of my flying from. I wanted to be sure that my right hand would work efficiently on the right side stick.

Not surprisingly, I found it much easier to fly from the right seat than the left. It did, however, pose a problem when writing down ATC clearances with my useless left hand. I asked the factory about this problem (or the problem left hand pilots would have flying in the left seat with a non-effective right hand writing hand. They offered two options: (1) use the autopilot, or (2) improve your memory so that you don't have to write anything down! For me, option (2) was not really an option!

I remain impressed, from a flight management perspective, that the COL4 is more like an Airbus than a GA airplane. Instructor Steve agreed! Here's why. Our planned flight mission required that we climb to 17,500 feet, level off, then perform some high altitude maneuvers.

Here's how it went. After completing the run-up and just before taking the active runway, I set the PFD (primary flight display) to the desired 17,500' altitude. I then entered the desired climb rate of 1,500 feet per minute. Next, I turned on and armed the S-Tec autopilot. Next, I entered a three leg flight plan into the Garmin 430 which then displayed itself on the right multi-function display. The last thing we did was don our O2 canulas and turned on the oxygen.

We then announced our intentions to area traffic, took the active and advanced to full thottle. At 400'AGL, I raised the take off flaps, turned off the fuel boost, then pressed a single autopilot activation button. I then folded my arms and sat back and watched in amazement!

The COL4 intercepted the course to our first fix about 75 miles to the south as it continued to climb at a breezy 1,500 feet per minute and at 170KIAS.

The autopilot leveled us off at 17,500 exactly 11 minutes after rotation from the runway. The true airspeed after level-off was 220knots. We disconnected the autopilot and practiced a few maneuvers, nothing too bold but we wanted to see how it performed in the thinner air. Again, amazing.

We again activated the autopilot which automatically intercepted the inbound course to our Redmond destination. We called and requested the ILS 22 approach, then set the AP for a 1,000 feet per minute descent to 7,500'. Instructor Steve gave me vectors to the final approach course and the autopilot did the rest. The only thing I did was manage airspeed with pitch.

Successfully completing the hands off (coupled) approach, I did a circling maneuver, entered the pattern, then performed all of the various landing and takeoff maneuvers, e.g., shorts, softs, power off, etc. By now, the airplane and I had become old friends. Finally, after some five hours of flight training, the whole thing came together.

We returned to Bend, landed. We left the airplane on the ramp where the final engine management and hot prop fixes were to be completed. Shortly after, our first real disappointment came. The timing of the necessary final fixes would require an overnight stay. Oh well, I thought. This would mean skipping Seattle and, instead, flying directly back to Buffalo in the morning. Anyway, that is the plan at the moment.

Ravi had decided to take the rental car out to fill the tank prior to returning to AVIS. This precipitated the next setback. Regretably, on the way to the gas station Ravi had a rather serious fender-bender with the rental car. Fortunately, nobody was seriously hurt but it left us without a car and a great deal of unplanned paperwork with the local police. This day all of sudden seemed to be going down hill quite fast!

Well, I'm now in the hotel with the next question being, where do we go for dinner. Hopefully, tomorrow will be better. All things considered, I am beginning to feel like Clark Grizwald and family on the way to Wally World!

If all does goes well, the next message you will receive from me will be from Buffalo. If not, who knows where???
 

Day 5 - Final Report:

 

Friday morning arrived with mixed blessings.  Ravi was understandably still bummed over yesterday's automobile mishap, we were without a car, and it was the last day of training.  The folks at Columbia factory have been wonderful throughout the entire week and we would be saying goodbye in a few hours.

 

Steve, our factory flight instructor, picked us up at the hotel and delivered us back to the factory. Just a few final software installs were all that had to be completed on the airplane.  Ravi stayed closed to that activity as I began planning our return flight to Buffalo. 

 

The weather over Bend was cloudy for the first time during our stay.  A weather front was moving southeastward, pushing moisture and some convection down over Washington and Oregon.  This system would be influencing our weather eastward through Idaho and Montana.  The mid-continent region would be clear.  Another front was moving northward over the Great Lakes and would definitely be a factor at our scheduled arrival into Buffalo.

 

Having long been accustomed to high IFR flight in my T-210, I wasn't particularly concerned about climbing through turbulent clouds . . . even with the surrounding mountainous terrain and the Rocky Mountain peaks along the Continental Divide to our immediate east. 

 

My weather briefing did toss in a concern that I hadn't heard in the past three or four months. . . . "Occasional moderate icing in the clouds from the freezing level to flight level 250."

 

My passivity about our planned trip was about to change.  I would by operating an airplane never before flown exclusively on the gauges and untested by me in turbulent weather.  A mountainous region, passing front containing lots of moisture, instrument flight conditions, occasional moderate icing, nervous student pilot/owner, a single engine with less than 26 hours total time, and an avionics system with operating software loaded only minutes before.  Risk factors were building quickly.

 

This was the essence of aeronautical decision making and risk management assessment that few primary flight instructors ever talk about . . . . other than to say, "Don't do it!" 

 

But this was a real, not a training mission.  Sure, we could hang through the weekend for, hopefully, better weather.  But snow was already covering the surrounding peaks.  We could delay, oh, say, about eight months for the perfect transcontinental flying day. 

 

Those who regularly read "Over the Airwaves" know where I'm coming from on this point.  In short, far too many pilots die in conditions like we were facing because the first time they face them, they are alone and without any previous training on how to deal with them.

 

My decision to launch was based on a careful "back door" analysis.  Where could we bolt if things with the airplane suddenly went south?  How long would it take us to climb up through possible icing encounters to clear air at 25,000'?  How could we be sure to avoid high terrain on the climb out in IMC conditions?  What would happen if our elaborate glass cockpit suddenly went dark?  And how about that single engine?  This airplane has a paltry 5:1 glide ratio, and it lands at 85 knots.  No emergency river bed landing in the mountains would likely be survivable.  And if we did survive, how long would it take for rescuers to reach us? 

 

I kept many of these concerns to myself figuring that Ravi had enough to think about.  One thing for certain, however, I didn't want to wait around any longer than I had to with weather moving in.  Ravi, on the other hand, was refusing to leave until every last nut, bolt, screw, software update, and cosmetic concern was fully resolved. 

 

Here, again, is another pressure pilots must address.  That is, differing priorities between pilot and passengers. I was satified that all of the aircraft safety related issues had been fixed.  Ravi, on the other hand, was not about to leave the factory until he had a "perfect" airplane.

 

What would you do?  Remember, weather was moving in.  The factory is closed over the weekend.  Any delay could hold us over until Monday.

 

"Ravi, let's go," I pleaded!  "No, Bob.  I want to have the approach plate software loaded into the MFD." 

 

The problem was, they had attempted to load this software unsuccessfully for the past hour. "Just one more try," he insisted.

 

I replied, "We have paper plates.  We don't need the glass software to get home.  You can load it when we get home!"  

 

Ravi was the boss and I was the hired hand.  So I reluctantly said okay.  As it turned out, they did get the plates successfully loaded just as my filed IFR flight plan was about to time out.

 

It was 12:45pm local time on Friday when we said our goodbyes, took a couple of parting photos, then packed ourselves into the cockpit for the planned 10 hour ride across the continent.  Actually, the planned non-stop flight time from Bend to Buffalo at a 220TAS and a 20 knot push from the calm westerly winds was just over 7 hours.  Unfortunately, that was just about 2 hours longer than the COL4 endurance.

 

[Photo right: Graduation photo.]

 

Since this was really the first shake down flight for N2526B, I kept the first of three planned legs somewhat short.  And since we would be flying over the mountains, I planned to follow published airways instead of going to direct to our first stop in Billings, MT.  I selected Billings because it was just east of the last range of mountains.

 

Now buckled in the airplane with charts neatly folded, Ravi slowly advanced the throttle of his proud new baby.  At mid point in the throttle travel, the dual turbochargers kicked in and boosted the manifold pressure to 35".  You could feel the sudden surge of power that, frankly, was a really neat feeling!  Reaching 76KIAS, Ravi gave a gentle tug on the left side mounted stick. 

 

Reaching traffic pattern altitude, I gave Seattle Center a call and requested our IFR clearance.  "Unable," said the center control.  "Remain VFR and call once clear of the Redmond Airport approach course."

 

Hmmmm. . . I couldn't continue climbing and still remain VFR and rising peaks surrounded the lush green valley below . . . plus Ravi continued to remind me of that fact with the passing of each peak that was rising along our route of flight.  So we simply knitted a course between the clouds and the terrain. 

 

Now for back doors.  Despite the thousands of dollars of glass avionics on N2526B, there was no TAWS (terrain awareness system).  Not to worry, however.  I had my portable Garmin 296 which is TAWS enabled, plugged in and monitoring the terrain below us! 

 

Where in the Private or instrument Practical Test Standards PTS does the FAA require today's pilots to demonstrate skill in the use of  supplementary portable avionics as safety or backup devices???  It doesn't, and since it doesn't, most flight school curricula do not even address it! Enough griping . .  . 

 

Finally, Seattle Center called an said, "Columbia 2526B, I have your clearance, advise ready to copy."  We happily copied the clearance, then clicked on the autopilot and dialed in full power.  With that, both Ravi and I sat back and watched the miracles of modern flight management systems send our hand-made glass composite aircraft soaring up to flight level 210 at an amazing 1,500 feet per minute while at the same time keeping us dead-centered on the changing airway course lines over the mountains!

 

[Photo left:  Primary and Multi-function display as we passed through FL190 over the Continental Divide.  Click on the photo to enlarge to full screen size.] 

 

I immediately thought back to a similar mission I had exactly one year earlier. Then I, along with a pilot owner/student Kelly Brannen, brought a Piper Archer out from San Francisco to Buffalo over the mountains near Lake Tahoe, Nevada.  We did most of that flying entirely by hand behind a normally aspirated 180hp engine that was giving us every anemic bit of boost that it could at 13,000'!  There's nothing wrong with an Archer.  It's a great airplane for flat land pilots!!!!!!

 

Unfortunately, due to the IMC conditions, we were unable to view the spectacular mountain ridges below us. We did pick up trace ice on the narrow leading edges as we passed through 17,000' on the way up to FL210. 

 

I must admit having more than passing concern about this icing since nobody at the factory could tell me about the ice-carrying capability of this airplane.  We know that ice accumulates on narrow rather than fat surfaces.  But the COL4 is nearly aerodynamically perfect with smooth, highly streamlined surfaces. Very little, other that the gear, hangs off this airplane.  I continued to watch the ice situation closely.

 

Here again is an example of a major flight training shortcoming.  The standard gospel is, "Don't fly in icing conditions. Period. Nuf said!"  So the hapless student learns to either park his airplane from November to May (in Buffalo and other northern regions), or encounter ice and be totally unfamiliar with how to handle it.

 

Ravi said, "We have ice . . . we must climb higher!"  Ravi was right.  He was taught that icing rapidly diminishes as outside temperatures drop below -22 degrees C.  He also knew that in going up . . . if things got worse icing-wise, we could always come down.  This is not true the other way around.

 

True enough, the icing stopped just as we reached our cruise altitude . . . and the OAT was sitting right at -22 deg C.  Had that not worked, we had enough performance capability to blast up to our certified ceiling of FL250 (or higher in an emergency). 

 

Curiously, not one bit of ice/frost attached itself to our highly slanted windshield!  And thanks to a heated prop, no loss in pulling power would likely be encountered.

 

We landed right on schedule at the Billings, MT airport.  We took on fuel and oxygen, borrowed a crew car and went into town for the first meal of our day. Billings is located in the spacious skies of central/eastern Montana .  Purple mountains majesty to the west, amber waves of grain to the east. 

 

[Photo left:  Refueling in Billings, MT]

 

Ravi and I, admittedly, were feeling quite "heady" having just taken our new bird to what seemed to us like the edge of space over the most hostile terrain in America.  Job well done, we modestly thought to ourselves!

 

We buckled ourselves back into COL2526B, completed our pre-flight while experiencing newly arrived buffeting winds rocking our little craft as it sat on the ground.  I called clearance delivery.  He cautioned that the airport's surrounding micro-burst/windshear alerting system had just sounded its alarm.  He said he had five inbound aircraft holding, waiting for this very strange weather event to pass.  We shut her right down, walked back to the FBO and waited it out.

 

About 30 minutes after that, the tower reported an "all clear," so we launched on the next leg of our flight.  Here again, a bit of careful planning was in order.  We could stretch it and make it back to Buffalo that night with one more quick fuel stop.  Our route of flight, however, would require a night time crossing of the 70 mile Lake Michigan.  There's no back door there.  Lose the engine over Lake Michigan at night . . . there's no hope!  Plus we had no water survival gear, e.g., life raft, life jackets.

 

Thus, a strategic re-route was in order.  We decided to take a southeasterly course out of Billings direct to Peoria, IL.  Peoria is just south of Chicago and below the southern tip of Lake Michigan. This would cost us about 45 minutes of total additional flight time, but well worth it from a "risk assessment" (there's that term again) perspective.

 

Shameless self-promotion coming . . . I've taken three flight students across the continent in recent years.  There's no training in the world that imparts the lessons learned that this kind of long range cross-country training provides.  Here again, the private pilot PTS is, well, a joke in terms of real skill assessment.

 

We dialed in the numbers, flipped the switch, fire-walled the throttle and flew effortlessly up through several cloud layers to our FL210 cruise altitude.  A full moon met us squarely in the face as raced eastward away from the sun setting in the west.  Within minutes after takeoff, we were in dark space searching for cabin/instrument lights we had never seen or worked before.  Hmmmmm . . . a bit of poor planning on my part!

 

[Photo right:  Ravi sucking 02 on the way up to the flight levels.]

 

What had begun about five hours earlier as an anxiety-filled departure from Bend now became a literal walk in the park.  I adjusted the soft recessed cabin lighting that the folks at Cessna and Piper have never figured out how to engineer in their little airplanes.   Confident that Ravi could take good care of things, I opened the USA Today and read it cover to cover.  Shortly after that, I laid my tired old head on the soft leather side panel and fell into a light dozing sleep to the constant hum of the TSIO550 working effortlessly up front.

 

Some 3.5 hours later, we spotted the lights of Chicago and Peoria to the south.  By now, Ravi had become a technological genius.  He played COL2526's buttons like a piano.  He negotiated our planned ILS approach to Peoria with both Chicago Center and Peoria Approach, then with Tower. 

 

This was our first night landing so I elected to let "George" (the autopilot) do it.  What I witnessed could only be imagined 10 years ago.  The full ILS Approach Plate appeared on the multi-function display.  All the correct nav frequencies were automatically dialed into the radios.  A little green image of our moving airplane appeared on the electronic approach plate. 

 

The autopilot maneuvered us (and our image) to the final approach course, grabbed the localizer, then locked onto the glideslope.  All we had to do was make a slight 5 inch reduction in manifold pressure, then touch the electric speed brakes every minute or so to keep the speed under control.

 

[Photo left:  Click on photo to enlarge.  You will see our moving little green airplane image near the procedure turn on the electronic approach plate.]

 

ATC will love the COL4.  Why?  We turned on final at 157KIAS and held that speed to the marker.  Then another power reduction, clicking off George, application of speed brakes, and the second of two notches of flaps.  This dropped us down to 115KIAS for the ride to decision height.  Runway in sight, we continued to fly the airplane right down to the runway surface with almost no flare.

 

We taxied to the FBO, left our comfortable quarters, made a pit stop, checked the weather . . . then discussed the next step.

 

It was now 10pm Oregon time.  Ravi had a family matter he desperately wanted to be home for early the next morning.  We were still looking at another 2.5 hours of flying to our final destination in Buffalo.  Buffalo was three hours ahead of us time-wise, making it 1:00am there.  We needed 30 minutes to fuel and get a weather brief. This would put us in Buffalo at 3:30am Buffalo time.

 

I was almost convinced to press on . . . until my weather briefing. Buffalo, at our planned arrival time, was calling for 1 mile visibility and a V002 ceiling.  It wasn't pretty. 

 

Back to aeronautical decision making time.  We had been airborne for the past 7 hours and were looking at 2.5 more.  Weather at our destination was at ILS minimums.  And despite the simplicity of the glass cockpit, this setup was still new to me.  Plus, I was doing the best I could to resolve a spitting headache that I acquired somewhere between Bend and Billings.

 

"Ravi . . . we've got to stop here.  I know you want to be in Buffalo first thing in the morning, but I'm going to put my foot down here," I said.

 

Not surprisingly, Ravi quickly agreed.  And this was coming from a guy who was still emotionally recovering from a nasty car wreck the day before!  The FBO attendant got us a ride to the local Ramada where we both crashed with minimal conversation.  In truth, we were both exhausted and exhilarated at the same time.

 

[Photo left - Saturday morning in Peoria, IL]

 

Morning came all to soon.  We were back at the airport at 6am.  The last and final leg was going to be a piece of cake.  COL2526B and us were like old friends.  I ran the seven page checklist while Ravi punched the buttons.

 

We launched through a thick surface cloud layer and climbed automatically up to our 17,000' initial cruise altitude, then up to FL210 to pick up more favorable tail winds.

 

Enroute to Buffalo, I began to write down some objective comparisons between Ravi's fantastic flying machine and my 25 year old Cessna Turbo 210.  I know I have been praising the dickens out of this wonderful new technology, but I soon took on a more objective assessment. 

 

Here's what I came up with.

 

Columbia 400:  $600,000 with taxes.

My 1980 T-210: Current value with new paint, interior, engine, dual Garmin 430s: $250,000.

 

COL4: Cruise true airspeed Lean of Peak at FL210: 220KTS

T-210 Cruise true airspeed Lean of Peak at FL210: 190KTS

 

COL4: Certified known ice: No.

T-210: Certified known ice: Yes

 

COL4: Radar/stormscope equipped: No (not certified for either)

T-210 Radar/stormscope equipped: Yes

 

COL4: Average fuel flow at cruise: 17gph

T-210: Average fuel flow at cruise: 14gph

 

COL4: Usable fuel: 101 gal

T-210: Usable fuel: 118 gal

 

COL4: Seats - 4

T-210: Seats - 6

 

COL4: Usable load (without fuel): 1,200 lbs

T-210: Usable load (without fuel): 1,600 lbs

 

COL4 Ramp Appeal:  Super, fantastic, eye-catching.

T-210 Ramp Appeal: Hmmm . . . you be the judge!

 

COL4 Speed, maneuverability:  F-16 qualities

T-210 Speed maneuverability:  Your father's Oldsmobile

 

In summary.  Pick your mission carefully before deciding on the airplane for you.  The COL4 is new, proven technology.  It runs circles around the conventional 25 year old Cessna 210. But look carefully at the numbers above . . . including price.  And look at resale value.  My T-210 has already taken its depreciation. 

 

I believe the Columbia 400 is the most exciting, best built general aviation airplane on the market today. Lots of well-deserved sizzle.  But does it fit your pocketbook?  How about your main mission?

 

You be the judge!

 

So there you have it.  A nearly day-by-day onsite, remote reporting of a very interesting and worthwhile week.  I hope that I was able to accurately describe what actually went on.  I also hope you also learned something new.

 

For what it's worth . . . Day 3 and this final reporting would not have been written if it were not for the huge number of encouraging emails I received this week.  I agree that there will always be a few Alpha-Hotels out there, even in aviation.  But if you have read this far and if you've read each the other updates, then I count you as one of the good guys!

 

I have a bit more time now so if you have questions, comments, or whatever, I'd be real happy to hear from you.

 

Fly safe,

 

Bob Miller, ATP, MCFI